Diplomatic document of the Lithuanian civic courage

The Third Reich went to war with the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The German army occupied the whole Lithuania in a week’s time and Theodor Adrian von Renteln was appointed the Civil Governor of Lithuania. The criticism of the occupier as well as the resistance were suppressed without mercy. On November 14, 1942 three well- known Lithuanian activists: the former President of the Republic of Lithuania - Kazimieras Grinius and two former ministers - Jonas Petras Aleksa, Mykolas Krupavičius, aware of the penalties, issued the memorandum to Theodor Adrian Renteln, taking into defence Lithuanians, Poles and Jews displaced from their farms. The authors of the memorandum denounced colonial attempts of the occupants and presented the disastrous consequences of the policy for the economy and the country. They did not have to wait for the response. They were arrested and prosecuted