In July 1940 the Soviets forced a rigged election producing a congress which "requested" the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union. The door to independence slammed shut on August 3. 1940. when Lithuania was declared a constituent republic of the U.S.S.R. During this first period of Soviet occupation. Lithuania suffered the loss of an estimated 45.000 people. with an equal number being arrested or deported. The Soviet assault. followed by German occupation in 1941. resulted in the execution of almost all Lithuanian Jews. The end of the war did not. however. end the nations sufferings. but rather reestablished Soviet domination.
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