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German occupation of Estonia during World War II
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German occupation of Estonia during World War II
In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained independence in 1918 from the then-warring German and Russian Empires. However, in the wake of the August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Soviet Union had invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, and the country was formally annexed into the USSR in August 1940.
In the summer of 1941, the German invaders were at first seen by most Estonians as liberators from Soviet terror, since the Germans arrived only a week after the mass deportation of tens of thousands of people from Estonia and other territories occupied by the USSR in 1939–1941: eastern Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Despite high hopes for Estonian independence, the people there soon realized that the Germans were just a different occupying power.
The Nazi German authorities exploited occupied Estonia for their war effort, and in 1941–1944 murdered tens of thousands of people (including indigenous ethnic Estonians, local Estonian Jews, Estonia's Romani people, Russians, Soviet prisoners of war, Jews from other countries, and others). For the duration of the occupation, Estonia was incorporated as Generalbezirk Estland, subordinated to the Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of the German Reich.
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Three days later, on June 25, Finland declared herself to once again be at war with the USSR, starting the Continuation War. On July 3, Joseph Stalin made a public statement over the radio calling for scorched-earth policy in areas to be abandoned. Because the northernmost areas of the Baltic states were the last to be reached by the Germans, it was here that the Soviet destruction battalions had their most extreme effects. The Estonian Forest Brothers, numbering about 50,000, inflicted heavy casualties on the remaining Soviets; as many as 4,800 were killed and 14,000 captured.
Even though the Germans did not cross the southern Estonian border until July 7–9, many Estonian deserters from Soviet units opened fire on the Red Army as early as June 22. On that day, a group of Forest Brothers attacked Soviet trucks in the district of Harju. The Soviet 22nd Rifle Corps lost the most men, as a large group of Estonian soldiers and officers deserted from it. Furthermore, the border guards of Soviet Estonia mostly had fought for an independent Estonia, and they also escaped to the forests, becoming some of the best Estonian fighters. Estonian writer Juhan Jaik wrote in 1941: "These days bogs and forests are more populated than farms and fields. The forests and bogs are our territory while the fields and farms are occupied by the enemy [i.e., the Soviets]".
The 8th Army (Major General Ljubovtsev), retreated in front of the 2nd corps of the German Army behind the Pärnu River to Emajõgi river line on July 12. As German troops approached Tartu on July 10 and prepared for another battle with the Soviets, they realized that Estonian partisans were already fighting the Soviet troops. The Wehrmacht stopped its advance and hung back, leaving the Estonians to do the fighting. The battle of Tartu lasted two weeks, and destroyed most of the city. Under the leadership of Friedrich Kurg, the Estonian partisans drove the Soviets from Tartu on their own. In the meanwhile, the Soviets had been murdering citizens held in Tartu Prison, killing 192 before the Estonians captured the city.
At the end of July the Germans resumed their advance in Estonia, working with the Estonian Forest Brothers. Both German troops and Estonian partisans took Narva on August 17 and the Estonian capital Tallinn on August 28. On that day, the Soviet flag shot down earlier on Pikk Hermann was replaced with the flag of Estonia by Fred Ise. After the Soviets were driven from Estonia, German troops disarmed all partisan groups. The Estonian flag was soon replaced with the German one, and the 2,000 Estonian soldiers who took part in the parade in Tartu on July 29, were disbanded.
Most Estonians greeted the Germans with relatively open arms and hoped for the restoration of independence. Estonia set up an administration, led by Jüri Uluots as soon as the Soviet regime retreated and before German troops arrived. Estonian partisans that drove the Red Army from Tartu made it possible. That all was for nothing since the Germans had made their plans as set out in Generalplan Ost, they disbanded the provisional government and the territory of Estonia was organized as Generalbezirk Estland, subordinated to the Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany. A Sicherheitspolizei was established for internal security under the leadership of Ain-Ervin Mere.
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German occupation of Estonia during World War II
In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained independence in 1918 from the then-warring German and Russian Empires. However, in the wake of the August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Soviet Union had invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, and the country was formally annexed into the USSR in August 1940.
In the summer of 1941, the German invaders were at first seen by most Estonians as liberators from Soviet terror, since the Germans arrived only a week after the mass deportation of tens of thousands of people from Estonia and other territories occupied by the USSR in 1939–1941: eastern Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Despite high hopes for Estonian independence, the people there soon realized that the Germans were just a different occupying power.
The Nazi German authorities exploited occupied Estonia for their war effort, and in 1941–1944 murdered tens of thousands of people (including indigenous ethnic Estonians, local Estonian Jews, Estonia's Romani people, Russians, Soviet prisoners of war, Jews from other countries, and others). For the duration of the occupation, Estonia was incorporated as Generalbezirk Estland, subordinated to the Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of the German Reich.
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Three days later, on June 25, Finland declared herself to once again be at war with the USSR, starting the Continuation War. On July 3, Joseph Stalin made a public statement over the radio calling for scorched-earth policy in areas to be abandoned. Because the northernmost areas of the Baltic states were the last to be reached by the Germans, it was here that the Soviet destruction battalions had their most extreme effects. The Estonian Forest Brothers, numbering about 50,000, inflicted heavy casualties on the remaining Soviets; as many as 4,800 were killed and 14,000 captured.
Even though the Germans did not cross the southern Estonian border until July 7–9, many Estonian deserters from Soviet units opened fire on the Red Army as early as June 22. On that day, a group of Forest Brothers attacked Soviet trucks in the district of Harju. The Soviet 22nd Rifle Corps lost the most men, as a large group of Estonian soldiers and officers deserted from it. Furthermore, the border guards of Soviet Estonia mostly had fought for an independent Estonia, and they also escaped to the forests, becoming some of the best Estonian fighters. Estonian writer Juhan Jaik wrote in 1941: "These days bogs and forests are more populated than farms and fields. The forests and bogs are our territory while the fields and farms are occupied by the enemy [i.e., the Soviets]".
The 8th Army (Major General Ljubovtsev), retreated in front of the 2nd corps of the German Army behind the Pärnu River to Emajõgi river line on July 12. As German troops approached Tartu on July 10 and prepared for another battle with the Soviets, they realized that Estonian partisans were already fighting the Soviet troops. The Wehrmacht stopped its advance and hung back, leaving the Estonians to do the fighting. The battle of Tartu lasted two weeks, and destroyed most of the city. Under the leadership of Friedrich Kurg, the Estonian partisans drove the Soviets from Tartu on their own. In the meanwhile, the Soviets had been murdering citizens held in Tartu Prison, killing 192 before the Estonians captured the city.
At the end of July the Germans resumed their advance in Estonia, working with the Estonian Forest Brothers. Both German troops and Estonian partisans took Narva on August 17 and the Estonian capital Tallinn on August 28. On that day, the Soviet flag shot down earlier on Pikk Hermann was replaced with the flag of Estonia by Fred Ise. After the Soviets were driven from Estonia, German troops disarmed all partisan groups. The Estonian flag was soon replaced with the German one, and the 2,000 Estonian soldiers who took part in the parade in Tartu on July 29, were disbanded.
Most Estonians greeted the Germans with relatively open arms and hoped for the restoration of independence. Estonia set up an administration, led by Jüri Uluots as soon as the Soviet regime retreated and before German troops arrived. Estonian partisans that drove the Red Army from Tartu made it possible. That all was for nothing since the Germans had made their plans as set out in Generalplan Ost, they disbanded the provisional government and the territory of Estonia was organized as Generalbezirk Estland, subordinated to the Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany. A Sicherheitspolizei was established for internal security under the leadership of Ain-Ervin Mere.
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