They endured the sabers of the Cossacks and the russification campaigns of the czars. maintaining their cultural identity if not their freedom. When. in 1918. they saw an opportunity in the wake of the First World War. they broke their shackles. On February 16. 1918. the Council of Lithuania declared Lithuanian independence. After several years of struggle with the Soviets. independence was realized. It was tragically shortlived. On June 15. 1940. the Soviet Union forced the Lithuanians to form a friendly government and subsequently occupied the country. As many as 350.000 citizens were arrested and deported to Siberia. Many thousand more fled to safety in the West. The United States has never recognized this brutal. unjustified occupation.
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deported