Why did we participate and who did we vote for in the 1940 elections to the People's Seimas?

1940 m. okupacijos sąlygom is vykę rinkimai klastoti visose fazėse: nuo kandidatų atrankos būdo iki Seim o nutarimų priėmimo. Tačiau rinkimuose dalyvavo didžioji dalis Lietuvos gyventojų. Jų apsisprendimą lėm ė ne tik tiesioginio ir netiesioginio spaudimo priemonės: pasų žym ėjim as, baim ė tapti „liaudies priešu“, rinkimų išvakarėse įvykę buvusių politinių partijų lyderių areštai. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad didžioji dalis visuom enės neboikotavo rinkimų, nes turėjo politinių, socialinių iliuzijų. Juos skatino ir kylančios etninės įtampos. 1940 m. rinkimai vyko formuojantis socialiniam konfliktui, kurį paskatino politiniai procesai. Aktyvų dalyvavimą rinkimuose lėm ė auganti etninė įtampa tarp lietuvių ir žydų, kurią sukėlė visuom enėje pradėjęs dominuoti įsitikinimas, kad žydai siekia įsitvirtinti Lietuvos politiniame-administraciniame aparate ir iš ten išstumti lietuvius. Daroma išvada, kad rinkimai nebuvo boikotuojami ir dėl visuom enės iliuzijų dėl prosovietinės, socialistine forma valdom os, tačiau nepriklausomos Lietuvos. Tikėta, kad balsavus už komunistų partijai nepriklausiusius kandidatus, išliks galim ybė išvengti Lietuvos inkorporacijos į SSRS.The bigger part o f the Lithuanian society participated in the elections to the People’s Seimas held on 14-15 July 1940 in the context o f Lithuania’s occupation. Various forms o f political leverage, including the escalation o f the concept o f the “enemy o f the people”, “marking o f passports” o f those who turned out at the elections, which was believed to ensure people’s loyalty to the new regime, arrests on the eve of the elections, and rather aggressive agitation o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania, were employed to impact the turnout. This helped create the atmosphere o f uncertainty which turned out to be a powerful means o f psychological pressure. On the other hands, there were also other motives that encouraged the public to come to the ballot boxes. Before the elections o f the Seimas it had been believed that the People’s Government still had factual influence on the political processes in the country. The public was unaware that Vladimir Dekanozov had notified the members o f the government about their actual role in the political processes already at the beginning o f July. The elections were important from the point o f view that once the process, organized in accordance with the scenario imposed by Moscow, moved off, the publicly identified political power had to be transferred from the People’s Government to the People’s Seimas. This was the form to express “the people’s w ill” to change Lithuania’s political system and “request” admission to the USSR. Therefore all the candidates to the Seimas were accurately selected by the leadership o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania. Half o f them were not members o f the party. The bigger part o f the society, which was unaware o f the political games behind the scenes, considered it important to participate in the elections for several reasons. Firstly, once the names o f the candidates to the People’s Seimas were announced, the public started speaking more about voting for the independent (non-party) Lithuanian candidates, rather than boycotting the elections whatsoever. The intellectuals understood that the elections and especially the procedure o f candidate nomination was a fake, yet still were eager to participate in the elections. It was believed that candidates who did not oppose the status o f national Lithuania under the socialist protectorate o f the USSR could have been elected to the Seimas. Moreover, it was expected that.in the Seimas independent candidates would outnumber former political prisoners and Communists who were in favour o f Lithuania becoming the 13th Soviet republic. In this case Lithuania still had a slight chance to retain its status as the protectorate o f the USSR rather than becoming its 13th republic. Another weighty motive was the escalating ethnic tension between Lithuanians and Jews. The Lithuanian public, particularly that in the regions, believed that the non-turnout might lead to the Jewish candidates being elected to the Seimas. Although in the election lists there were only 4 Jews out o f 79 candidates, there was a common belief among Lithuanians that after the election Jews might consolidate their positions in public institutions. This served as an impulse for the mobilization o f Lithuanians and encouraged them to turnout at the polling stations. Simultaneously with the increasing tension between Lithuanians and Jews, which before the elections oftentimes escalated to conflicts, there was another stimulus to participate in the elections, namely the social illusions. The pre-election period, i.e. the time when the old regime was no longer in operation and the new one was not yet in operation, created a medium for the emergence of various conflicts and manifestations of the elemental force. The tension between workmen, hired workers, petty peasants and wealthy farmers as well as former officials escalated quickly. Manifestations o f the social conflict encouraged the disadvantaged part of the public to turn out at the elections in hopes o f getting a plot o f land, pay rise, debt relief, or certain social guarantees