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132-515: The German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact ( Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact ), signed on 23 August 1939, assured Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union of mutual non-aggression. A secret addendum divided the Baltic States and Poland between them and also reincorporated Vilnius into Lithuania. Another amendment a month reassigned Lithuania from Germany to Russia. In the first of the three invasions of Lithuania in

264-406: A 1975 investigation by US Immigration had found no evidence of Brazaitis being involved in anti-Semitic or pro-Nazi activities. The Kaunas mayor said: 'It seems strange to me that while there is no official proof, they are trying to identify the honourable Ambrazevičius-Brazaitis with pro-Nazi activity'. Simonas Alperavicius  [ lt ] , leader of Lithuania's Jewish community, protested

396-488: A British-Polish alliance led to a restructuring of strategy towards Moscow. Alfred Rosenberg wrote that he had spoken to Hermann Göring of the potential pact with the Soviet Union: "When Germany's life is at stake, even a temporary alliance with Moscow must be contemplated". Sometime in early May 1939 at Berghof , Ribbentrop showed Hitler a film of Stalin viewing his military in a recent parade. Hitler became intrigued with

528-732: A Lithuanian volunteer Waffen SS Legion, which the Germans tried and failed to organize in 1943. In the spring of 1942, the LF and the Christian Democrats established the National Council. At the same time, a more pluralistic Lithuanian Supreme Committee was formed. On 25 November 1943 both organisations founded the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (VLIK), Steponas Kairys became

660-451: A decree July 29, 1941 at the request of the German authorities that expelled Jewish lecturers and Polish and Jewish students from the universities. At Vytautas Magnus University , 31 people were dismissed, mostly Jews, but also Tatars, Russians, and Poles, as well as Lithuanians accused of supporting Soviet rule. The Germans never intended to rebuild an independent Lithuania, however, nor were

792-535: A definition of "indirect aggression" became one of the sticking points between the parties, and by mid-July, the tripartite political negotiations effectively stalled while the parties agreed to start negotiations on a military agreement, which the Soviets insisted had to be reached at the same time as any political agreement. One day before the military negotiations began, the Soviet Politburo pessimistically expected

924-511: A dramatic decline in German–Soviet trade. Imports of Soviet goods to Germany fell to 223 million ℛ︁ℳ︁ in 1934 by the more isolationist Stalinist regime asserting power and by the abandonment of postwar Treaty of Versailles military controls, both of which decreased Germany's reliance on Soviet imports. In 1935 Germany, after a previous German–Polish declaration of non-aggression , through Hermann Goring proposed

1056-517: A few weeks, and seeing no more reason to continue, dissolved on August 5, 1941, LAF as an organization remained in existence. On September 15, it sent Germany a memorandum, About the status of Lithuania after the German Civil Administration started to operate ( Apie Lietuvos būklę, vokiečių civilinei administracijai pradėjus veikti ), protesting the occupation of Lithuania and expressing hope that Germany would not extend its territory at

1188-499: A flurry of suggestions and counterplans on a potential political and military agreement. Informal consultations started in April, but the main negotiations began only in May. Meanwhile, throughout early 1939, Germany had secretly hinted to Soviet diplomats that it could offer better terms for a political agreement than could Britain and France. The Soviet Union, which feared Western powers and

1320-526: A limousine operated by the NKVD to travel to Red Square . The limousine arrived close to Stalin's office and was greeted by Alexander Poskrebyshev , the chief of Stalin's personal chancellery. The Germans were led up a flight of stairs to a room with lavish furnishings. Stalin and Molotov greeted the visitors, much to the Nazis' surprise. It was well known that Stalin avoided meeting foreign visitors, and so his presence at

1452-539: A list of members of the planned Provisional Government of Lithuania . Urban LAF units had more liberal political views than those in the countryside. Lack of communication between the Berlin unit and the Lithuanian units prevented ideological discussion though. "Attention! Attention! This is Kaunas speaking. Independent Lithuania. Declaration of the restoration of Lithuania’s independence...The Lithuanian nation, tormented by

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1584-549: A member of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) in Lithuania. The LAF was founded in Berlin by Lithuanian ambassador Kazys Škirpa . Its goal was to rebuild a Lithuania independent of the Soviets under German protection. Their early publications called for the expulsion of Jews from Lithuania and the requisition of their property and blamed them for the country's loss of independence. On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded

1716-710: A military alliance with Poland against the Soviet Union, but this was rejected. In 1936, Germany and Fascist Italy supported the Spanish Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War , but the Soviets supported the Spanish Republic . Thus, the Spanish Civil War became a proxy war between Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1936, Germany and Japan entered the Anti-Comintern Pact . and they were joined

1848-488: A secret German–Soviet pact. On 23 August, a ten-year non-aggression pact was signed with provisions that included consultation, arbitration if either party disagreed, neutrality if either went to war against a third power and no membership of a group "which is directly or indirectly aimed at the other". The article "On Soviet–German Relations" in the Soviet newspaper Izvestia of 21 August 1939, stated: Following completion of

1980-505: A single pro-Soviet candidate listed for many positions, and the resulting people's assemblies immediately requesting admission into the Soviet Union, which was granted. (The Soviets annexed the whole of Lithuania, including the Šešupė area, which had been earmarked for Germany.) Finally, on 26 June, four days after the armistice between France and Nazi Germany , the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum that demanded Bessarabia and unexpectedly Northern Bukovina from Romania. Two days later,

2112-480: A small minority of the city's population. The uprising was therefore smaller there, than elsewhere and only started on June 23. The rebels took the post office and radio station, and hoisted the Lithuanian flag over Gediminas' Tower . It was relatively easy to take Vilnius, as most Red Army units were outside the city and quickly retreated. The LAF is controversial for its anti-Semitism . The LAF's manifesto "What Are

2244-529: A subsequent clarification issued in 2019 by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress said the investigation was not conclusive and did not amount to a "rehabilitation" of Ambrazevičius/Brazaitis. The investigation into his wartime activities was discontinued after Ambrazevičius/Brazaitis passed away in 1974. Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , officially

2376-511: A two-front war, which changed the strategic situation from that in World War I, and that Britain should accept his demands on Poland. On 25 August, Hitler was surprised when Britain joined a defense pact with Poland . Hitler postponed his plans for an invasion of Poland on 26 August to 1 September. In accordance with the defence pact, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland from

2508-645: A year later by Italy , despite Italy having previously signed the Italo-Soviet Pact . On 31 March 1939, Britain extended a guarantee to Poland that "if any action clearly threatened Polish independence, and if the Poles felt it vital to resist such action by force, Britain would come to their aid". Hitler was furious since that meant that the British were committed to political interests in Europe and that his land grabs such as

2640-507: Is one common element in the ideology of Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union: opposition to the capitalist democracies" or that "it seems to us rather unnatural that a socialist state would stand on the side of the western democracies". At the same time, British, French, and Soviet negotiators scheduled three-party talks on military matters to occur in Moscow in August 1939 that aimed to define what

2772-581: Is part of the Odessa Oblast , which is also now in Ukraine. The pact was terminated on 22 June 1941, when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union, in pursuit of the ideological goal of Lebensraum . The Anglo-Soviet Agreement succeeded it. After the war, Ribbentrop was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials and executed. Molotov died in 1986. The outcome of World War I

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2904-591: The Antanas Smetona government. But since the city had been taken in a false flag operation in October 1920, the city had become more Polish and more Jewish, a situation made even more so by refugees, garrisons and POW camps after the German invasion of Poland. The LAF section in Vilnius under Vytautas Bulvičius was dismantled by Soviet arrests just before the German invasion and even before that Lithuanians had only been

3036-572: The City of London [British financiers] and the English shopkeepers." The agreement stunned the world. John Gunther , in Moscow in August 1939, recalled how the news of the 19 August commercial agreement surprised journalists and diplomats, who hoped for world peace. They did not expect the 21 August announcement of the non-aggression pact: "Nothing more unbelievable could be imagined. Astonishment and skepticism turned quickly to consternation and alarm". The news

3168-686: The Karelia and Salla regions in Finland were annexed by the Soviet Union following the Winter War . The Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Romania ( Bessarabia , Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region ) followed. Stalin's invasion of Bukovina in 1940 violated the pact, since it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence that had been agreed with the Axis. The territories of Poland annexed by

3300-717: The Katyn massacre , 22,000 members of the military as well as intellectuals were executed, labelled "nationalists and counterrevolutionaries" or kept at camps and prisons in western Ukraine and Belarus . In mid-June 1940, while international attention focused on the German invasion of France , Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania , Estonia and Latvia . State administrations were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres, who deported or killed 34,250 Latvians, 75,000 Lithuanians and almost 60,000 Estonians. Elections took place, with

3432-597: The Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions (Lithuanian version of Schutzmannschaft ). The original TDA eventually became the 12th and the 13th Police Battalions. These two units took an active role in mass killings of the Jews in Lithuania and Belarus. Based on the Jäger Report , members of TDA murdered about 26,000 Jews between July and December 1941. Later Juozas Ambrazevičius actively participated in

3564-460: The Munich Agreement that followed the conference agreed to a German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia in late 1938, but in early 1939 it had been completely dissolved. The policy of appeasement toward Germany was conducted by the governments of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier . The policy immediately raised the question of whether

3696-474: The New York Times reported Japanese anger and French communist surprise over the pact. The same day, however, Tolischus filed a story that noted Nazi troops on the move near Gleiwitz (now Gliwice ), which led to the false flag Gleiwitz incident on 31 August 1939. On 28 August 1939, the New York Times was still reporting on fears of a Gleiwitz raid. On 29 August 1939, the New York Times reported that

3828-582: The New York Times reported a Soviet buildup on its Western frontiers by moving 200,000 troops from the Far East . On 22 August, one day after talks broke down with France and Britain, Moscow revealed that Ribbentrop would visit Stalin the next day. The Soviets were still negotiating with the British and the French missions in Moscow. With the Western nations unwilling to accede to Soviet demands, Stalin instead entered

3960-511: The Ninth Fort . The LAF anticipated Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union and planned to use it to rebel against the Soviet Union and establish an independent Lithuania. Kazys Škirpa , a former Lithuanian military attaché to Germany, founded the LAF on 17 November 1940. to unite people with a wide spectrum of political beliefs who wanted to see an independent Lithuania that was not part of either

4092-600: The Red Army invaded Finland, launching the Winter War with the aim of annexing Finland into the Soviet Union. The Soviets formed the Finnish Democratic Republic to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. The leader of the Leningrad Military District, Andrei Zhdanov , commissioned a celebratory piece from Dmitri Shostakovich , Suite on Finnish Themes , to be performed as the marching bands of

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4224-594: The Supreme Soviet had failed on its first day of convening to act on the pact. The same day, the New York Times also reported from Montreal , Canada, that American Professor Samuel N. Harper of the University of Chicago had stated publicly his belief that "the Russo-German non-aggression pact conceals an agreement whereby Russia and Germany may have planned spheres of influence for Eastern Europe". On 30 August 1939,

4356-673: The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Stalin , stating concern for ethnic Ukrainians and Belarusians in Poland, ordered the Soviet invasion of Poland . After a short war ending in military defeat for Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union drew up a new border between them on formerly Polish territory in the supplementary protocol of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty . In March 1940, parts of

4488-804: The Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact , was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union , with a secret protocol establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Northern Europe. The pact was signed in Moscow on 24 August 1939 (backdated 23 August 1939) by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop . The treaty

4620-424: The antisemitic Nazis associated ethnic Jews with both communism and financial capitalism , both of which they opposed . Nazi theory held that Slavs in the Soviet Union were being ruled by " Jewish Bolshevik " masters. Hitler had spoken of an inevitable battle for the acquisition of land for Germany in the east. The resulting manifestation of German anti-Bolshevism and an increase in Soviet foreign debts caused

4752-744: The successor state to the Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The territories annexed from Romania were also integrated into the Soviet Union (such as the Moldavian SSR , or oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR ). The core of Bessarabia now forms Moldova . Northern Bessarabia , Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region now form the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. Southern Bessarabia

4884-572: The "Bulletin of the Lithuanian Front" and in January 1943 "Freedom." The goal was to prepare Lithuanian society for a popular anti-Soviet uprising and the restoration of Lithuania within its borders. Ambrazevičius ordered Petras Vilutis in May 1942 to form the "Kęstutis" military organization. Vilutis, after he left to study in Vienna, was replaced by Juozas Jankauskas  [ lt ] . The purpose of

5016-417: The "Kęstutis" was to collect weapons and create military structures for the future uprising. According to Soviet reports, both LF and "Kęstutis" were in close contact with the Germans and the German intelligence service, and cooperated with them in fighting Soviet partisans and activists. The LF's anti-Nazi resistance was passive; its main act of resistance was an extensive propaganda campaign against forming

5148-523: The Activists Fighting for?" stated: "The Lithuanian Activist Front, by restoring the new Lithuania, is determined to carry out an immediate and fundamental purging of the Lithuanian nation and its land of Jews...". The LAF's pro-Nazi rhetoric and stridently anti-Semitic propaganda, equating Jews with Bolshevism , was widely disseminated in Lithuania prior to and during the June uprising and likely encouraged

5280-643: The German Army, partisans and individuals should avoid public executions of Jews." It is known that the Provisional Government attempted to stop Algirdas Klimaitis and later condemned him for his actions during the Kaunas pogrom . Klimaitis and his gang members did not belonged to LAF, which organized the June Uprising, as he and his gang members were imprisoned in a Bolsheviks ' prison and left it only during

5412-473: The German collapse, a multinational Allied-led army intervened in the civil war (1917–1922). On 16 April 1922, the German Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union agreed to the Treaty of Rapallo in which they renounced territorial and financial claims against each other. Each party also pledged neutrality in the event of an attack against the other with the Treaty of Berlin (1926) . Trade between

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5544-533: The German occupation. Germany began a campaign of " Germanization ", which meant assimilating the occupied territories politically, culturally, socially and economically into the German Reich. 50,000–200,000 Polish children were kidnapped to be Germanised. Juozas Ambrazevi%C4%8Dius Juozas Ambrazevičius or Juozas Brazaitis (December 9, 1903 – November 28, 1974), was a Nazi collaborator and Lithuanian literary historian who became prime minister when

5676-583: The Germans began arresting VLIK members, and in June Adolfas Damušis was arrested. In July Ambrazevičius decided to leave Vilnius with the retreating German army and go to Germany. In the summer of 1944 Ambrazevičius left for Germany, and from there in 1948 for the United States, where he edited a Catholic daily named Darbininkas lit.   ' The Worker ' , based in New York City , under

5808-448: The Germans referred to these "allies" as "organized robbers". At the beginning of the occupation, Acting Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Lithuania Juozas Ambrazevičius (also called Juozas Brazaitis) convened a meeting in of cabinet ministers with former President Kazys Grinius , Bishop Vincentas Brizgys and others. Ministers expressed distress at the atrocities being committed against Jews and decided to help them. However

5940-658: The Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great . Controversy arose over the ceremonial reburial with state honors of the remains of Juozas Ambrazevičius in May 2012. Ambrazevičius' remains were transported back from the United States to Lithuania, met by an honour guard at Kaunas airport and reburied at Christ's Resurrection Church in Kaunas . At the reburial ceremony in Kaunas, adviser to Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius said that

6072-417: The Great offered to the Jews in Lithuania has been revoked for all times for the ongoing betrayal of the Lithuanian nation." – LAF Pamphlet "Guidelines for the Liberation of Lithuania", March 1941 By some calculations, more than 95% of Lithuania's Jewish population was massacred during the Nazi occupation, a more complete destruction than befell any other country in the Holocaust . Historians attribute this to

6204-480: The Jewish population to wear a star, among many other restrictions. Within a few more days, Einsatzkommando 9 was pulling Jewish men from their homes for purported work assignments. Just days earlier, the NKVD had rounded up and deported between 15,851 and 20,000 “anti-Soviet elements” from across Lithuania. Most of the tens of thousands of people deported were sent to Siberia. Hundreds of political prisoners were tortured to death. The widespread press coverage blames

6336-423: The Jewish population. The LAF and its paramilitaries initially proved useful for this. But Stahlecker later complained that it was "not a simple matter" to organize Lithuanians into taking actions against Jews. Lithuanian Minister of National Defence General Stasys Raštikis (former Commander of the Lithuanian Army ) met personally with Nazi Germany generals to discuss anti-Jewish violence and began narrating about

6468-443: The LAF were arrested, executed, or exiled by the Soviet authorities. The Wehrmacht began disarming LAF activists in Kaunas on June 26 to 28. The last LAF activists were disarmed in Zarasai and Obeliai June 28–29. The German authorities did not use brute force, just established their own administrative structure, Reichskommissariat Ostland , and slowly deprived the would-be puppet government of its powers. It lost all authority in

6600-426: The Lithuanian June Uprising . The Kremlin actively opposed his activities. In the 1970s he became a subject of interest for the Soviet media and American hunters of Nazi collaborators, who accused him of having worked for the Third Reich. In reply, he published an extensive dossier of his World War II activities. His major works include In 2009 Ambrazevičius was posthumously awarded Lithuania's highest decoration,

6732-440: The Lithuanian Shoah in four stages, Stanislovas Stasiulis writes: By 1941 refugees had grown the Jewish population of Lithuania to approximately 250,000, or 10% of the total population. During the German invasion of June 1941, 141,000 Jews were murdered. Unlike in Western Europe, Lithuanian Jews were generally killed a short distance from their homes. Notable execution locations were the Paneriai woods (see Ponary massacre ) and

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6864-454: The Lithuanian society and Government dissatisfaction and concern about the persecution and extermination of the Lithuanian Jews started by the Germans and demanded that the campaign against Jews in Kaunas and in the province now be stopped, but the Nazi generals refused and one of them even unexpectedly poured cold water on Raštikis' head when he was leaving. Meanwhile, the LAF-established Provisional Government of Lithuania did little to oppose

6996-441: The Lithuanians the only people the Germans allowed to believe that they were liberators. On August 5, 1941, the provisional government was dissolved by Germans, and on September 22, the LAF was dissolved. However, the Germans did not abolish the local administration, and transformed the TDA battalions and Lithuanian police into the subordinated Lithuanian Auxiliary Police . After the LAF was liquidated, most of its members moved to

7128-541: The Nazi emissaries stepped off the plane, a Soviet military band played " Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles ". The Nazi arrival was well planned, with all aesthetics in order. The classic hammer and sickle was propped up next to the swastika of the Nazi flag that had been used in a local film studio for Soviet propaganda films. After stepping off the plane and shaking hands, Ribbentrop and Gustav Hilger along with German ambassador Friedrich-Werner von der Schulenburg and Stalin's chief bodyguard, Nikolai Vlasik , entered

7260-439: The Nazis had no interest in an independent Lithuania and General feldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch issued a directive on June 26, 1941 to the commander of Army Group North under which "small armed Lithuanian groups and Lithuanian police" were to be disarmed and sent to concentration camps. The Provisional Government was mainly recruited from the Vilnius and Kaunas sections. Over time, many members of this government and

7392-412: The Nazis routed the Soviets from Lithuania. His own ideology and views are disputed. Ambrazevičius studied literature at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas and the University of Bonn . Starting in 1927 he lectured on Lithuanian literature and folklore in Kaunas. By the end of the 1930s he was involved in numerous organizations for literature and science. He also worked on the editorial staff of

7524-456: The Occupied Eastern Territories Franz Walter Stahlecker . In this report Stahlecker states that the extermination of Jews in the Wehrmacht -occupied territories should be performed in a way that would keep the Nazis "clean" and show no sign of actual Nazi inspiration, October 15, 1941 report to Reich Minister Heinrich Himmler . organization or management. It should look like the local population and its institutions on their own initiative executed

7656-415: The Polish government feared that if the Red Army entered Polish territory, it would never leave. On 19 August, the 1939 German–Soviet Commercial Agreement was finally signed. On 21 August, the Soviets suspended the tripartite military talks and cited other reasons. The same day, Stalin received assurances that Germany would approve secret protocols to the proposed non-aggression pact that would place

7788-434: The Polish underground, as well as a channel to Western countries through Lithuanian diplomats who remained in neutral countries. VLIK and LF still did not undertake active resistance against the Germans, supported the establishment of Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force units of Colonel Povilas Plechavičius in cooperation with the Germans, but also documented German crimes and collected intelligence material. In April 1944,

7920-443: The Provisional Government had already withdrawn. Žydų padėties nuostatai was not published anywhere at the time and the affairs of Lithuanian Jews were never governed by it. Nazi authorities surreptitiously encouraged and involved the local population in attacks on Jews. These tactics are well disclosed in October 15, 1941 report to Reich Minister Heinrich Himmler . Schutzstaffel General Brigadeführer and Security Police Chief of

8052-414: The Provisional Government, apparently unprompted, such as the August 1st proposed Regulations on the Status of the Jews for example. The LAF was in Kaunus when the Germans arrived but were preoccupied with the repair and control of the radio station, which the Soviets had sabotaged. Ambrazevičius served as prime minister from June 23, 1941 to August 5, 1941 and was also Minister of Education. He issued

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8184-457: The Red Army would be parading through Helsinki. After Finnish defenses surprisingly held out for over three months and inflicted stiff losses on Soviet forces, under the command of Semyon Timoshenko , the Soviets settled for an interim peace . Finland ceded parts of Karelia and Salla (9% of Finnish territory), which resulted in approximately 422,000 Karelians (12% of Finland's population) losing their homes. Soviet official casualty counts in

8316-414: The Romanians acceded to the Soviet demands, and the Soviets occupied the territories. The Hertsa region was initially not requested by the Soviets but was later occupied by force after the Romanians had agreed to the initial Soviet demands. The subsequent waves of deportations began in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina . At the end of October 1939, Germany enacted the death penalty for disobedience to

8448-474: The Second World War, the Soviets overthrew the government of Antanas Smetona in 1940 on the basis of a changing list of disparate pretexts. Many Lithuanians were relieved; newspapers had shut down, "the militia confiscated private property, ejected tenants from their homes, publicly called for liquidation of ' enemies of the people ' and terrorized the population", and Smetona had stopped holding elections. The Germans arrived on 22 June 1941 and within days required

8580-534: The Soviet Union following the 1939 Soviet invasion east of the Curzon line remained in the Soviet Union after the war and are now in Ukraine and Belarus . Vilnius was given to Lithuania. Only Podlaskie and a small part of Galicia east of the San River , around Przemyśl , were returned to Poland . Of all the other territories annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939–1940, those detached from Finland (Western Karelia , Petsamo ), Estonia ( Estonian Ingria and Petseri County ) and Latvia ( Abrene ) remain part of Russia,

8712-404: The Soviet Union . On June 23, the June Uprising in Lithuania began, first in Kaunas and then throughout the country. LAF representative Leonas Prapuolenis broadcast an announcement of the newly independent Lithuanian state and its formation of a provisional government. Insurgents and TDA members organized and engaged in pogroms against the Jewish population. One of the bloodiest occurred in

8844-441: The Soviet Union also needed to secure the frontier in the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars . On 17 September, the Red Army invaded Poland , violating the 1932 Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact , and occupied the Polish territory assigned to it by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. That was followed by co-ordination with German forces in Poland. Polish troops already fighting much stronger German forces on its west desperately tried to delay

8976-416: The Soviet Union and German Reich issued a joint declaration in which they declared: After the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the USSR have, by means of the treaty signed today, definitively settled the problems arising from the collapse of the Polish state and have thereby created a sure foundation for lasting peace in the region, they mutually express their conviction that it would serve

9108-401: The Soviet Union as "inevitable". Concerns over the possible existence of a secret protocol were expressed first by the intelligence organizations of the Baltic states only days after the pact was signed. Speculation grew stronger when Soviet negotiators referred to its content during the negotiations for military bases in those countries (see occupation of the Baltic States ). The day after

9240-430: The Soviet Union could avoid being next on Hitler's list. The Soviet leadership believed that the West wanted to encourage German aggression in the East and to stay neutral in a war initiated by Germany in the hope that Germany and the Soviet Union would wear each other out and put an end to both regimes. For Germany, an autarkic economic approach and an alliance with Britain were impossible and so closer relations with

9372-430: The Soviet Union or Nazi Germany , Škirpa's Berlin unit mainly recruited Lithuanian expatriates and former diplomats, from most of the major pre-war Lithuanian factions and parties. The Nationalist Unionists and Christian Democrats were the most influential. The Provisional Government was mainly recruited from the Vilnius and Kaunas sections of the LAF. On 22 April 1941, representatives of those sections agreed on

9504-476: The Soviet Union to obtain raw materials became necessary. Besides economic reasons, an expected British blockade during a war would also create massive shortages for Germany in a number of key raw materials. After the Munich Agreement, the resulting increase in German military supply needs and Soviet demands for military machinery made talks between the two countries occur from late 1938 to March 1939. Also,

9636-467: The Soviet Union. According to the protocol, Lithuania would be granted its historical capital, Vilnius , which was part of Poland during the interwar period . Another clause stipulated that Germany would not interfere with the Soviet Union's actions towards Bessarabia , which was then part of Romania . As a result, Bessarabia as well as the Northern Bukovina and Hertsa regions were occupied by

9768-638: The Soviet Union. The protocol also recognized the interest of Lithuania in the Vilnius region . In the west, rumoured existence of the Secret Protocol was proven only when it was made public during the Nuremberg trials . A week after signing the pact, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland . On 17 September, one day after a Soviet–Japanese ceasefire came into effect after the Battles of Khalkhin Gol , and one day after

9900-593: The Soviet invasion of the Polish Kresy , the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was modified by the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation , allotting Germany a larger part of Poland and transferring Lithuania, with the exception of the left bank of the River Scheschupe , the "Lithuanian Strip", from the envisioned German sphere to the Soviet sphere. On 28 September 1939,

10032-460: The Soviet radio station at Minsk , allegedly "for urgent aeronautical experiments". Hitler declared at Danzig: Poland never will rise again in the form of the Versailles treaty . That is guaranteed not only by Germany , but also   ... Russia . In the opinion of Robert Service , Stalin did not move instantly but was waiting to see whether the Germans would halt within the agreed area, and

10164-441: The Soviets and integrated into the Soviet Union. At the signing, Ribbentrop and Stalin enjoyed warm conversations, exchanged toasts and further addressed the prior hostilities between the countries in the 1930s. They characterised Britain as always attempting to disrupt Soviet–German relations and stated that the Anti-Comintern Pact was aimed not at the Soviet Union but actually at Western democracies and "frightened principally

10296-541: The Soviet–German trade and credit agreement, there has arisen the question of improving political links between Germany and the USSR. There was also a secret protocol to the pact, which was revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945 although hints about its provisions had been leaked much earlier, so as to influence Lithuania. According to the protocol, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland were divided into German and Soviet " spheres of influence ". In

10428-536: The Status of Jews ), although according to some authors they were never actually adopted and were only considered by the Provisional Government. Žydų padėties nuostatai was widely used in the Soviet propaganda . However physical signs that this document initially was not kept with enacted legal texts and was pulled into a set of rulings by the German-appointed councillors as if it were a Provisional Government rule, when

10560-493: The agreement would specify on the reaction of the three powers to a German attack. The tripartite military talks , started in mid-August, hit a sticking point on the passage of Soviet troops through Poland if Germans attacked, and the parties waited as British and French officials overseas pressured Polish officials to agree to such terms. Polish officials refused to allow Soviet troops into Polish territory if Germany attacked; Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck pointed out that

10692-480: The anti-Jewish violence and murder carried out by the Nazis and their local collaborators. Its main goal was to protect ethnic Lithuanians and reestablish an independent Lithuania under the patronage of Nazi Germany . Ministers expressed distress at the atrocities being committed against the Jews, but advised only that "despite all the measures which must be taken against the Jews for their Communist activity and harm done to

10824-649: The anti-Nazi underground, and four members of the Provisional Government were imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps . There are allegations by certain journalists that, in 1973, a Committee of the United States Congress made conclusions that Prime Minister of the Provisional Government Juozas Ambrazevičius' and Jonas Šlepetys' were not responsible for the Holocaust in Lithuania . However,

10956-458: The brutal Bolshevik terror, decided to build its future on the basis of national unity and social justice." Leonas Prapuolenis , first announcement of the Provisional Government on the captured Kaunas radio station. The Provisional Government was short-handed when it took office on June 24, intending to exert the autonomy the Lithuanians hoped the Germans brought with them. Four members of

11088-489: The capture of Kaunas, when 3,500 Jews were killed. When Einsatzgruppen A entered Kaunas, they found it already in the hands of Algirdas Klimaitis ' 600-man Voldemarininkai militia. Its commander, Franz Walter Stahlecker , explained in an October 15 report that after meeting with little enthusiasm from the Security Police, he had used Klimaitis' men rather than his own for the Kaunas pogrom . It had to be shown to

11220-411: The capture of Warsaw. Consequently, Polish forces could not mount significant resistance against the Soviets. On 18 September, The New York Times published an editorial arguing that "Hitlerism is brown communism, Stalinism is red fascism ...The world will now understand that the only real 'ideological' issue is one between democracy, liberty and peace on the one hand and despotism , terror and war on

11352-525: The case of German aggression. The Soviets proposed to consider that a political turn towards Germany by the Baltic states would constitute an "indirect aggression" towards the Soviet Union. Britain opposed such proposals because they feared the Soviets' proposed language would justify a Soviet intervention in Finland and the Baltic states or push those countries to seek closer relations with Germany. The discussion of

11484-485: The chairman, and Adolfas Damušis from the LF his deputy. Juozas Ambrazevičius became the chairman of the VLIK's political commission. "Kęstutis" became the core of the Lithuanian armed forces reconstituted by the VLIK. Although VLIK considered itself the sole representative of the Lithuanian state, it remained mainly a consultative committee of numerous organizations that retained autonomy. VLIK tried to establish contacts with

11616-495: The city of Vilnius and its environs. On 8 October 1939, a new Nazi-Soviet agreement was reached by an exchange of letters between Vyacheslav Molotov and the German ambassador. The Baltic states of Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania were given no choice but to sign a so-called "Pact of Defence and Mutual Assistance", which permitted the Soviet Union to station troops in them. After the Baltic states had been forced to accept treaties, Stalin turned his sights on Finland and

11748-402: The coming negotiations to go nowhere and formally decided to consider German proposals seriously. The military negotiations began on 12 August in Moscow, with a British delegation headed by the retired admiral Sir Reginald Drax , French delegation headed by General Aimé Doumenc and the Soviet delegation headed by Kliment Voroshilov , the commissar of defence, and Boris Shaposhnikov , chief of

11880-506: The dangers of an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany. The contrasting attitudes partly explain why the Soviets have often been charged with playing a double game in 1939 of carrying on open negotiations for an alliance with Britain and France but secretly considering propositions from Germany. By the end of May, drafts had been formally presented. In mid-June, the main tripartite negotiations started. Discussions were focused on potential guarantees to Central and Eastern Europe in

12012-470: The expense of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Activist Front was banned on September 26, its property confiscated, and its leader Leonas Prapuolenis arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp . Other members like Pilypas Žukauskas  [ lt ] and Petras Paulaitis  [ lt ] joined the anti-Nazi resistance. For historic and religious reasons, Vilnius was very important to Lithuanians. In 1900 Jonas Biliūnas called it “the very heart” of

12144-467: The fact that England and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, whereupon, in case of the continuation of the war, the Governments of Germany and of the USSR shall engage in mutual consultations with regard to necessary measures. On 3 October, Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg , the German ambassador in Moscow, informed Joachim Ribbentrop that the Soviet government was willing to cede

12276-489: The fatherland. Its effect on Lithuanian national consciousness after World War II has been described as "selective memory" which downplayed the religious aspects of the history while stressing its "secular, cultural and linguistic aspects." Lithuania accepted a military presence to regain administrative control of Vilnius. The former capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth clearly was part of Lithuania, to

12408-450: The first days of the war. According to Lithuanian-American Holocaust historian Saulius Sužiedėlis, "none of this amounted to a public scolding which alone could have persuaded at least some of the Lithuanians who had volunteered or been co-opted into participating in the killings to rethink their behavior." The Lithuanian TDA Battalions , military units of the Provisional Government, were soon taken over by Nazi officials and reorganized into

12540-415: The general staff. Without written credentials, Drax was not authorised to guarantee anything to the Soviet Union and had been instructed by the British government to prolong the discussions as long as possible and to avoid answering the question of whether Poland would agree to permit Soviet troops to enter the country if the Germans invaded. From April to July, Soviet and German officials made statements on

12672-564: The government were arrested by Soviet authorities on June 21, proposed prime minister Kazys Škirpa was under house arrest in Berlin, and another minister was also unable to serve. Juozas Ambrazevičius became prime minister. "The historic interplay between the growth of anti-Soviet resistance in 1940–1941 and the behavior of many pro-Nazi Lithuanian collaborators during 1941–1944 is a complex story of nationalist idealism, political naivite, ideological contamination, obsequious opportunism and criminal intent," wrote historian Saulius Sužiedelis. But

12804-508: The half of Poland east of the Vistula River as well as Latvia , Estonia , Finland and Bessarabia in the Soviet sphere of influence. That night, Stalin replied that the Soviets were willing to sign the pact and that he would receive Ribbentrop on 23 August. On 25 August 1939, the New York Times ran a front-page story by Otto D. Tolischus , "Nazi Talks Secret", whose subtitle included "Soviet and Reich Agree on East". On 26 August 1939,

12936-540: The help would have been very limited; at the very beginning of the Nazi occupation, the affairs of Jews and Poles were excluded from Lithuanian jurisdiction and taken over by the Germans and German military commanders. On the other hand, a number of laws issued by the LAF-instituted Provisional Government of Lithuania discriminated against Jews. for example Žydų padėties nuostatai (English: Regulation on

13068-417: The idea of allying with the Soviets and Ribbentrop recalled Hitler saying that Stalin "looked like a man he could do business with". Ribbentrop was then given the nod to pursue negotiations with Moscow. Hitler's fierce anti-Soviet rhetoric was one of the reasons that Britain and France decided that Soviet participation in the 1938 Munich Conference on Czechoslovakia would be both dangerous and useless. In

13200-400: The importance of the fact that they had opposed and fought the Germans in various ways for a decade prior to signing the pact. Molotov tried to reassure the Germans of his good intentions by commenting to journalists that "fascism is a matter of taste". For its part, Germany also did a public volte-face regarding its virulent opposition to the Soviet Union, but Hitler still viewed an attack on

13332-479: The independence of Poland, Belgium, Romania, Greece and Turkey. On 6 April, Poland and Britain agreed to formalise the guarantee as a military alliance , pending negotiations. On 28 April, Hitler denounced the 1934 German–Polish declaration of non-aggression and the 1935 Anglo–German Naval Agreement . In mid-March 1939, attempting to contain Hitler's expansionism, the Soviet Union, Britain and France started to trade

13464-550: The latter city. Stalin had decided in August that he was going to liquidate the Polish state, and a German–Soviet meeting in September addressed the future structure of the "Polish region". Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of Sovietisation of the newly acquired areas. The Soviets organised staged elections, the result of which was to become a legitimisation of the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland. Eleven days after

13596-428: The local Communists but also Jews, who were stereotyped by the Lithuanian media of the time as closely associated with the Soviets. Other stereotypes existed on both sides. Lithuanians for instance considered language an important part of national identity, yet Litvaks tended to speak Yiddish or Russian, and to live in cities, while they in turn considered the Lithuanians rather rustic folk. Historians generally divide

13728-489: The local population to engage in mass violence against Jews that began prior to the arrival of Nazi forces in the country and continued during the Nazi occupation (1941–1945). "Our aim is to compel the Jews to flee Lithuania together with the Red Army troops and Russians. The more Jews abandon Lithuania under these circumstances, the easier it will be later to achieve complete liberation from the Jews. The hospitality that Vytautas

13860-459: The massive collaboration in the genocide by the non-Jewish local paramilitaries, though the reasons for this collaboration are still debated. The goal of the June uprising organized by the LAF was to seize control of Lithuania as Soviet forces retreated in the face of Germany's attack. LAF paramilitaries committed many atrocities in the uprising (rapes, murders, pillage). According to Tadeusz Piotrowski ,

13992-532: The meeting showed how seriously that the Soviets were taking the negotiations. In late July and early August 1939, Soviet and German officials agreed on most of the details of a planned economic agreement and specifically addressed a potential political agreement, which the Soviets stated could come only after an economic agreement. The German presence in the Soviet capital during negotiations can be regarded as rather tense. German pilot Hans Baur recalled that Soviet secret police followed every move. Their job

14124-613: The name Juozas Brazaitis. He also continued working on the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania from exile and published a number of leaflets illustrating German and Soviet crimes in Lithuania and the Lithuanian resistance, for example, In the Name of the Lithuanian People (1946) and Appeal to the United Nations on Genocide (1951). In 1964 he published a book titled Vienų vieni ( lit.   ' All Alone ' ) about

14256-503: The national daily Lietuva ( Lithuania ) and the Catholic daily XX amžius ( The 20th Century ). He sometimes used the pseudonym "Servus" to write for these newspapers. During World War II he edited an underground periodical Į laisvę  [ lt ] ( Towards Freedom ), which he later revived in Germany and the United States. As the Soviets occupied Lithuania, Ambrazevičius became

14388-511: The north, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia were assigned to the Soviet sphere. Poland was to be partitioned in the event of its "political rearrangement": the areas east of the Pisa , Narew , Vistula , and San rivers would go to the Soviet Union, and Germany would occupy the west. Lithuania, which was adjacent to East Prussia , was assigned to the German sphere of influence, but a second secret protocol, agreed to in September 1939, reassigned Lithuania to

14520-499: The now-famous front-page picture of Molotov signing the treaty with a smiling Stalin looking on. The same day, German diplomat Hans von Herwarth , whose grandmother was Jewish, informed Italian diplomat Guido Relli and American chargé d'affaires Charles Bohlen of the secret protocol on the vital interests in the countries' allotted "spheres of influence" but failed to reveal the annexation rights for "territorial and political rearrangement". The agreement's public terms so exceeded

14652-541: The other." On 21 September, Marshal of the Soviet Union Voroshilov , German military attaché General Köstring , and other officers signed a formal agreement in Moscow co-ordinating military movements in Poland, including the "purging" of saboteurs and the Red Army assisting with destruction of the "enemy". Joint German–Soviet parades were held in Lviv and Brest-Litovsk , and the countries' military commanders met in

14784-471: The pact was signed, the Franco-British military delegation urgently requested a meeting with Soviet military negotiator Kliment Voroshilov . On 25 August, Voroshilov told them that "in view of the changed political situation, no useful purpose can be served in continuing the conversation". The same day, Hitler told the British ambassador to Berlin that the pact with the Soviets prevented Germany from facing

14916-412: The possibility of "capitalist encirclements", had little hope either of preventing war and wanted nothing less than an ironclad military alliance with France and Britain to provide guaranteed support for a two-pronged attack on Germany. Stalin's adherence to the collective security line was thus purely conditional. Britain and France believed that war could still be avoided and that since the Soviet Union

15048-429: The potential for the beginning of political negotiations, but no actual negotiations took place. "The Soviet Union had wanted good relations with Germany for years and was happy to see that feeling finally reciprocated", wrote the historian Gerhard L. Weinberg . The ensuing discussion of a potential political deal between Germany and the Soviet Union had to be channeled into the framework of economic negotiations between

15180-647: The role, was under house arrest in Berlin. "The Provisional Government which was politically selected by the LAF and arose out of the June Uprising with acting prime minister professor Juozas Ambrazevičius at its head, did engage in political collaboration with the Third Reich " wrote Algimantas Kasparavičius  [ lt ] of the Lithuanian Institute of History in 2017, citing antisemitic legislation passed by

15312-527: The takeover of Czechoslovakia would no longer be taken lightly. His response to the political checkmate would later be heard at a rally in Wilhelmshaven : "No power on earth would be able to break German might, and if the Western Allies thought Germany would stand by while they marshalled their ' satellite states ' to act in their interests, then they were sorely mistaken". Ultimately, Hitler's discontent with

15444-476: The terms of an ordinary non-aggression treaty—requiring that both parties consult with each other, and not aid a third party attacking either—that Gunther heard a joke that Stalin had joined the anti-Comintern pact. Time Magazine repeatedly referred to the Pact as the "Communazi Pact" and its participants as "communazis" until April 1941. Soviet propaganda and representatives went to great lengths to minimize

15576-478: The third Soviet five-year plan required new infusions of technology and industrial equipment. German war planners had estimated serious shortfalls of raw materials if Germany entered a war without the Soviet supply. On 31 March 1939, in response to Germany's defiance of the Munich Agreement and the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , Britain pledged its support and that of France to guarantee

15708-418: The true interest of all peoples to put an end to the state of war existing at present between Germany on the one side and England and France on the other. Both Governments will, therefore, direct their common efforts, jointly with other friendly powers if the occasion arises, toward attaining this goal as soon as possible. Should, however, the efforts of the two Governments remain fruitless, this would demonstrate

15840-645: The two countries , since close military and diplomatic connections that existed before the mid-1930s had been largely severed. In May, Stalin replaced his foreign minister from 1930 to 1939, Maxim Litvinov , who had advocated rapprochement with the West and was also Jewish , with Vyacheslav Molotov to allow the Soviet Union more latitude in discussions with more parties, instead of only Britain and France. On 23 August 1939, two Focke-Wulf Condors , containing German diplomats, officials, and photographers (about 20 in each plane), headed by Ribbentrop, descended into Moscow. As

15972-512: The two countries had fallen sharply after World War I, but trade agreements signed in the mid-1920s helped to increase trade to 433 million  ℛ︁ℳ︁ per year by 1927. At the beginning of the 1930s, the Nazi Party 's rise to power increased tensions between Germany and the Soviet Union, along with other countries with ethnic Slavs , who were considered " Untermenschen " (subhuman) according to Nazi racial ideology . Moreover,

16104-484: The underground organization Lithuanian Front ( Lithuanian : Lietuvių frontas ; LF), headed by Juozas Ambrazevičius and Adolfas Damušis  [ lt ] . This organization combined Catholicism with nationalism and considered the Soviet Union's communist ideology its main enemy; Germany was a secondary enemy. The organization did not intend to engage in armed struggle too early, and placed more emphasis on printing and press distribution. In 1942 it began publishing

16236-406: The war exceeded 200,000 although Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev later claimed that the casualties may have been one million. Around that time, after several Gestapo–NKVD conferences , Soviet NKVD officers also conducted lengthy interrogations of 300,000 Polish POWs in camps that were a selection process to determine who would be killed. On 5 March 1940, in what would later be known as

16368-414: The west. Within a few days, Germany began conducting massacres of Polish and Jewish civilians and POWs, which took place in over 30 towns and villages in the first month of the German occupation. The Luftwaffe also took part by strafing fleeing civilian refugees on roads and by carrying out a bombing campaign. The Soviet Union assisted German air forces by allowing them to use signals broadcast by

16500-546: The world that the native population itself took the first action by way of natural reaction against the suppression by Jews during several decades and against the terror exercised by the Communists during the preceding period. ( Comprehensive report of Einsatzgruppe A up to 15 October 1941 ) Ambrazevičius became acting Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Lithuania when Kazys Škirpa, originally envisioned for

16632-649: Was confident that its capitulation could be attained without great effort. The Soviets demanded territories on the Karelian Isthmus , the islands of the Gulf of Finland and a military base near the Finnish capital, Helsinki , which Finland rejected. The Soviets staged the shelling of Mainila on 26 November and used it as a pretext to withdraw from the Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact . On 30 November,

16764-583: Was disastrous for both the German and the Russian empires. The Russian Civil War broke out in late 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution and Vladimir Lenin , the first leader of the new Soviet Russia , recognised the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Moreover, facing a German military advance, Lenin and Trotsky were forced to agree to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , which ceded many western Russian territories to Germany. After

16896-537: Was met with utter shock and surprise by government leaders and media worldwide, most of whom were aware of only the British–French–Soviet negotiations, which had taken place for months; by Germany's allies, notably Japan; by the Comintern and foreign Communist parties; and Jewish communities all around the world. On 24 August, Pravda and Izvestia carried news of the pact's public portions, complete with

17028-585: Was so weakened by the Great Purge that it could not be a main military participant. Many military sources were at variance with the last point, especially after the Soviet victories over the Japanese Kwantung Army in the Manchuria. France was more anxious to find an agreement with the Soviet Union than Britain was. As a continental power, France was more willing to make concessions and more fearful of

17160-470: Was the culmination of negotiations around the 1938–1939 deal discussions , after tripartite discussions with the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France had broken down, and committed neither government would aid or ally itself with an enemy of the other, for the next 10 years. Under the Secret Protocol, Poland was to be shared, while Lithuania , Latvia , Estonia , Finland and Bessarabia went to

17292-491: Was the thanks he got for having done his best for us to get him into prison. We knew perfectly well it was forbidden to take tips." In early August, Germany and the Soviet Union worked out the last details of their economic deal and started to discuss a political agreement. Both countries' diplomats explained to each other the reasons for the hostility in their foreign policy in the 1930s and found common ground in both countries' anticapitalism with Karl Schnurre stating: "there

17424-413: Was to inform authorities when he left his residence and where he was headed. Baur's guide informed him: "Another car would tack itself onto us and follow us fifty or so yards in the rear, and wherever we went and whatever we did, the secret police would be on our heels." Baur also recalled trying to tip his Russian driver, which led to a harsh exchange of words: "He was furious. He wanted to know whether this

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