Wilhelm "Willi" Bertuleit (Lithuanian: Vilius Bertulaitis; 29 May 1900 – 22 July 1941)[1] was a Prussian Lithuanian[2] active in the Klaipėda Region (Memelland). He supported Nazi Germany and its attempts to retake the region from Lithuania. He was a member of the NSDAP and SA. He was killed in action serving in the Wehrmacht in the Eastern Front.
Biography
editBertuleit was born in Rund-Görge,[1] now Bendikai village, just a bit north of Memel, now Klaipėda. He was director of a German bank Bank der Ostpreußischen Landschaft, credit union Kreditverband Memelländischer Grundbesitzer, and unregistered credit union Agraria Kreditgesellschaft.[3] These institutions were used to finance and support pro-Nazi party Socialist People's Union of the Klaipėda Region (Sozialistische Volksgemeinschaft des Memelgebiets or SOVOG), headed by Ernst Neumann.[3]
In 1933, Bertuleit joined the NSDAP. He became a deputy of Neumann and was tried for anti-Lithuanian activities during the Neumann–Sass case (December 1934 – March 1935). He received a twelve-year prison sentence but due to the German pressure was released from the Lithuanian imprisonment on 14 February 1938.[2] When December 1938 elections to the Parliament of the Klaipėda Region elected a pro-German majority, Bertuleit was appointed as the President of the Directorate of the Klaipėda Region.[4] After the 20 March 1939 ultimatum, Lithuania had to transfer the region to Germany. Bertuleit participated at the signing of the transfer treaty in Berlin and coordinated the transition until 1 August.[2] As the Directorate and the Parliament of the Klaipėda Region were liquidated, Bertuleit became a member of the Reichstag on 25 April.[1]
Bertuleit was a member of SA and received the rank of SA-Sturmbannführer in 1939. He died in 1941 as a member of the armed forces during the war against the Soviet Union.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c Lilla, Joachim; Döring, Martin; Schulz, Andreas, eds. (2004). Statisten in Uniform. Die Mitglieder des Reichstags 1933-1945. Ein biographisches Handbuch (in German). Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag. p. 37. ISBN 3-7700-5254-4.
- ^ a b c d Matulevičius, Algirdas (2000). "Bertulaitis, Vilius". Mažosios Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Vol. I. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. pp. 166–167. ISBN 5-420-01471-8.
- ^ a b Fuchs, Klaus (2005). "Die Ermittlungen von Matas Krygeris zum deutschnationalen Finanznetzwerk im Memelgebiet 1935" (PDF). Annaberger Annalen über Litauen und deutsch-litauische Beziehungen (in German). 13: 141. ISSN 1614-2608.
- ^ Himmel, Richard Lynn (August 1975). Years of crisis diplomacy: German–Lithuanian relations, 1933–1939 (MA thesis). Texas Tech University. p. 70. hdl:2346/19265. OCLC 1966819.