Forest Brothers

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This article is about the Baltic World War II anti-Soviet resistance movement. For the Georgian anti-Russian guerrillas, see Forest Brothers (Georgia).
Forest Brothers
Participant in the guerilla war in the Baltic states
Active 1940–41, 1944–1956
Ideology National liberation
Area of operations Baltic states
Strength ~50,000
Part of Occupation of the Baltic states
Allies British, American and Swedish intelligence services, Finnish army
Opponents Red Army, NKVD

The Forest Brothers (also Brothers of the Forest; Forest Brethren; Forest Brotherhood; Estonian: metsavennad, Latvian: meža brāļi, Lithuanian: miško broliai) were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II. Similar anti-Soviet Eastern European resistance groups fought against Soviet and communist rule in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and western Ukraine.




Origins of the term[edit]


Caught between two powers[edit]

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania gained their independence in 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire. The ideals of nationalism and self-determination had taken hold with many people as a result of having independent states of Estonia and Latvia for the first time since the 13th century. At the same time Lithuanians re-established a sovereign state, which had rich former history, being the largest country in Europe during the 14th century, but occupied by the Russian Empire since 1795. Allied declarations such as the Atlantic Charter had offered promise of a post-war world in which the three Baltic nations could re-establish themselves. Having already experienced occupation by the Soviet regime followed by the Nazi regime, many people were unwilling to accept another occupation.[3]




In 1949–1950 the United States Displaced Persons Commission investigated the Estonian and Latvian divisions and on September 1, 1950 adopted the following policy:



Summer War[edit]




  1. defense of the coast and borders
  2. fight against parachutists, sabotage, and espionage
  3. guarding militarily important objects
  4. fight against Communism
  6. providing assistance in case of large-scale accidents (fires, floods, diseases, etc.)
  7. providing military training for its members and other loyal citizens


The partisan war[edit]


The conflict between the Soviet armed forces and the Forest Brothers lasted over a decade and cost at least 50,000 lives. Estimates for the number of fighters in each country vary. Misiunas and Taagepera[13] estimate that figures reached 30,000 in Lithuania, between 10,000 and 15,000 in Latvia and 10,000 in Estonia. NKVD units dressed as forest brothers committed atrocities in order to discredit them and demoralize the civilian population.[14]

In Estonia[edit]

Famous Estonian partisan fighter Ants "Ants the Terrible" Kaljurand

In Estonia 14,000 – 15,000 men participated in fighting between 1944 and 1953. Estonia's Forest Brothers were most active in Võru County and the border areas between Pärnu and Lääne Counties, with significant activity between Tartu and Viru Counties as well. From November 1944 to November 1947, they made 773 armed attacks and killed about 1000 Soviets and their supporters. At it peak in 1947, Estonia forest brothers controlled many villages and towns, and Soviet supply transports required significant armed escort.[15] August Sabbe, one of the last surviving Forest Brothers in Estonia, was discovered in 1978 by KGB agents posing as fellow fishermen. Instead of surrendering, he leaped into the Võhandu stream and hooked himself to a log, drowning. The KGB insisted that the 69-year-old Sabbe drowned while trying to escape, a theory difficult to credit given the shallow water and lack of cover at the site.


In Latvia[edit]

In Latvia, preparations for partisan operations were begun during the German occupation, but the leaders of these nationalist units were arrested by Nazi authorities.[17] Longer-lived resistance units began to form at the end of the war; their ranks were composed of former Latvian Legion soldiers as well as civilians.[18]

In Latvia, the number of active combatants peaked at between 10,000 and 15,000, while the total number of resistance fighters was as high as 40,000.[17] One author gives a figure of up to 12,000 grouped in 700 bands during the 1945–55 decade, but definitive figures are unavailable.[19] Over time, the partisans replaced their German weapons with Soviet ones. The Central Command of Latvian resistance organizations maintained an office on Matīsa Street in Riga until 1947.[17] In some 3,000 raids, the partisans inflicted damage on uniformed military personnel, party cadres (particularly in rural areas), buildings, and ammunition depots. Communist authorities reported 1,562 Soviet personnel killed and 560 wounded during the entire resistance period.[19]

One account of the typical actions of the Forest Brothers is provided by Talrids Krastiņš. A reconnaissance soldier in the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian), he was recruited with 15 other Latvians into a Nazi stay-behind unit at the close of the war. Escaping to the forest, the group avoided all contact with local residents and relatives, robbing trucks for money and maintaining an apartment in the center of Riga for reconnaissance and operations. At first they operated by assassinating low-level Communist party managers, but later focused their efforts on attempting to kill the head of the Latvian SSR, Vilis Lācis. The group recruited a Russian woman working at the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR who informed them about Lācis' transportation schedule. They set up a roadside ambush when Lācis was traveling from Riga to Jūrmala, but shot up the wrong car. The second attempt likewise relied on a female Russian collaborator, but one who proved to be an undercover NKVD agent. The entire group was apprehended and sentenced to prison in 1948.[20]

The Latvian Forest Brothers were most active in the border regions, including Dundaga, Taurkalne, Lubāna, Aloja, and Līvāni. In the eastern regions, they had ties with the Estonian Forest Brothers; in the western regions, with the Lithuanians. As in Estonia and Lithuania, the partisans were killed off and infiltrated by the MVD and NKVD over time, and as in Estonia and Lithuania, Western assistance and intelligence was severely compromised by Soviet counter-intelligence and Latvian double agents such as Augusts Bergmanis and Vidvuds Sveics.[21] Furthermore, the Soviets gradually consolidated their rule in the cities, help from rural civilians was not as forthcoming, and special military and security units were sent to control the partisans.[19] The last groups emerged from the forest and surrendered to the authorities in 1957.[21]

In Lithuania[edit]

Main article: Lithuanian partisans
Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas


The report of a commission formed at a KGB prison a few days after the October 15, 1956 arrest of Adolfas Ramanauskas ("Vanagas"), chief commander of the Lietuvos Laisvės Kovotojų Sąjūdis or "Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters", noted the following:




Decline of the resistance movements[edit]



Aftermath, memorials and remembrances[edit]


Many Forest Brothers persisted in the hope that Cold War hostilities between the West, which never formally recognized the Soviet occupation, and the Soviet Union might escalate to an armed conflict in which the Baltic states would be liberated. This never materialized, and according to Mart Laar[3] many of the surviving former Forest Brothers remained bitter that the West did not take on the Soviet militarily. (See also Yalta Conference, Western betrayal). When the brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 did not bring about an intervention by, or a supportive response from, Western Powers, organized resistance in the Baltic States declined further.


In 1999, the Lithuanian Seimas (parliament) enacted a declaration of independence that had been made on February 16, 1949, the 31st anniversary of the February 16, 1918 declaration of independence, by elements of the resistance unified[4] under the "Movement of the Struggle for the Freedom of Lithuania".


In a 2001 lecture in Tallinn, U.S. Senator John McCain acknowledged the Estonian Forest Brothers and their efforts to liberate their country.[29]

Forest Brothers in popular culture[edit]








The last Forest Brother[edit]


See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ Woods, Alan. Bolshevism: The Road to Revolution, Wellred Publications, London, 1999. ISBN 1-900007-05-3
  3. ^ a b c Laar, Mart. War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944–1956, translated by Tiina Ets, Compass Press, November 1992. ISBN 0-929590-08-2
  7. ^ Letter from Harry N. Rosenfield, Acting Chairman of United States Displaced Persons Commission, to Mr. Johannes Kaiv, Acting Consul General of Estonia, in re memorandum from the Estonian Committee in the United States zone of Germany on the question of former Estonian Legionnaires seeking admission to the United States under the Displaced Persons Act, as amended. September 13, 1950.
  8. ^ Feldmanis, Inesis and Kangeris, Kārlis. The Volunteer SS Legion in Latvia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, n.d.
  11. ^ Lande, p 188
  13. ^ Misiunas, Romuald and Taagepera, Rein. The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940–1990, University of California Press, expanded & updated edition, October 1, 1993. p 83. ISBN 0-520-08228-1
  14. ^ Kaszeta, Daniel J. (1988). "Lithuanian Resistance to Foreign Occupation 1940-1952". Lituanus, Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences (LITUANUS Foundation) 34 (3). 
  17. ^ a b c Laar, p. 24
  19. ^ a b c Plakans, p. 155
  20. ^ (Russian) Газета Капиталист. ЖИЗНЬ И СУДЬБА «БОЛЬШОГО МЕДВЕДЯ». Сто лет Вилису Лацису Retrieved April 3, 2010
  21. ^ a b Laar, p. 27
  23. ^ Unknown author. excerpt from Lithuania's Struggle For Freedom, unknown year.
  25. ^ Tarm, Michael. The Forgotten War, City Paper's The Baltic States Worldwide, 1996.
  29. ^ McCain, John. "From Tragedy to Destiny: Estonia's Place in the New Atlantic Order," The Robert C. Frasure Memorial Lecture, Tallinn, Estonia, August 24, 2001.
  30. ^ Rahvuslane. Ajalooline hinnang Kanada pagulaseestlaste poolt aastail 1960-1963 tehtud filmile „Legendi loojad” ehk millise vaatenurga alt tuleb tänasel päeval seda filmi vaadata Retrieved April 3, 2010
  33. ^ Pēdējo mežabrāļu atgriešanās (27.11.97.)
  34. ^ "Jānis Pīnups". Retrieved 12 March 2013. 

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]