Local Lithuanian Detachment

The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force or LTDF (Lithuanian: Lietuvos vietinė rinktinė, LVR, German: Litauische Sonderverbände) was a short-lived, Lithuanian, volunteer armed force created and disbanded in 1944 during the German occupation of Lithuania. It was subordinate to the authorities of Nazi Germany. Its goal was to fight the approaching Red Army, provide security and conduct anti-partisan operations within the territory, claimed by Lithuanians (see also Nazi German occupation of Lithuania, Generalbezirk Litauen of Reichskommissariat Ostland). LTDF had some autonomy and was staffed by Lithuanian officers, their most notable commander being Lithuanian General Povilas Plechavičius. LTDF quickly reached the size of about 10,000 men. After brief engagements against the Soviet and Polish partisans (Armia Krajowa), the force self-disbanded, its leaders were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and numerous of its members were executed by the Nazis. Many others were either drafted into other Nazi auxiliary services, or started forming an armed anti-Soviet resistance, also known as Forest Brothers. The Union of Soldiers of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (Lietuvos vietinės rinktinės karių sąjunga), a veterans organization, was founded in 1997.

In the beginning of 1943 Nazi occupational government attempted to raise a Waffen-SS division from the local population as they had in many other countries, but the mobilization was boycotted with less than 300 men reporting. The Nazis carried out reprisals against the population and deported 46 prominent figures and members of the intelligentsia to the Stutthof concentration camp. All Lithuanian higher education institutions were closed by the Nazis on March 18–19. In summer 1943, an "All Lithuanian Conference", sponsored by the Nazi authorities, allowed for a more successful mobilization campaign. This resulted in the creation of an armed force, that would only act in the territory claimed by Lithuania and would be commanded only by Lithuanian officers.

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