Adolf to Azov

One lesser-known fight, which the Americans studied was the June Uprising. This was an uprising which occurred when the Germans attacked Soviet occupied Lithuania, and Lithuanian nationalist rose up to help the Germans.

It occurred after the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania, many Lithuanians were humiliated and mistreated by the new occupiers. They did many mean things to them: newspaper was shut down, people were kicked from their homes, and many people who were still loyal to the national Lithuania were branded as enemies of the people, which allowed the Soviet military to go after them. While Lithuania tried to deal with these sorts of problems diplomatically, it was to no use. As more and more of Lithuania was becoming occupied, and the Soviets were destroying their culture, many of the people in the Lithuanian were becoming upset.

While the Soviets were in the process of trying to regain control of Lithuanian, the Lithuanians nationalist made their own underground government, which was known as the Provisional Government of Lithuania. This was done on secret 22 of April 1941. However, the Soviet NKVD found out about it anyway, which they studied for months, until they acted upon it in June of that year.

As the Lithuanian saw the Germans advancement, more and more the Lithuanian nationalist became embolden, until the Soviets had enough. A week prior to the Nazis reaching Lithuania the Soviets arrested around 20,000 Lithuanians and liquidated them. Some were murdered, some were tortured to death, others were sent to Gulags in Siberia.

After these arrests of multiple prominent Lithuanians, a new underground movement would form known as the Lithuanian Activist Front. While they were a short-lived movement, in a short and impressive amount of time they were able to organize and execute an uprising against the Soviets, that was known as the June Uprising.

On June 22 the uprising started, when the government declared itself in Kaunas, the second largest city at the time. They didn’t even fight the Soviet, the LAF just posted flyer and attempt to do a radio broadcast morning radio broadcast, to declare their independence. Surprised to the Lithuanian, they Soviets were falling into a retreat, which made it easier for them to capture key positions. The city’s radio station was also captured by the nationalist. Even it was sabotaged by the Soviets miliary before they left.

The following day the Lithuanians nationalists were able to get the radio station up and running. At the same time, Soviet Armories were being raided in three other cities: Šančiai, Panemunė, and Vilijampolė. Now armed, they managed to try and capture other key parts of the city. One of their key objectives was Vilijampolė Bridge across the Neris River. They Lithuanians originally thought the Germans were going to meet them there, which the Soviets knew about. To set a trap the Soviet retreated across the bridge and waited with 40 troops, with 3 armored cars waiting to engage them. The bridge was also wired with explosives, should they try to cross it.

A lone soldier name Juozas Savulionis, from the national side managed to sprint across the bridge and cut the wire to the explosives. He saved the bridge but was shot on his way back across the bridge dying. Other bridges were destroyed by the Soviets, but the Lithuanians were able to keep Kaunas controlled while the soviets were fired at while attempting to cross the river in boats, or by pontoon bridges.

In the capitol city of Vilnius, news had spread about the successes of the nationalist in Kaunas. At this time the city was occupied by a Soviet force known as the 29th Rifle Core. However, the unit was made up of ethnically Lithuanian people who were drafted into service. Many of these men deserted and took it upon themselves to gather, which numbered in the thousands.

The next day, June 24th, with the advancing Germans, the deserters were able to split the soviet’s military in half, since many of them were serving in it at the time. Near Kaunas the Soviets planes attacked with Tanks, which the Lithuanians were able to scout and radio to the Germans about. The Luftwaffe was able to destroy the tanks and prevent them from engaging nationalists inside the city.

Two days later on June 26, the Germans managed to secure Lithuania and order the Lithuanians to disband their militia, which they did. Their provincial government lasted another few months until it disbanded on August 5th.

While this battle might of seem small, in the scope of all other in World War Two it was studied closely, by the Americans. The fact that this small group of militants were able to rise up and fight the Soviets seemed like a useless skill should the US ever need to fight the Soviets.