sonunigam (Love Geek): Kaunas had a rich and varied Jewish culture. There were almost 100 Jewish organizations, 40 synagogues, many Yiddish schools, 4 Hebrew high schools, a Jewish hospital, and scores of Jewish-owned businesses. It was also an important Zionist center. *06-01-11 - 05:05:26
sonunigam (Love Geek): First Soviet occupation
In 1940 Lithuania was invaded by the Soviet Union and was annexed as the Lithuanian SSR. 14 June 1941 marked the beginning of mass Soviet arrests, executions and deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia and other parts of Russia. *
06-01-11 - 05:07:30
sonunigam (Love Geek): Nazi occupation
After the outbreak of German invasion into USSR on 22 June, the June Uprising against the retreating Red Army began in Kaunas and a short-lived period of independence was proclaimed in Kaunas on 23 June 1941. During the battles with the Red Army, Lithuanian rebels secured government offices, police stations, shops, warehouses, and attempted to re-establish order in the city. *
06-01-11 - 05:10:43
sonunigam (Love Geek): On June 25, the main German forces marched into the city without opposition and almost in parade fashion. The Nazi Germans did not recognize the new provisional government, but they did not take any actions to dissolve it until the establishment of a German civil administration on 17 July. The government's powers were taken over by the new occupants. *06-01-11 - 05:11:18
sonunigam (Love Geek): Kaunas' Jews fate
Jewish life in Kaunas was first disrupted when the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in June 1940. The unwelcomed occupation was accompanied by arrests, confiscations, and the elimination of all free institutions. Jewish community organizations disappeared almost overnight. Soviet authorities confiscated the property of many Jews, while hundreds were exiled to Siberia. *
06-01-11 - 05:13:08