Lithuanian Homeland Defense Detachment

Fatherland Defense Force
Tėvynės apsaugos rinktinė
Monument to fallen TAR members in Seda
Active	July–October 1944
Countries	Lithuania  Nazi Germany
Size	6,000 men
Part of	9th Army (Wehrmacht)
Staff headquarters	Plinkšės, Mažeikiai District Municipality
Nickname(s)	TAR, Mäder Regiment
Engagements	Battle of Seda
Commanders
German commander	Hellmuth Mäder
Commander of TAR	Captain Izidorius Jatulis
Commander of the 1st Regiment	Major Alfonsas Urbonas
Commander of the 2nd Regiment	Polkovnik Lieutenant Mečys Kareiva

The Fatherland Defense Force (Lithuanian: Tėvynės apsaugos rinktinė or TAR) or Mäder Regiment (German: Kampfgruppe Mäder) was a short-lived military unit hastily formed in northwestern Lithuania towards the end of World War II to combat approaching Soviet forces. Formed from local Lithuanians, the unit was directly subordinate to the Wehrmacht. Their German commander was Hellmuth Mäder who was hoping to raise a division. However, only two ill-equipped and ill-trained regiments were actually formed. The total membership is estimated at 6,000 men. On October 7, TAR took defensive positions in Seda against the 19th Tank Corps of the 6th Guards Army. TAR suffered heavy losses and retreated towards Klaipėda (Memel). In East Prussia, the remaining men were reassigned to various pioneer units.

As a result of the Operation Bagration, Soviet 1st Baltic Front reached eastern borders of Lithuania in summer 1944 and continued to push forward during the Baltic Offensive. In occupied territories, young men were forcibly mobilized into the Red Army. Lithuanians, having suffered the repressive Soviet occupation in 1940–41, began evacuating towards west and forming armed groups in Samogitia. On July 28, 1944, Lithuanian officers met in the village of Pievėniai and discussed options for defending Lithuania: either join the Wehrmacht and fight openly or become partisans and wage a guerrilla war, a tactic chosen by the Lithuanian Freedom Army. The former option won by a narrow margin of votes and these improvised units were organized into TAR, commanded by Captain Izidorius Jatulis. The Lithuanians established contacts with Hellmuth Mäder, officer in the 9th Army, via priest Jonas Steponavičius. Mäder agreed to support the new unit and provide it with weapons and uniforms.