In the light of the recent invasion of Afghanistan it is even more imperative this year to encourage the heroic Lithuanian people in the continuing struggle for freedom and to speak out against the Soviet policies of Russiflcation. The Soviet attempt to absorb the Baltic States and destroy them as peoples has taken the form of trying to eradicate all elements of their separate national identity. The Soviets have suppressed the Lithuanian language in the school system and the number of Russians in Luthuania has greatly increased since 1940. In 1940 over 80.000 Letts fled the country and in 1944 another 60.000 were deported to Siberia. Even more revealing is the Soviet suppression of religion. In 1940 Lithuania had over 708 churches. 314 chapels. 73 monasteries. and 85 convents.
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