Voldemarininkai

The voldemarininkai was a group of supporters of Augustinas Voldemaras, former Prime Minister of Lithuania, active from 1929 to 1941 in Lithuania. The group stemmed from the militarized Iron Wolf organization established in 1927 to help suppress opponents of President Antanas Smetona and Prime Minister Voldemaras. When Voldemaras was ousted in September 1929, the Iron Wolf was closed but its members continued to be loyal to Voldemaras and became known as voldemarininkai. Many of them were officers in the Lithuanian Army. Voldemarininkai effectively became the third major opposition force to Smetona's regime (the other two were the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union).^[1]

In 1929–1940, voldemarininkai planned eight coups against Smetona.^[2] The largest and most threatening attempt was on 6–7 June 1934. Voldemarininkai became more active again after Lithuania accepted the Polish ultimatum of March 1938. They increasingly sympathized and collaborated with Nazi Germany. After the German occupation of Lithuania in June 1941, voldemarininkai reestablished Iron Wolf and gained control of the Lithuanian police and the Lithuanian TDA Battalion which participated in the Holocaust and killed about 26,000 Jews between July and December 1941.