Ain-Ervin Mere

Ain Mere
Born	February 22, 1903 Vändra, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire
Died	April 5, 1969 (aged 66) Leicester, England
Allegiance	Estonia  Soviet Union  Nazi Germany
Years of service	1918–1940 Estonian Army 1940-1941 NKVD 1941–1943 Estonian Omakaitse 1943–1945 Waffen SS
Rank	SS-Obersturmbannführer
Unit	Estonian Air Force, 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)
Battles/wars	Estonian War of Independence World War II Eastern Front Battle of Narva
Awards	Order of the Cross of the Eagle Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class

Ain Mere (from birth to Estification Ervin Martson; February 22, 1903 – April 5, 1969) was an Estonian military officer. During World War II, he was an Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) in the Waffen SS and also the head of the Sicherheitspolizei in Estonia (Security Police) following its creation in 1942.

He was born in Vändra and fought voluntarily in the Estonian War of Independence. In early 1919, Mere was wounded while serving on an armored train and was sent to the rear.

According to the KGB archives, he was drafted as an agent of NKVD in 1940–1941. Mere's reports on the resettlement of Baltic Germans and the exposure of underground Estonian organisations reached the desk of Lavrenti Beria.^[1] In recognition of his performance^[1] Mere was appointed the director of a special department of the Estonian Rifle Corps.^[2] He was known under code name "Müller".^[3][4] In July 1941 Mere surrendered himself to the German military.^[1] He was a member of the Estonian Security Police and participated in the Holocaust.^[5]

On February 5, 1945 in Berlin, he founded the Eesti Vabadusliit (anti-communist group) together with SS-Obersturmbannführer Harald Riipalu.^[6]

In March 1961, the Soviet court accused during the Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia the German Security Police in Estonia, headed by Mere (and later by Julius Ennok) to have been actively involved in the arrest and killing of Estonian Jews along with Ralf Gerrets and Jaan Viik. The police were also actively engaged in actions against Estonians deemed to be opponents of the Nazi Germany.^[7] Though living in Great Britain, he was sentenced to capital punishment. Great Britain did not extradite him, due to the lack of evidence^[8] and he died at the age of 66 in Leicester, England.

References

1. Weiss-Wendt, Anton (2009). Murder Without Hatred: Estonians and the Holocaust. Syracuse University Press. p. 116.
2. Snyder, Timothy (2016). Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. Random House. p. 214.
3. (Estonian) Koputajad raiuti raamatusse
4. (Estonian) (Swedish)
5. Patricia Heberer (2011): Children during the Holocaust, AltaMira Press
6. Veebruari sündmused (Estonian)
7. Conclusions of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity — Phase II: The German occupation of Estonia in 1941–1944
8. Reuter, 11 March 1961