Editing Werwolf (section)

===Soviet reprisals===
In the [[Soviet occupation zone of Germany|Soviet occupation zone]], thousands of youths were arrested as "Werwolves".<ref name=Weber99>{{cite book|first=Petra |last=Weber |title=Justiz und Diktatur: Justizverwaltung und politische Strafjustiz in Thüringen 1945–1961. Veröffentlichungen zur SBZ-/DDR –Forschung im Institut für Zeitgeschichte |publisher=Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag |year=2000 |page=99 |isbn=3-486-56463-3}}</ref><ref name=swr>{{cite news|url=http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/wissen/-/id=6163770/property=download/nid=660374/1dqc2hs/swr2-wissen-20100507.pdf|title=Die Lüge vom Werwolf. Warum Tausende Jugendliche in sowjetischen Lagern landeten|last=Fruth|first=Pia|date=7 May 2010<!--, 8:30&nbsp;– 9:00 CEST -->|work=[[Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk]] 2|language=de|access-date=16 May 2010|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606152811/http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/wissen/-/id=6163770/property=download/nid=660374/1dqc2hs/swr2-wissen-20100507.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Evidently, arrests were arbitrary and in part based on denunciations.<ref name=Weber99/> The arrested boys were either executed or interned in [[NKVD special camps]].<ref name=Weber99/> On 22 June 1945, Deputy Commissar of the [[NKVD]] [[Ivan Serov]] reported to the head of the NKVD [[Lavrentiy Beria]] the arrest of "more than 600" alleged Werwolf members,<ref name=Ritscher138>{{cite book|last1=Reif-Spirek|first1=Peter|last2=Ritscher|first2=Bodo|title=Speziallager in der SBZ|year=1999|publisher=Ch. Links Verlag|language=de|isbn=3-86153-193-3|page=138}}</ref> mostly aged 15 to 17 years.<ref name=Ritscher139>{{cite book|last1=Reif-Spirek|first1=Peter|last2=Ritscher|first2=Bodo|title=Speziallager in der SBZ|year=1999|publisher=Ch. Links Verlag|language=de|isbn=3-86153-193-3|page=139}}</ref>

The report, though referring to incidents where Soviet units came under fire from the woods,<ref name=Ritscher138/> asserts that most of the arrested had not been involved in any action against the Soviets, which Serov explained with interrogation results allegedly showing that the boys had been "waiting" for the right moment and in the meantime focused on attracting new members.<ref name=Ritscher139/> In October 1945, Beria reported to [[Joseph Stalin]] the "liquidation" of 359 alleged Werwolf groups.<ref name=Weber99/> Of those, 92 groups with 1,192 members were "liquidated" in [[Free State of Saxony|Saxony]] alone.<ref name=Weber99/> On 5 August 1946, [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] minister for internal affairs [[Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov]] reported that in the Soviet occupation zone, 332 "terrorist diversion groups and underground organizations" had been disclosed and "liquidated".<ref name=Weber99/> A total of about 10,000 youths were interned in NKVD special camps, half of whom did not return.<ref name=swr/> Parents as well as the East German administration and political parties, installed by the Soviets, were denied any information on the whereabouts of the arrested youths.<ref name=Weber99/> The [[Red Army]]'s torching of [[Demmin]], which [[Mass suicide in Demmin|resulted in the suicide of hundreds of people]], was blamed on alleged preceding Werwolf activities by the [[East Germany|East German]] regime.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/die-letzten-kriegstage-tragoedie-an-der-peene_aid_151639.html|title=Tragödie an der Peene|last=Vernier|first=Robert|magazine=[[Focus (German magazine)|Focus]]|date=1995-05-08|access-date=2010-08-20|language=de|archive-date=2015-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924201514/http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/die-letzten-kriegstage-tragoedie-an-der-peene_aid_151639.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>