Lithuanian Nazi Collaborator Was Convicted, Sentenced, And Promptly Released
Algimantas Mykolas Dailidė was born in Kaunasis — a Lithuanian city that underwent massive expansion which began the same year of Dailidė’s birth, 1921. The city rode a giant economic wave as a result of the industrial revolution. This lasted until the Second World War. During the years preceding the outbreak of war, the city was caught between Russian and Polish rule. From 1919 until 1939, it was under Russian authority. When in 1939 the Red Army released it to Lithuania again, it took only one year before possession was handed back (or taken by, depending on one’s point of view) to the Soviet Empire. Either way, Dailidė’s early years were shaped by a revolving door of authoritarian rulers.
By 1941, Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany. Dailidė joined the Lithuanian Security Police, known as Saugumas. They made their headquarters in Kaunasis, and worked as collaborators in support of the Nazi occupation. They took orders directly form the Nazi Secret police. Their goal was to keep every citizen of the Third Reich under watch 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Lithuanian Secret Police were given the task of helping the SD by ratting out suspected Communists or Communist sympathizers, many of whom happened to be Jewish or, at the very least, Jewish supporters. Others were spied on and consequently arrested for suspected harboring of anti-Nazi sentiments, had worked for the Soviets during the time the city was under Russian rule.
This was Dailidė’s duty until one day the protocol narrowed. The Lithuanian Secret Police suddenly got in the habit of not using evidence to justify an arrest. In addition, they stopped looking for Communists. Their focus was solely on a persons’ ethnic background. In this way they were a direct extension of the Third Reich, carrying out orders that were of interest only to the Nazi regime. Lithuania was home to many Jews and had a lively Jewish community. The Saugumas made many arrests.
Dailidė’s role is not entirely clear apart from documents that confirm he worked for the SD and is accused of having arrested Jewish people. His involvement beyond this however points to the Vilnius Ghetto. It was brimming with desperate, starving, diseased people; a majority of them were, ironically, directly responsible for the impressive city they were captors of. Vilnius was a well-known rich enclave of Jewish influence until the 20th century, so much so, it was described as the “Jerusalem of Lithuania.”
Dailidė escaped Lithuania by taking refuge in Germany, and finally in the United States where he worked in real estate along the warm sandy beaches of the Florida coast. In 2004, his past began to catch up with him. He was deported, and although he was tried and convicted in a Lithuanian court for crimes committed during the war, the case was all for show. In the end, the judge totally dismissed his jail sentence.