German occupation of Lithuania during World War II
The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were welcomed as liberators from the repressive Soviet regime which had occupied Lithuania. In hopes of re-establishing independence or regaining some autonomy, Lithuanians had organized a Provisional Government. It lasted six weeks.
Lithuanian Jews and a German Wehrmacht soldier during the Holocaust in Lithuania (June 24, 1941)
Communist Party of Lithuania leader Antanas Sniečkus initiated the first mass deportations of Lithuanians in June 1941.
Kaunas pogrom in German-occupied Lithuania, June 1941. Photograph attributed to Wilhelm Gunsilius.
Lithuanian collaborators (with white armbands) arresting the Jews in July 1941
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.86 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, which is also the most widely spoken language of the branch.
Lithuania's name in writing (Litua, on line 7), 1009
Baltic amber was once a valuable trade resource. It was transported from the region of modern-day Lithuania to the Roman Empire and Egypt through the Amber Road.
Trakai Island Castle, the former residence of the Grand Dukes and capital city of the medieval state
Battle of Grunwald and Vytautas the Great in the centre