Jonas Noreika

Jonas Noreika
Born	(1910-10-08)8 October 1910 Šukioniai, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	26 February 1947(1947-02-26) (aged 36) Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Cause of death	Execution by shooting
Resting place	Tuskulėnai Manor, Vilnius, Lithuania
Nationality	Lithuanian
Other names	Generolas Vėtra ('General Storm')
Alma mater	Vytautas Magnus University
Known for	Plungė massacre
Spouse	Antanina Krapavičiūtė
Awards	Order of the Cross of Vytis (1997)
Conviction(s)	Treason War crimes
Criminal penalty	Death

Jonas Noreika (8 October 1910 – 26 February 1947), also known by his post-war nom de guerre Generolas Vėtra (lit. 'General Storm'), was a Lithuanian anti-Soviet partisan, military officer, and Nazi collaborator.

In July 1941, he was the leader of the Lithuanian Activist Front in the Telšiai district.^{[citation needed]} Noreika ordered the murder of 1,800 Jews in the Plungė massacre^{[citation needed]} and later served as governor of the Šiauliai district during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, where he signed orders confining the district's Jews in a ghetto^{[citation needed]} and confiscating their property. Noreika later became one of 46 Lithuanian authority and intellectual figures imprisoned by the Nazis at Stutthof concentration camp from March 1943 until the camp's dissolution on 25 January 1945 for inciting resistance to Nazi mobilization efforts. During the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, Noreika was drafted into the Soviet Army, then worked as a jurist in Vilnius, where he was an organizer of the anti-Soviet Lithuanian National Council. He was arrested by the Soviets in March 1946 and executed on 26 February 1947.