Deportations of Lithuanian residents
II WW2, IV Soviet Occupation

The deportations of the Lithuanian population (1940-1953) are one of the most tragic parts of 20th-century Lithuanian history, when the Soviet regime pursued a systematic policy of extermination of the Lithuanian nation. These deportations, planned by Joseph Stalin, were part of a broader Soviet policy of repression that affected all territories occupied after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: the Baltic States, Western Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and part of Poland.

The history of deportations began in October 1939, when about 25,000 people, mostly Poles and Jews, were deported from the Soviet-occupied Vilnius region. In 1940, after the establishment of the NKVD and security institutions in Lithuania, systematic deportations of the population began. The Soviet authorities compiled lists of so-called "anti-Soviet elements", which included 63 categories of persons: former civil servants, officers, teachers, farmers and other representatives of the intelligentsia.

The first mass deportation began on the night of June 14, 1941. People were awakened from sleep and given just a few hours to prepare for the journey. The deportations were carried out by NKVD officers specially sent from Moscow, with the help of Red Army soldiers and local communist activists. The deportees were often robbed, abused, and the men were separated from their families and sent to camps. During this deportation, 17,600 people were deported, of whom 71.6% were Lithuanians, 12.5% were Jews, and 11% were Poles.

The conditions of the journey to exile were inhumane. People were transported in animal-drawn wagons for 3-4 weeks. The wagons were equipped with wooden bunks for people to lie on, and in the middle was a hole for natural needs. The wagons were overcrowded, there was a lack of air, water, and medical care. Food was provided only once a day. Most traveled in summer clothes, because they did not have the time or opportunity to take warmer clothes. Weaker deportees - the elderly, children, and the sick - often died on the journey.

The exiles were distributed throughout various parts of Siberia: Komi, Altai and Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Sverdlovsk regions, and the Buryat-Mongolian Republic. Conditions were particularly harsh in Yakutia, beyond the Arctic Circle, where the exiles were forced to fish in the Laptev Sea. Many of them died in the first winter from hunger and cold.

Everyday life in exile was full of trials. The first exiles often had to build their own huts or barracks. They lived cramped, several families in one room, where the temperature dropped to -50°C in winter. The exiles worked in logging areas, mines, construction sites, and collective farms. The work quotas were unbearable, and for failure to meet them, their already meager food rations, which consisted mainly of bread and soup, were reduced. Forest produce helped them survive - berries, mushrooms, and fishing.

Children of exiles were often unable to attend school due to language barriers and discrimination, but Lithuanians tried to teach them their native language, history, and national identity. Despite the difficulties, exiles organized secret Lithuanian events and celebrations, sang hymns, and formed choirs.

After the war, deportations continued even more intensively. On May 22-23, 1948, 40,002 people were deported during Operation "Vesna", on March 25-28, 1949, 28,981 people were deported during Operation "Priboy", and on October 2-3, 1951, another 16,150 people were deported during Operation "Osen". The deportations were carried out in order to break resistance to Soviet power and accelerate collectivization.

The return to Lithuania began after Stalin's death in 1953, but it was a new stage of trials. The returnees did not have the right to settle in their homes, which were often already occupied by Soviet officials. They were forbidden to register in major cities, and it was difficult to find work, especially in their specialty. The children of the exiles faced discrimination in schools and when entering higher education. The KGB followed the returning exiles, they were considered "unreliable elements".

In total, more than 132,000 people were deported from Lithuania in 1940-1953, 70% of whom were women and children. About 28,000 people died in exile. According to Lavrenty Beria, a figure in the NKVD of the USSR, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, and one of the main organizers of mass repressions in the 1930s and 1940s, the total number of repressed Lithuanians reached 220,000 - every tenth Lithuanian resident. By 1970, only about 60,000 deportees had returned to Lithuania, and about 50,000 were unable to return or returned very late.

In 1988, the deportees were officially rehabilitated, and in 1990, after Lithuania regained its independence, they were granted social guarantees and the right to compensation. June 14 became the Day of Mourning and Hope. However, Russia, as the successor state of the USSR, never officially apologized for the deportations and their consequences for the Lithuanian people.

The experiences and experiences of the exiles have become an important element of the historical memory of the Lithuanian nation, passed down from generation to generation through memoirs, diaries, letters and testimonies. The deportations not only physically destroyed a large part of the nation, but also damaged the traditional social structure, family ties and cultural heritage. It was a systematic policy of genocide, the consequences of which are felt to this day.