32 Facts About Aleksandras Lileikis

Aleksandras Lileikis was the chief of the Lithuanian Security Police in Vilnius during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania and a perpetrator of the Holocaust in Lithuania.

Aleksandras Lileikis signed documents handing at least 75 Jews in his control over to Ypatingasis burys, a Lithuanian collaborationist death squad, and is suspected of responsibility in the murder of thousands of Lithuanian Jews.

Eli Rosenbaum, an investigator for the Office of Special Investigations, uncovered evidence of Lileikis' war crimes; proceedings for his denaturalization were opened in 1994 and concluded with Lileikis being stripped of his United States citizenship.

Aleksandras Lileikis returned to Lithuania, where he was charged with genocide in February 1998.

Aleksandras Lileikis died of a heart attack in 2000 before a verdict was reached.

Aleksandras Lileikis attended the Ziburys gymnasium in Kraziai and War School in Kaunas.

Aleksandras Lileikis worked for the criminal police and later the State Security Department.

Aleksandras Lileikis worked at suppressing the Polish resistance in Lithuania and investigated the death of the Soviet soldier Butayev, which was part of the official pretext for the Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania.

Aleksandras Lileikis fled to Germany in 1940 due to the Soviet occupation of Lithuania and applied for German citizenship in June 1941.

Aleksandras Lileikis is suspected of responsibility in the deaths of thousands to tens of thousands of Jews.

In 1950, Aleksandras Lileikis was unanimously refused permission to emigrate to the United States by the United States Displaced Persons Commission "because of [his] known Nazi sympathies" and because he was "under the control of the Gestapo".

Aleksandras Lileikis was recruited for the Central Intelligence Agency in 1952 when he was living in Munich, described as a member of the Lithuanian National Union.

Aleksandras Lileikis had little interest in spying and was instead interested in using his intelligence work to obtain permission to immigrate to the United States.

Aleksandras Lileikis was paid $1,700 annually for his work recruiting Lithuanians in East Germany and occasional translation and intelligence work, but apparently was less than successful as the agency did not help him immigrate to the United States.

Aleksandras Lileikis settled in Norwood, Massachusetts and became a naturalized citizen in 1976.

Aleksandras Lileikis was involved in the Lithuanian community in the United States; he attended a Lithuanian Catholic church and worked as an administrator for a Lithuanian encyclopedia company, as well as painting houses for a living.

In late 1982, Aleksandras Lileikis was mentioned in a cable from Berlin as a potential war criminal and head of the Lithuanian Security Police, who had possible connections to Einsatzkommando 3, part of the Einsatzgruppen.

Aleksandras Lileikis admitted his leadership of the Lithuanian Security Police, but denied his involvement in the killings, stating that he had only done routine security work.

Aleksandras Lileikis claimed that he heard rumours that the Germans killed Jews at Ponary but that it was done without Lithuanian participation.

At the time, Aleksandras Lileikis was the oldest person to be subject to such an action.

Aleksandras Lileikis refused to comment on the allegations to the Associated Press and invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned by prosecutors.

Aleksandras Lileikis refused to state even simple details on his life, such as his date and place of birth.

The defense argued that Aleksandras Lileikis had a legitimate fear of prosecution in Lithuania, and should therefore not be compelled to testify.

In 1995, Judge Richard Stearns of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Aleksandras Lileikis was not entitled to Fifth Amendment protection because the government had a "legitimate need for a witness's testimony" in enforcing "the organic laws of the United States".

Aleksandras Lileikis voluntarily left the United States on 18 June 1996, using a Lithuanian passport to fly to Vilnius.

Aleksandras Lileikis published a memoir in Lithuanian before his death, which is a useful source on his life if not "entirely accurate" on his World War II activities.

Aleksandras Lileikis claimed to be part of the anti-Nazi resistance.

On 6 February 1998, Aleksandras Lileikis was charged with the crime of genocide by Lithuanian prosecutors.

Aleksandras Lileikis appeared in court in November 1998, but fainted just after few minutes and was taken away in an ambulance.

Aleksandras Lileikis was questioned over video on 23 June 2000 but after twenty minutes the proceedings were interrupted by an attending doctor and Lileikis was taken to a hospital.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center accused Lithuanian authorities of deliberately prolonging the trial in hopes that Aleksandras Lileikis would die of natural causes before he could be convicted.

Aleksandras Lileikis died of a heart attack at Santara Clinics in Vilnius on 26 September 2000, still insisting on his innocence and that he was the victim.