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Originally Posted by Freiwillige
Knowing the sytem in place I would have to say that they would both qualify as ethnic Germans.
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Under Nazi racial policies Lithuanians were not regarded as Volksdeutch. They were regarded as one step up from the Slavs and on a par with Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Hungarians and Romanians. They were ranked below North Italians, Britons and French.
For purposes of appointments, priviledges, etc., political reliability counted about as much as ethnicity. In Germany proper, one's ethnicity was generally not a problem as long as one was not Jewish, African, Asian or Roma.
Later in the war Germany recruited widely from occupied territories. In the Baltic states the Germans had a program of offering free university education in exchange for a year's military service. Of course, as the war situation deteriorated, the length of required service was extended.
In the Baltic states, some of the people regarded the Germans as liberators, while others regarded them as one tyrant replacing another. A number of Baltic people enlisted in the German armed forces for ideological or patriotic reasons, while others did so as a means of self-advancement.
The particular Lithuanian mentioned ITT was born in Memel Territory, (not the city), at a time when it was part of East Prussia. This means he was born an Imperial German subject. He may have retained German citizenship, in the view of the German government.
Since Lauzemis was part of Crew 37a, the events of 1939-45 have no bearing on his enlisment or commission. To understand how he likely became a German officer, we need to look at the inter-war history of the territory in which he was born.
Subsequent to the treaty of Versailles, Memel Territory, like Danzig and the Saar, was placed under the control of the League of Nations. Memel was administered by the French.
In 1923 Memel Territory was forcibly occupied by Lithuania.
Many (most?) of the ethnic Lithuanians living in this area at the time considered themselves distinct from the majority of Lithuanians, who lived in what had been, until 1918, part of Russia. (Remember, the Lithuanian state had only been declared one month before Lauzemis' birth.) They considered themselves Prussian Lithuanians, and hence German citizens of Lithuanian ethnicity. These Prussian Lithuanians comprised only half of the population of Memel Territory. Most of the rest were ethnic Germans.
When Lithuania gained control of Memel Territory, they proceeded to antagonize the local inhabitants, both ethnic Germans and ethnic Lithuanians, by appointing administrators from Greater Lithuania, and by discriminatory practices against local rights. Dissatisfaction with Lithuanian governance grew. In the 1935 and 1938 elections, parties advocating unification with Germany won over 80% of the vote in the local parliament. The Lithuanian national government responded with a policy of aggressive Lithuanianization, and colonization from Greater Lithuania. Civil unrest in the territory grew and Germany issued an ultimatum. In March 1939, the Lithuanian government ceded Memel Territory back to Germany.
Given that Lauzemis was part of Crew 37a, he probably was not a resident of Memel at the time of his enlistment. Possibly his family moved to what remained of Germany after Versailles or after the Lithuanian occupation. As the above history illustrates, many citizens of Memel Territoty regarded themselves as Germans and so it is not so surprising that a person with a Lithuanian name, but born a German subject, would become a Kriegsmarine officer.