Speaker. the year between June 1940 and June 1941 is one of the most tragic years in the modern history of the Lithuanian people. In the spring of 1940 independent and sovereign Lithuania was ruthlessly destroyed by the evil designs of the men in the Kremlin. By June the country was overrun by the Red army and its inhabitants were enslaved and terrorized. While formalities for the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union were being rushed through. thousands of Lithuanian leaders were being summarily arrested and exiled to Asiatic Russia. This heartless effort of uprooting Lithuanians by the tens of thousands continued for about a year. It is this tragic year which has left its saddest impression on the people of Lithuania.