Speech #850156449

Lithuania. in response to an international appeal. admitted almost double the number of her legitimate quota. Then again. in the darkest hour of recent Polish history. when the German and Soviet armies were tearing Poland to pieces. Lithuania. albeit deeply wronged by Polish occupation of her capital. which Poland never returned to Lithuania. wholeheartedly offered asylum to thousands of her adversaries. the Polish refugees fleeing now before the German and Soviet invaders. The history of Lithuania is also the story of a people that has been subjected to persecution at the hands of greedy nations who not only took control of its Government but also stifled religion by closing its churches. raided its library. expelled thousands from the country. drove thousands into slave labor and armed services. and chased into the forests other thousands of men and boys who refused to fight under the Germans and later under the Russians. These holdouts preferred to become guerrillas and to suffer undue hardships in order to carry on the harassment of the invaders.