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Omakaitse
Omakaitse in Pärnu, 8 July 1941
Active
1917–1918; 3 July 1941 – 17 September 1944
Disbanded
September 1944
Country
Estonia
Allegiance
Estonia (1917-1918) Nazi Germany (1941-1944)
Branch
Militia
Role
defence from Soviet Armed Forces
Size
40,000
Engagements
Russian revolution, World War II: Summer War, Tartu Offensive, Tallinn Offensive
Commanders
Notable commanders
Friedrich Kurg, Johannes Soodla, Jaan Maide, Arnold Sinka
Insignia
Identification symbol
White armband
Military unit
The Omakaitse ('home guard')[1] was a militia organisation in Estonia. It was founded in 1917 following the Russian Revolution. On the eve of the occupation of Estonia by the German Empire, the Omakaitse units took over major towns in the country allowing the Salvation Committee of the Estonian Provincial Assembly to proclaim the independence of Estonia.[2] After the German Occupation the Omakaitse became outlawed.
The Estonian Defence League was dissolved in 1940 after the Soviet occupation of Estonia.[3][4]
The Omakaitse was reestablished during the German Operation Barbarossa in 1941 by the Forest brothers who took control of the country before the German troops arrived allowing Jüri Uluots establish a co-ordinating council in Tartu to proclaim the provisional government of Estonia.[5] The Germans disbanded the provisional government but allowed the armed units in the Omakaitse after Estonia became a part of the German-occupied Reichskommissariat Ostland. During World War II Omakaitse existed from 3 July 1941 – 17 September 1944 at the Eastern Front (World War II).[6]
^Cite error: The named reference kuusik1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Frucht, Richard (2005). Eastern Europe: an introduction to the people, lands, and culture. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 74. ISBN 9781576078006.
^Cite error: The named reference kaasik was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"History of the Defence League". Estonian Defence League. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
^In some areas of southern Estonia, pro independence administrations were already in place by the time German troops arrived. Jüri Uluots set up a co-ordinating council in Tartu, yet stopped short of declaring a provisional governmentSmith 2001, pp. 34, 35 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFSmith2001 (help)
^Resistance Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine Occupation Museum of Estonia
The Omakaitse ('home guard') was a militia organisation in Estonia. It was founded in 1917 following the Russian Revolution. On the eve of the occupation...
World War. It was fought between the Forest Brothers (Metsavennad), the Omakaitse, and the Wehrmacht's 18th Army against the forces of the 8th Army of the...
Brother and Omakaitse groups. Southern Estonian partisan units were yet again summoned in August 1941 under the name of Estonian Omakaitse. Members were...
Selbstschutz (German for "self-protection") is the name given to different iterations of ethnic-German self-protection units formed both after the First...
(Finland) Militia Ordenanças, Portuguese home guard from 1570 to 1831 Omakaitse, Estonian Home Guard in World War II State defense forces, home guards...
German XXVIII Army Corps.[page range too broad] The German and Estonian Omakaitse units held their positions and prevented the Army Detachment Narwa from...
stabilised the front at the Emajõgi River. The XXVIII Army Corps supported by Omakaitse militia stalled the front at the Väike Emajõgi and Gauja Rivers, preventing...
Forest Brothers, composed of former conscripts into the German military, Omakaitse militia and volunteers in the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 who fought...
the Omakaitse (lit. 'Self-defence'), which had between 34,000 and 40,000 members, mainly based on the Kaitseliit, dissolved by the Soviets. Omakaitse was...
evacuation of Tallinn. The German occupation forces included a local Omakaitse militia. Einsatzgruppe A commanded by Franz Walter Stahlecker closely...
Force Home Guard, Police Home Guard, and Infrastructure Home Guard. The Omakaitse (Home Guard) was an organisation formed by the local population of Estonia...
was preceded by Estonia's first armed home defence organisation, the Omakaitse (Citizens' Defence Organisation, German Bürgerwehr) against the public...
Estonia by Nazi Germany, he served in the collaborationist paramilitary Omakaitse and later on the front as part of the Waffen-SS. After the retreat of...
a Communist militia called "People's Self-Defence", (Estonian: Rahva Omakaitse) on 21 June 1940. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements...
the Omakaitse (lit. 'Self-defence'), which had between 34,000 and 40,000 members, mainly based on the Kaitseliit, dissolved by the Soviets. Omakaitse was...
thousands of Estonian soldiers, former Wehrmacht officers, and members of the Omakaitse had taken refuge in the forest. Former employees of the Soviet administration...
behind the extermination of Estonian Roma people. Units of the Eesti Omakaitse (Estonian Home Guard; approximately 1000 to 1200 men) were directly involved...
was born in Kiviõli, Estonia. As a high school student, he joined Eesti Omakaitse and was recruited in the German army, come World War II. In 1944, he emigrated...
the responsibility for such crimes mainly on 2.5–4 % of the Estonian Omakaitse civil defence units and the Estonian Security Police. A number of foreign...
collaborators before the end of 1941. Right-wing Estonian units, known as the Omakaitse were among those who aided the Einsatzgruppen in murdering Jews. During...
same year with German Army. Soodla headed both the Estonian police and Omakaitse, a paramilitary self-defence organization during the German occupation...
Sicherungsgruppe, Eesti julgestusgrupp; numbered 181–186) on the basis of the Omakaitse squads (with its members contracted for one year). After September 1941...
fighter in Vihasoo, eventually becoming the commander of the North Estonian Omakaitse. He was the mayor of Tallinn during the majority of World War II, being...
in World War II, Maide was Chief of Staff, and later Commander of the Omakaitse (Home Guard), a militia based on the Estonian Defence League. In wake...
Independence, de Wahl expressed a desire to join the voluntary militia Omakaitse. As a student who wrote weapon permits for volunteers: "Among those who...
Global Information
Estonia (1917-1918)
Nazi Germany (1941-1944)