Juozas Ambrazevičius

Juozas Ambrazevičius or Juozas Brazaitis (December 9, 1903 in Marijampolė – November 28, 1974 in South Orange, New Jersey), was a Nazi collaborator and Lithuanian literary historian who became prime minister when the Nazis routed the Soviets from Lithuania.

His own ideology and views are disputed.

Ambrazevičius studied literature at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas and the University of Bonn.

Starting in 1927 he lectured on Lithuanian literature and folklore in Kaunas.

By the end of the 1930s he was involved in numerous organizations for literature and science.

He also worked on the editorial staff of the national daily Lietuva (Lithuania) and the Catholic daily XX amžius (The 20th Century).

He sometimes used the pseudonym "Servus" to write for these newspapers.

During World War II he edited an underground periodical (Towards Freedom), which he later revived in Germany and the United States.

As the Soviets occupied Lithuania, Ambrazevičius became a member of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) in Lithuania.

The LAF was founded in Berlin by Lithuanian ambassador Kazys Škirpa.

Its goal was to rebuild a Lithuania independent of the Soviets under German protection.

Their early publications called for the expulsion of Jews from Lithuania and the requisition of their property and blamed them for the country's loss of independence.

On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

On June 23, the June Uprising in Lithuania began, first in Kaunas and then throughout the country.

LAF representative Leonas Prapuolenis broadcast an announcement of the newly independent Lithuanian state and its formation of a provisional government.

Insurgents and TDA members organized and engaged in pogroms against the Jewish population.

One of the bloodiest occurred in the capture of Kaunas, when 3,500 Jews were killed.

When Einsatzgruppen A entered Kaunas, they found it already in the hands of Algirdas Klimaitis' 600-man Voldemarininkai militia.

Its commander, Franz Walter Stahlecker, explained in an October 15 report that after meeting with little enthusiasm from the Security Police, he had used Klimaitis' men rather than his own for the Kaunas pogrom.

"It had to be shown to the world that the native population itself took the first action by way of natural reaction against the suppression by Jews during several decades and against the terror exercised by the Communists during the preceding period. (Comprehensive report of Einsatzgruppe A up to 15 October 1941)"

Ambrazevičius became acting Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Lithuania when Kazys Škirpa, originally envisioned for the role, was under house arrest in Berlin.

Ambrazevičius served as prime minister from June 23, 1941 to August 5, 1941 and was also Minister of Education.

He issued a decree July 29, 1941 at the request of the German authorities that expelled Jewish lecturers and Polish and Jewish students from the universities.

At Vytautas Magnus University, 31 people were dismissed, mostly Jews, but also Tatars, Russians, and Poles, as well as Lithuanians accused of supporting Soviet rule.

The Germans never intended to rebuild an independent Lithuania, however, nor were the Lithuanians the only people the Germans allowed to believe that they were liberators.

On August 5, 1941, the provisional government was dissolved by Germans, and on September 22, the LAF was dissolved.

However, the Germans did not abolish the local administration, and transformed the TDA battalions and Lithuanian police into the subordinated Lithuanian Auxiliary Police.

After the LAF was liquidated, most of its members moved to the underground organization Lithuanian Front (Lietuvių frontas; LF), headed by Juozas Ambrazevičius and Adolfas Damušis.

This organization combined Catholicism with nationalism and considered the Soviet Union's communist ideology its main enemy; Germany was a secondary enemy.

The organization did not intend to engage in armed struggle too early, and placed more emphasis on printing and press distribution.

In 1942 it began publishing the "Bulletin of the Lithuanian Front" and in January 1943 "Freedom."

The goal was to prepare Lithuanian society for a popular anti-Soviet uprising and the restoration of Lithuania within its borders.

Ambrazevičius ordered Petras Vilutis in May 1942 to form the "Kęstutis" military organization.

Vilutis, after he left to study in Vienna, was replaced by Juozas Jankauskas.

The purpose of the "Kęstutis" was to collect weapons and create military structures for the future uprising.

According to Soviet reports, both LF and "Kęstutis" were in close contact with the Germans and the German intelligence service, and cooperated with them in fighting Soviet partisans and activists.

In the spring of 1942, the LF and the Christian Democrats established the National Council.

The LF's anti-Nazi resistance was passive; its main act of resistance was an extensive propaganda campaign against forming a Lithuanian volunteer Waffen SS Legion, which the Germans tried and failed to do in 1943 d.

"The Provisional Government which was politically selected by the LAF and arose out of the June Uprising with acting prime minister professor Juozas Ambrazevičius at its head, did engage in political collaboration with the Third Reich" wrote of the Lithuanian Institute of History in 2017, citing antisemitic legislation passed by the Provisional Government, apparently unprompted, such as the August 1st proposed Regulations on the Status of the Jews for example.

The LAF was in Kaunus when the Germans arrived but were preoccupied with the repair and control of the radio station, which the Soviets had sabotaged.