After
Nazi Germany invaded the
Soviet Union on June 22, 1941,
Army Group North reached
Estonia in July. Initially the Germans were perceived by most Estonians as liberators from the
USSR and its repressions, having arrived only a week after the first mass deportations from the Baltics. Although hopes were raised for the restoration of the country's independence, it was soon realized that they were but another occupying power. The Germans pillaged the country for their war effort and unleashed
The Holocaust in Estonia during which they and their collaborators murdered tens of thousands of people (including ethnic Estonians, Estonian Jews, Estonian Gypsies, Estonian Russians, Soviet prisoners, Jews from other countries and others). For the duration of the occupation, Estonia was incorporated into the German province of
Ostland.