Lithuanian U-Boat Captain of Kriegsmarine

Just found out this http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/709.html

Really amazing discovery for myself

[bigboywooly]

Wasnt Memel German in 1918 ?
Run as a free port after WW1 and annexed by Lithuania in 1923
Germany regained ownership in March 1939

[kenijaru]

I've found one born in Argentina...
http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/1078.html

guess the name of my next Kaleun

Originally Posted by bigboywooly

Wasnt Memel German in 1918 ?
Run as a free port after WW1 and annexed by Lithuania in 1923
Germany regained ownership in March 1939

Yes that is correct, Memel was again German harbour-city but of course there were

living lots of lithuanian citizens in Memel despite that.

He has lithuanian surname and was born in Lithuania so it is really amazing.

I thought Captains of the U-boats were exceptional germans only, so that rocks

[Jimbuna]

He's not a distant relative Contact, is he?

[Freiwillige]

Knowing the sytem in place I would have to say that they would both qualify as ethnic Germans.

Originally Posted by jimbuna

He's not a distant relative Contact, is he?

Just might be

[gord96]

one of my captains was an american of german desent. Similar to how some americans joined the German army in 39/40, my captain did the same with the KM as he was a young naval sub officer.

It was a fun campaign as after Dec 7 1941 he had quite the moral dilema on his hands.

[RHill389]

This is the one that gets me, was born in the USSR

http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/35.html

And i added this one just because I like the name so much

http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/406.html

[Kongo Otto]

Originally Posted by Freiwillige

Knowing the sytem in place I would have to say that they would both qualify as ethnic Germans.

Volksdeutsche (ethic Germans) is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century to describe ethnic Germans living outside of Germany. This is in contrast to Reichsdeutsche(Imperial Germans), German citizens living within Germany. The term also contrasts with the modern term Auslandsdeutsche(Germans abroad) which generally denotes German citizens residing in other countries.
This is the loosest meaning of the term.
In a stricter sense, Volksdeutsch came to mean ethnic Germans living abroad but without German citizenship, i.e., the juxtaposition with Reichsdeutsch was sharpened to denote difference in citizenship as well as residence.

In those Terms for example, every US-Citizen which has at least one German Ancestor would qualify as Volksdeutscher.

[rubenandthejets]

Originally Posted by RHill389

This is the one that gets me, was born in the USSR

http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/35.html

And i added this one just because I like the name so much

http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/406.html

As for that Russian captain....
An April birthday means he was a subject of the Tzar when he was born (albeit the autocrat's powers were being "directed" by Kerensky's "February Revoulution"
provisional government. I'm guessing his family were conservatives or gentry and got out of Dodge in time to raise him to hate commies. Makes sense to me. Probably a distant relative of the second captain whose name you like so much

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by Freiwillige

Knowing the sytem in place I would have to say that they would both qualify as ethnic Germans.

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.

YAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

go lithuania!!!!!!!!!!!

(lithuanian background)

[Brag]

Originally Posted by kenijaru

I've found one born in Argentina...
http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/1078.html

guess the name of my next Kaleun

Good info for authenticity of my novel in progress, Vortex, which I want to get back to once settled in.

[Hitman]

Lauzemis is not the only example of Baltic german ,

Noone less than Wolfgang Lüth: http://www.uboat.net/men/luth.htm, born in Riga (Latvia)

RoaldLarsen did a beautiful sum-up of the matter

And i added this one just because I like the name so much

http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/406.html

Ha ha you like Adelstiteln (Nobiliary or Peerage titles)?

After WW1 nobiliary titles were abolished in germany, but all descendants of a noble man were allowed to keep the title as part of their family name.

There were many examples in WW2 of U-Boat commanders coming from noble families (A tradition rooted to the Prussian Army).

Under the "F" you can find all "Freiherr" (Baron): http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/f.htm though some are outside like the famous Von Tiesenhausen: http://www.uboat.net/men/tiesenhausen.htm

Under the "G" you would find all "Graff" (Earl or Count), but there are none actually

There are some funny anecdotes about german peers in WW1, I will narrate one for you to enjoy:

Graff (Earl) Zu Dohna-Schlodien was in command of the auxiliary cruiser (A disguised merchant armed with hidden guns for traffic rading) Möewe during WW1. Having a friendly conversation with the captain of one of his preys, the coal-ship "Minieh" the british prisoner captain told him about a british task force that was looking for the german raider. The german asked him about the commander of the task force, commenting how boring that service of endless search in an empty sea must be, and to that the british captain replied to the german nobleman "Well you know something....he is not an ordinary man like you or me....he is an Earl!"

You can imagine the internal laugh the german captain had when hearing this