June Uprising in Lithuania

Soviet POWs under the Lithuanian insurgents control in Eastern Lithuania

Lined up Lithuanian insurgents (LAF) with their distinctive white armbands

Lithuanian insurgents (LAF) in Vabalninkas, Lithuania

Three Lithuanian men in the June uprising

At 3:15 am on June 22, the territory of the Lithuanian SSR was invaded by two advancing German army groups: Army Group North, which took over western and northern Lithuania, and Army Group Centre, which took over most of the Vilnius Region. The Germans amassed some 40 divisions, 700,000 troops, 1,500 tanks, and 1,200 airplanes for the attack on the Lithuanian SSR.[18] The Soviets had about 25 divisions, 400,000 troops, 1,500 tanks, and 1,344 airplanes in the Baltic Military District.[19] 7 rifle and 6 motorized divisions from the 8th and 11th Armies were located within Lithuanian territory.[18]

The first attacks were carried out by Luftwaffe against airports, airfields, and Lithuanian cities (Kėdainiai, Raseiniai, Karmėlava, Panevėžys, Jurbarkas, Ukmergė, Šiauliai, and others). These attacks claimed the lives of some 4,000 civilians.[19] Most of the Soviet air forces' aircraft was obliterated on the ground (322 airplanes were lost in the air versus 1,489 destroyed on ground).[19] The Germans rapidly advanced forward encountering only sporadic resistance from the Soviets near Kaltinėnai, Raseiniai, Šiauliai and assistance from the Lithuanians. In the Battle of Raseiniai, the Soviets attempted a counterattack, reinforced by tanks, but suffered heavy losses.[20] Within a week, the Germans sustained 3,362 casualties but controlled all of Lithuania.[1] Soviet losses were heavy and not known precisely; the estimates put them at 12–15 divisions.[1] The Red Army also lost most of the aircraft stationed there, tanks, artillery, and other equipment.[20]

Despite the generally friendly Lithuanian attitude, the Germans carried out punitive executions. For example, 42 civilians from Ablinga village were murdered in response to German deaths:[21] After two German guards in Alytus were shot by unknown perpetrators, the Nazis shot 42 Lithuanian insurgents.[22] The terror in Alytus continued to the next day: the Germans selected men, age 15–50, and executed them in groups of 20–25.[13]

However, many more atrocities were carried out by the retreating Red Army. About 4,000 political and criminal prisoners, arrested during the first Soviet occupation, were to be transported to Soviet Union.[23] NKVD organized prisoner massacres in Rainiai, Pravieniškės, Panevėžys. A total of 40 locations of mass killings have been identified in Lithuania.[24] Many others were killed en route to Soviet prisons. The largest such massacre took place near Chervyen in present-day Belarus. A list of NKVD victims in Lithuania, compiled during the Nazi occupation, includes 769 people that did not participate in the uprising.[25]

The uprising began in the early morning of June 22, 1941, the first day of the war. LAF's main forces were concentrated in Kaunas. At 10 am LAF held a meeting in Žaliakalnis, dividing the responsibilities. It was decided that the main goal is not to fight with the Soviets but to secure the city (i.e. organizations, institutions, enterprises) and declare independence.[26] By the evening of June 22, the Lithuanians controlled the Presidential Palace, post office, telephone and telegraph, radio stations and radiophone.[26] The telephone's control allowed Lithuanians to disconnect all known communist numbers and talk to each other without passwords or codes.[27] The radio station was sabotaged by the Soviets, therefore repair works were carried out during the night from June 22 to 23. Spare parts were delivered by medical students, driving an ambulance.[28] Despite fears of inadequate Lithuanian forces guarding the radio, in the morning of June 23, Leonas Prapuolenis read the declaration of Lithuanian independence and the list of members of the Provisional Government. The broadcast was repeated several times in Lithuanian, German, and French.[28]

In the morning of June 23, 1941, the insurgents raided Soviet armories in Šančiai,[29] Panemunė, and Vilijampolė.[30] Now armed, Lithuanians spread throughout the city. The Vilijampolė Bridge across the Neris River received special attention from the insurgents as they expected the Germans to enter the city through this bridge.[27] When the Lithuanians got to the bridge, it was already wired with explosives. 40 Soviet troops and three armored vehicles protected the bridge and waited for the right moment to detonate.[31] When the Soviets retreated a bit after facing Lithuanian fire, Juozas Savulionis ran to the middle of the bridge, cut the wires, and thus saved it from destruction. On his way back Savulionis was shot and killed by Soviet fire, becoming one of the uprising's first victims.[31]

The bridges over Nemunas were prematurely destroyed by the retreating Soviets. This forced units of the Red Army in Suvalkija to bypass Kaunas and possibly saved the insurgents in the city. The Metalas Factory became the headquarters of the Šančiai insurgents, who attempted to stop Soviet soldiers from crossing the Neman River by boats or building a pontoon bridge. During these fights about 100 insurgents were killed, 100 Soviet troops (including several officers) were taken prisoner,[29] and a large booty of equipment (including three tanks which no one knew how to operate) was captured.[32] Other groups secured police stations, shops, warehouses, attempted to re-establish general order in the city. The insurgents hastily organized their own police and freed some 2,000 political prisoners.[32] They also organized publication of daily Į laisvę (Towards Freedom). Commander of the Red Army's 188th Rifle Division colonel Piotr Ivanov reported to the 11th Army staff that during the retreat of his division through Kaunas "local counterrevolutionaries from the shelters purposefully and severely fired to the Red Army, the flocks suffered heavy losses of soldiers and military equipment".[33][34]

On June 24, 1941, Red Army's tank units in Jonava were ordered to retake Kaunas. The insurgents radioed the Germans for assistance. The units were bombed by Luftwaffe and did not reach the city. It was the first coordinated Lithuanian–German action.[35] The first German scouts, lieutenant Flohret and four privates entered Kaunas on June 24 and found it in friendly hands.[36] A day later the main forces marched into the city without obstruction and almost in a parade fashion.[37] On June 26, German military command was ordered to disband and disarm the rebel groups.[38] Two days later Lithuanian guards and patrols were also relieved of their duties.

According to self-registration in July, there were about 6,000 insurgents,[39] spontaneously organized into 26 groups in Kaunas.[40] The largest groups numbered 200–250 men. Total Lithuanian casualties in Kaunas are estimated at 200 dead and 150 wounded.[39]

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  LAF activists lead the arrested Commissar of the Red Army in Kaunas
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  LAF activists inspect a T-38 tank from the Red Army in Kaunas
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  Lithuanian activists in Kaunas on June 25, 1941
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  Lithuanian activists in Šančiai, Kaunas
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  Lithuanian insurgents lead the disarmed soldiers of the Red Army in Kaunas

In Vilnius, LAF (commanded by Vytautas Bulvičius) had been dismantled by Soviet arrests just before the war and Lithuanians formed only a small minority of the city's population.[3][41] Therefore, the uprising was smaller in scale and started on June 23. The insurgents took over the post office, radio station, and other institutions, and hoisted the Lithuanian flag over the Gediminas' Tower. It was relatively easy to take control of Vilnius as most of the Red Army's units were located outside it and retreated rather quickly.[36] The first German units entered the city on June 24. The 7th Panzer Division, commanded by Hans Freiherr von Funck, expected that the Red Army would resist in Vilnius and made plans to bombard the city.[1]

There were about 7,000–8,000 ethnic Lithuanians in the 29th Rifle Corps, formed after the dissolution of the Lithuanian Army in 1940.[42] The majority of them deserted and started gathering in Vilnius from June 24. The 184th Rifle Division, dislocated near Varėna, was one of the first to face the advancing Germans.[43] Taking advantage of chaos among the Soviet officers, Lithuanians separated from the main corps with only a few losses and gathered in Vilnius. Only 745 soldiers of the 184th Rifle Division reached the Soviet Union.[21] The 179th Rifle Division was ordered to retreat from Pabradė–Švenčionėliai towards Pskov.[43] On June 27, the division crossed the Lithuanian border and Lithuanian soldiers mutinied. At least 120 Lithuanians were killed in various shootouts while attempting to desert. About 1,500 to 2,000 soldiers (out of 6,000) of the 179th Rifle Division reached Nevel.[21] Lithuanians hoped that these deserters would form the core of the new Lithuanian Army; however, the troops were organized into Police Battalions and employed by the Germans for their needs, including perpetrating the Holocaust.[21]

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  Buildings in Vilnius with the Lithuanian tricolor flags
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  Soviet POWs escorted by German soldiers in Vilnius, June–July 1941
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  Lithuanian insurgents (LAF) and soldiers of the Lithuanian Army in Cathedral Square, Vilnius after the city was liberated from the Soviets
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  Lithuanian soldiers, liberated from the former Lithuanian corps of the Red Army, warmly greeted in Vilnius, Lithuania
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  Lithuanian insurgents (LAF) patrolling the streets of Vilnius, Lithuania

Members of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union in Kruonis requests for more weapons to fight with communists and Soviet soldiers who are terrorizing the local residents

The uprising spread to other cities, towns, and villages. The level of rebel activities varied greatly across Lithuania and the uprising was less organized, more spontaneous and chaotic.[3] Men joined the uprising even though they never heard of the LAF or organized resistance in Kaunas. In most areas the insurgents followed the pattern set in Kaunas and Vilnius: take control of local institutions (most importantly, the police) and secure other strategic objects. The insurgents also arrested Soviet activists, freed political prisoners, and hoisted the Lithuanian flags.[42] Lack of guns and ammunition was felt almost everywhere; the main way to obtain guns was to disarm surrendered Soviet troops.[44] Most active insurgents were in the districts of Švenčionys, Mažeikiai, Panevėžys, and Utena.[2] In some areas, like Šiauliai, there were no noticeable rebel activities.[2] Once Germans entered a settlement they would disarm the insurgents. However, some local institutions (police, various committees) de facto established by the insurgents were later legalized de jure.[45]

During the Soviet era, the insurgents were persecuted and the uprising was censored from the history books. Memoirs and studies published mainly by Lithuanian-Americans inflated the total number of the Lithuanians activists to 90,000 or 113,000 and casualties to 2,000 or 6,000.[2] After Lithuania regained independence in 1990 and new documents became available, historians have revised the estimates to 16,000–20,000 active participants and 600 casualties.[2] Most of the insurgents were young men, between 18 and 25 years old.[36] Soviet losses are estimated at 5,000 men.[3]