Opinion ID: 202113
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Shifting allegiances

Text: 2 The facts of this case were largely stipulated by the parties. The appellant was born on December 27, 1915, in Aukstadvaris, in what is today independent Lithuania. On May 1, 1939, Zajanckauskas was inducted into the Lithuanian Army and, following the Soviet annexation of Lithuania in 1940, he was incorporated into the Soviet Army. 3 On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, quickly overrunning Lithuania. The appellant was captured by German forces the next month and was held as a prisoner of war (POW) at the Hammerstein POW camp in Germany. As a prisoner, Zajanckauskas discovered that the Germans drew distinctions among the Soviet POWs according to Nazi racial and political ideology. While the Germans shot thousands of Jews and Communist Party members, members of certain nationalities, including Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians, received better treatment and were sorted out to determine whether they were suitable for German service. 4 In mid-1942, Zajanckauskas himself was recruited by the Germans, and on July 23, 1942 he arrived at the Trawniki Training Camp near the town of Trawniki, in Nazi-occupied Poland. Run jointly by the SS 1 and the German police, the Trawniki Training Camp was established to meet the growing German need for manpower. It trained individuals of various eastern European nationalities for service in the German war machine. Following his arrival at Trawniki, Zajanckauskas received Trawniki identification number 2122 and was assigned the rank of Wachmann (guard private). 5 Trawniki men (as Trawniki recruits were sometimes termed in wartime records) were paid and received other benefits, including home leave and family support payments. Trawniki men also were eligible for promotion. Promotions were based on merit and were not awarded at random, or automatically according to length of service. Promotion brought with it increased pay, status, and responsibility. 6 During training, Trawniki men practiced close-order drills, learned how to handle various kinds of firearms, learned German-language commands, were taught how to guard prisoners, and received ideological instruction. Zajanckauskas underwent the same training as other Trawniki recruits. He also received additional training in a course for future Trawniki non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and rose quickly, after two promotions, to the rank of Gruppenwachmann (guard sergeant). By April 1943, Zajanckauskas had himself become a trainer in the NCO course.