Klaipėdos universitetas

The article analyzes the plans of Germany to seize Klaipėda Region in 1938, the political circumstances of the German ultimatum issued to Lithuania on March 20, 1939, the response of the Lithuanian Government to the German demands, the organization of the retreat of Lithuanian military units and state institutions from Klaipėda, its process, and the dynamics of German units marching into Klaipėda Region.

The article focuses on the controversies of WWII, how the intertwining of history and politics impacts evaluation of the events of the war, the emphasis that is placed on historical memory and the possibilities of “forgetfulness”, and politicization of the holocaust memory. On the basis of diaries and contemporary notes, the situation in German-occupied Lithuania, episodes of the holocaust, the activities of the Lithuanian police battalions, and the actions of the Soviet Army in occupied German territory is analyzed.

The article is based on documents from the Lithuanian State Central Archive, memoirs and historical studies of Lithuanian authors. It is devoted to new historical investigations of the Klaipėda Uprising in 1923, its political preparation, the military operation itself, the role of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, the social position and place of origin of the Lithuanian volunteers. A list of volunteers, partisans and riflemen, who participated in the Klaipėda Uprising, is presented in the appendix for the first time.