VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania is marking the start of a mass deportation 80 years ago by the Soviet Union that was occupying the Baltic nation. Some 280,000 people were eventually sent to the Siberian gulags. People who were considered opposed to Moscow or deemed counter-revolutionary elements were sent to Siberia from Lithuania and few returned. Others who owned land or houses were evicted and sent there too. President Gitanas Nauseda said Monday that “two evil forces — Nazi Germany and the Soviet Communist regime” had “caused unspeakable pain and suffering.” Considered one of the darkest chapters in Lithuania’s recent history, the 1941 deportation affected all walks of life in the Baltic nation.
Lithuania marks 80th anniversary of Soviet mass deportations
