Nazi-allied Soviet Union’s soldiers entering the territory of Lithuania during the first Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 [760×586]

The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states began in 1940 after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact secretly placed Lithuania in the Soviet sphere. The Red Army entered Lithuania in June 1940, forced the formation of a pro-Soviet government, and staged elections that led to annexation into the Soviet Union.

Atrocities followed quickly. During the first year of occupation, thousands of Lithuanians were arrested, executed, or deported to labor camps in Siberia. A major wave came during the June deportations, when tens of thousands of civilians—including women and children—were forcibly sent east under brutal conditions.