Ar pagrįstai Lietuvos vokiečių Kulturverbandas buvo Valstybės saugumo institucijų akiratyje 1933–1940 m.?
The Reasons for Keeping Kulturverband under Surveillance by the Lithuanian Secret Service in 1933–1940

Summary/Abstract: Seeking to ascertain and analyze the activities of the German agents in Lithuania and the reaction of the Lithuanian authorities towards it, the author made use of the archival material, accumulated in the Lithuanian Central State Archive. Mainly, attention was focused on reports of the Lithuanian State Security Department, various agents’ reports, Nazi organisations’ documents, separate Kulturverband funds (f. 313), the fund of the Security Department at the Home Office of the Republic of Lithuania (f. 378), and the fund of Army Headquarters in 1918–1940 (f. 929). It was established that in 1933 “Lithuanian German Cultural Union” (Kulturverband der Deutschen Litauens hereinafter Kulturverband) fell under the influence of NSDAP organizations in Germany, and the management of Kulturverband was substituted by pro-Nazi individuals and German agents who took the leading positions. From 1931 Kulturverband was regularly funded by Germany receiving 300–400 thousand RM a year. This financial support predetermined a close relationship with German institutions. The leaders of Kulturverband were influenced by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Verein für das Deutschtum im Auslände” (VDA), Abwehr, Auslands Organisation der NSDAP. Meanwhile, a number of young members of Kulturverband were sent to Germany where they were educated at Nazi schools and came back to work as German agents. Several leading members of Kulturverband (Richard Schweizer, Richard Kosmann, Walter Lange, Oskar Kunfert, Erwin Klueg) were authorized by Nazi organisations and the German Secret Service to perform intelligence service. Germany had a wide net of intelligence officers and agents who worked under the shelter of the German Embassy in Kaunas and made close contacts with Germans in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Secret Service and Security Police undertook efforts to unmask German agents. This research makes it obvious that the Lithuanian Secret Service worked efficiently and disclosed a large number of German agents and their informants. Besides, the Lithuanian Security Police recruited a number of members of Kulturverband and even German agents who shared a lot of information about the relations between German institutions and Kulturverband. The Lithuanian Security Police reports show a clear picture of the interests of German agents in Lithuania. Unfortunately, part of the information received from recruited informers was of minor importance, and some of them even warned Kulturverband leaders about searches. However, the pressure from the German Government imposed on Lithuanian authorities since 1935 prevented them from exercising strict measures on the agents, and a number of them were punished by fines only or exiled from the capital to rural areas...

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