The Lithuanian Security Police and the Holocaust (1941-1944)
ENEven though dozens of academic books and even more articles have been published in Lithuania about the Nazi occupation and the Holocaust, to this author’s knowledge, not a single academic work has been published either in Lithuania or abroad that specifically examines the role of the Lithuanian Security Police (LSP) in the Holocaust. A special study of this aspect of the LSP’s activities is required in order to eliminate this historiographical gap. Both during the Soviet era and after the restoration of Lithuania’s independence (in 1990), several works have been published in Lithuania that partially reflect the activities of the LSP during the Nazi occupation. Of those written during the Soviet era, the document collections Masinės žudynės Lietuvoje 1941–1944 (“Mass Killings in Lithuania 1941–1944”; Vol. 1 and 2) and Hitleriniai žudikai Kretingoje (“Hitler Murderers in Kretinga”) should be mentioned first. Volume I of the first collection (Masinės žudynės Lietuvoje 1941–1944) also contains qualified commentary summarizing the structure and functions of the various types of Lithuanian police (including the security police). The second collection (Hitleriniai žudikai Kretingoje) provides a detailed reflection of the activities of Pranas Jakys, the former chief of the Kretinga Region LSP, and his officers in persecuting communists, Soviet activists, and Jews. Journalist Vytautas Žeimantas, who has authored many articles about Nazi war criminals, did not forget some former LSP employees living in the West either. In his book entitled Procesas nesibaigia (“The Process Does Not End”), he includes character sketches of Stasys Čenkus, the former director of the Lithuanian Security Police, and Mečys Paškevičius (later known as Mike Pasker), a former officer with the Ukmergė Region LSP. [p. 323].
- Lietuvių policija 1941-1944 metais. Vilnius : Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras, 1998. 304 p.
- Vokiečių okupuota Lietuva (1941-1944). Vilnius : Mintis, 1998. 606 p.
