German occupation of Estonia during World War II

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).

[1] For the duration of the occupation, Estonia was incorporated as Generalbezirk Estland, subordinated to the Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of the German Reich.

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.

Estonia set up an administration, led by Jüri Uluots as soon as the Soviet regime retreated and before German troops arrived.

That all was for nothing since the Germans had made their plans as set out in Generalplan Ost,[5] 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.

[7] The initial enthusiasm that accompanied the liberation from Soviet occupation quickly waned as a result and the Germans had limited success in recruiting volunteers.

[8][9] In June 1944 the elector's assembly of the Republic of Estonia gathered in secrecy from the occupying powers in Tallinn and appointed Jüri Uluots as the prime minister with the responsibilities of the President.

[8] As the Germans retreated, on September 18, 1944 Jüri Uluots formed a government led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Otto Tief.

The Estonian underground government, not officially recognized by either the Nazi Germany or Soviet Union, fled to Stockholm, Sweden and operated in exile until 1992, when Heinrich Mark, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in duties of the President in exile,[10] presented his credentials to the newly elected President of Estonia Lennart Meri.

After the annexation, Estonians were subject to conscription into the Red Army, which by international law is illegal if Estonia is not considered to have been a part of the USSR.

When the Soviets retreated from Estonia and Germany fully occupied it, in the summer of 1941, the Germans continued the practice of dragooning Estonian men, although the majority joined the German Army voluntarily, often out of the desire to fight the USSR, which had made strong enemies with many groups of society in Estonia after introducing their Marxist economic system.

Bataillon Narwa was formed from the first 800 men of the Legion to have finished their training at Heidelager, being sent in April 1943 to join the Division Wiking in Ukraine.

Jüri Uluots, the last constitutional Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia,[12] the leader of Estonian underground government delivered a radio address on February 7[8] that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service in the SS (before this, Uluots had opposed any German mobilization of Estonians.)

Many Estonians hoped that they would attract support from the Allies, and ultimately a restoration of their interwar independence, by resisting the Soviet reoccupation of their country.

[15] In the end, there was no Allied military support The advance guard units of the 2nd Shock Army reached the border of Estonia as a part of the Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive which began on 1 February 1944.

The 1st battalion (Stubaf Paul Maitla) of the 45th Regiment led by Harald Riipalu and the fusiliers (previously "Narva"), under the leadership of Hatuf Hando Ruus, were involved in repelling the attack.

Near Tartu, the 3rd Baltic Front was stopped by the Kampfgruppe "Wagner" which involved military groups sent from Narva under the command of Alfons Rebane and Paul Vent and the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien led by Léon Degrelle.

On August 19, 1944 Jüri Uluots, in a radio broadcast, called for the Red Army to hold back and a peace agreement to be reached.

[8] As Finland left the war on September 4, 1944 according to their peace agreement with the USSR, the defence of the mainland became practically impossible and the German command decided to retreat from Estonia.

Some disregard the official figures and argue that a more realistic number is 480,000 for the Battle of Narva only, considering the intensity of the fighting at the front.

According to Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity Although the Directorate did not have complete freedom of action, it exercised a significant measure of autonomy, within the framework of German policy, political, racial and economic.

For example, the Directors exercised their powers pursuant to the laws and regulations of the Republic of Estonia, but only to the extent that these had not been repealed or amended by the German military command.

[23][25] Round-ups and killings of Jews began immediately following the arrival of the first German troops in 1941, who were closely followed by the extermination squad Sonderkommando 1a under Martin Sandberger, part of Einsatzgruppe A led by Walter Stahlecker.

Unlike German forces, some support apparently existed among an undefined segment of the local collaborators for anti-Jewish actions.

Estonians often argued that their Jewish colleagues and friends were not communists and submitted proofs of pro-Estonian conduct in hope to get them released.

There have been knowingly 7 ethnic Estonians: Ralf Gerrets, Ain-Ervin Mere, Jaan Viik, Juhan Jüriste, Karl Linnas, Aleksander Laak and Ervin Viks that have faced trials for crimes against humanity.

Since the reestablishment of the Estonian independence markers were put in place for the 60th anniversary of the mass executions that were carried out at the Lagedi, Vaivara and Klooga (Kalevi-Liiva) camps in September 1944.

[citation needed]Views diverge on history of Estonia during World War II and following the occupation by Nazi Germany.

[citation needed] In April 2007 the divergent views on history of World War II in Estonia centered around the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.