Oskar Angelus (7 May 1892 – 3 November 1979) was an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and collaborator with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Biography

Angelus was born in Kolga Parish (now

Kuusalu Parish Kuusalu Parish () is a rural municipality in northern Estonia, the largest in Harju County. After joining with the adjacent Loksa Parish in 2005, the municipality has now a population of 6,863 (as of 1 January 2009) and covers an area of . The po ...

Kreis Harrien Harrien County ( or , , ) was one of the four counties of the Governorate of Estonia. It was situated in the central part of the governorate (in present-day northern Estonia). Its capital was ''Reval'' (Tallinn), which was the capital of the gov ...

in the

Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Esthonia (Estland) Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire. It was located in the northern Estonia with some islands in the West Estoni ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the son of Karl Angelus and Sophie Auguste Johanna Angelus (''née'' Eichhorn). In 1911, Angelus graduated from the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. He participated in the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

and was awarded the Cross of Liberty, 3rd Class. Until 1940, he worked at the Estonian Department of Internal Affairs. In 1941, after the German occupation of Estonia and the establishment of the

Estonian Self-Administration Estonian Self-Administration (, ), also known as the ''Directorate'', was the puppet government set up in Estonia during the occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany. It was headed by Hjalmar Mäe. The Estonian Self-Administration was subordinated ...

(which was subordinated to

Reichskomissariat Ostland The (RKO; ) was an administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the western part of t ...

), Angelus was made Director for Home Affairs. In this position, he established the

Estonian Security Police and SD The Estonian Security Police and SD (, ), or Sipo, was a security police force created by the Germans in 1942 that integrated both Germans and Estonians within a unique structure mirroring the German Sicherheitspolizei. Following the German occu ...

, which arrested, prosecuted, and handed over to the German authorities Soviet collaborators, as well as the remaining

Estonian Jews The history of Jews in Estonia starts with reports of the presence of individual Jews in what is now Estonia from as early as the 14th century. Jews were settled in Estonia in the 19th century, especially following a statute of Russian Tsar ...

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. When the German forces retreated from Estonia in 1944, Angelus fled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He stayed there until 1950, when he relocated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Angelus lived in the

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

n city of

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

until his death in 1979, and was never prosecuted for his role in the Holocaust.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelus, Oskar 1892 births 1979 deaths People from Kuusalu Parish Politicians from Harju County People from Kreis Harrien Estonian Self-Administration Holocaust perpetrators in Estonia Romani genocide perpetrators Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Recipients of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia) Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Sweden