Lithuanian Partisans

The Lithuanian partisans were partisans who waged uniformed guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of Lithuania during and after World War II. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers, fought against Soviet rule in Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Galicia.

The Red Army occupied the formerly independent Lithuania in 1940–1941 and, after a period of German occupation, again in 1944–1945. As Stalinist repression intensified, thousands of Lithuanian residents used forests in the countryside as a natural refuge and basis for armed anti-Soviet resistance.

Resistance units varied in size and composition, ranging from individually operating guerrillas, armed primarily for self-defence, to large and well-organized groups able to engage significant Soviet forces in battle. It is estimated that a total of 30,000 partisans and their supporters were killed during the guerrilla warfare from 1944 to 1953.