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During World War II, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union (1940-1941), Nazi Germany (1941-1944), and the Soviet Union again in 1944. Resistance during this period took many forms. This article presents a summary of the organizations, persons and actions involved.
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First Soviet occupation
In 1940 President Antanas Smetona fled to Germany, not wanting his government to become a puppet of the Soviet occupation. Soviet attempts to capture him were unsuccessful.
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Nazi occupation
Soviet partisans began sabotage and guerilla operations against German forces immediately after the Nazi invasion of 1941. The activities of Soviet partisans in Lithuania were partly coordinated by the Command of the Lithuanian Partisan Movement headed by Antanas Sniečkus and partly by the Central Command of the Partisan Movement of the USSR.•
In 1943, the Nazis attempted to raise a Waffen-SS division from the local population as they had in many other countries, but due to widespread coordination between resistance groups, the mobilization was boycotted. The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (Lietuvos vietinė rinktinė) was eventually formed in 1944 under Lithuanian command, but was liquidated by the Nazis only a few months later for refusing to subordinate to their command.
Also in 1943, several underground political groups united under the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (Vyriausias Lietuvos išlaisvinimo komitetas, or VLIK). The committee issued a declaration of independence that went largely unnoticed. It became mostly active outside of Lithuania among emigrants and deportees, and was able to establish contacts in Western countries and get support for resistance operations inside Lithuania (see Operation Jungle). It would persist abroad for many years as one of the groups representing Lithuania in exile.•
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Second Soviet occupation
Lithuanian partisans, known as the Forest Brothers, began guerilla warfare against Soviet forces as soon as the front passed over in 1944, and continued armed struggle until 1953. The core of this movement was made up of soldiers from the Territorial Defense Force who'd disbanded with their weapons and uniforms. The underground had extensive clandestine radio and press.[Lane, p. 58] Thousands of people engaged in active and passive resistance against the Soviet authorities.[ The various resistance organizations eventually united under the Movement of the Struggle for the Freedom of Lithuania (Lietuvos Laisvės Kovų Sąjūdis, or LLKS), issuing a declaration of independence in 1949 that would ultimately be signed into law by the independent Republic of Lithuania in 1999.][Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. ''Law on the February 16, 1949 Declaration by the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania'', Law No. VIII-1021, 1999-01-12, Vilnius.]
The most famous of these partisans is probably Juozas Lukša, author of several books during the resistance and subject of a recent film.
While armed resistance ended in the 1950s, nonviolent resistance continued in various forms (e.g. through Lithuanians living abroad, Catholic press, safeguarding local traditions and Lithuanian language, Sąjūdis movement, etc.) until 1991 when Russia recognized the independence declared by Lithuania on March 11, 1990.
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Significance of February 16
February 16, the date that Lithuania first declared its independence in 1918, played an important symbolic role during this period. The call for volunteers for the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, the VLIK declaration of independence, and the LLKS declaration of independence were all made on February 16. February 16 is a national holiday in Lithuania.
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Further reading
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See also
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