Omer Bartov

#3

1971

In 1941 the Nazis launched a ferocious assault on the Soviet Union, which included Lithuania. Gecas, like many other Lithuanians, saw the Nazis as liberators after years of Russian oppression. They were welcomed with flowers and open arms. Now organised genocide was the order of the day. Gecas and other volunteers in this police battalion, the 12th Auxiliary Lithuanian Police Battalion, relished the task ahead of them. Anthony Gecas held a position of command and responsibility. He was a platoon commander. He, therefore, knew what was planned, he gave the orders. This book is the story of an investigation into terrible war crimes which took place during the early days of the Nazi occupation of the western Soviet Union and the legal battle which followed.