Ypatingasis būrys

Ypatingasis būrys (Special Squad) or Special SD and German Security Police Squad (Lithuanian: Vokiečių Saugumo policijos ir SD ypatingasis būrys, Polish: Specjalny Oddział SD i Niemieckiej Policji Bezpieczeństwa, also colloquially strzelcy ponarscy ("Ponary riflemen" in Polish) (1941–1944) was a Lithuanian killing squad of approximately 50 men, also called the "Lithuanian equivalent of Sonderkommando", operating in the Vilnius Region. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers was formed by the German occupational government and was subordinate to Einsatzkommando 9 and later to Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo). There are different estimates regarding the size of the unit. Polish historian Czesław Michalski estimates that it grew from base of 50 while Tadeusz Piotrowski asserts about that there were 100 volunteers at its onset. According to Michalski, after its initial creation at various times hundreds of people were its members.Arūnas Bubnys states that it never exceeded a core of forty or fifty men. 118 names are known, 20 of the members have been punished. Together with German police the squad participated in the Ponary massacre, where some 70,000 Jews were murdered, along with estimated 20,000 Poles and 8,000 Russian POWs, many from nearby Vilnius.

The first mention of the name of the Vilnian Special Squad, (Lithuanian: Ypatingasis būrys) is from documents dated 15 July 1941. The Special Squad (YB) began as police unit formed after Lithuania was occupied by Germany in 1941. Many were volunteers, particularly recruited from the former paramilitary nationalisticUnion of Lithuanian Riflemen (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Šaulių Sąjunga) organization. It was composed primarily of Lithuanians, although according to Lithuanian historian Bubnys, a few Russians and a few Poles served in it as well.

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