STATE OF MIND OF THE LITHUANIAN POPULATION/RUSSIFICATION OF THE COUNTRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500530182-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 9, 2004
• Sequence Number: 182
• Publication Date: June 17, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For ReleaseZ /02/11 : CIA-RDP80-00809#4b0500530182-9
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
Lithuania, USSR
State of Mind of the T.ithunnian Population /
Russif ication of the Country
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INPONMATION APPCCTINO tHC NATIONAL OCVtRSE
OT THE UNITED STATES. RI THIN THE MEANING OF TITLE I.. SECTIONS TSS
AND TS.. OF THE U. S. COOL. AS AM[NOCO. ITS TRANSMISSION ON NAVE.
LATION Of ITS CONTENTS TO 01 RECEIPT OT All UNAUTHORI[CO PERSON IS
CTIoN OF THIS REPORT Is PRohIaITCn-
PROMI.RLi[2RY LAS. TNC RCPRODU
DATE DISTR. /7 Jun 1954
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF Ef'CLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
Suite of M= or the Lithuanian Poc i.lat on
The Lithuanians are deeply hostile to their occupier. They are exhausted
and disheartened by false hopes. They are ready to make any and all
sacrifices to put an end to their enslavement, for theirs is the lowest
form of servitude - that of the soul.
What proves most difficult to endure is the continual mistrust each holds
for the rest.' One fears his brother, not that they suspect each
other - they fear that during the interrogation just one careless word
may betray one's true feelings
.
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Many little farmers who benefited from the agrarian reform of 1919-1922
and owned from two to five he of land talked to me in this way: "Let
them burn our homes, take our animals, our produce and all our goods,
just so they leave" ... They have taken everything, have burned only
a few houses, but they have' not gone.
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-IE:.= L.G:;T E,1V=1..7 U1-C'(' ,.: ., 98 R it Lc AREA
IAIWIO N ST STATEI,I'_rI A RN T 1 [N A VY J (AIR I F5I
This report is for the use within the USA of the Intelligence components of the Departments or
b trans " r e e r
Agencies tndicnted nbQve. It is not
nri?inatits? nfTirr throEt p IRV/v9+5~ s a41~ Pr~ $~r~t~ll cu11 e le ld~i' ~ e ~ b182-9
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CCNFIDENTIAL,j
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bearable. I
"All the International celebrities are found in your pigsty: 'Prince,
' fib t, ',,Z.mperor', these are the namesp or,!), 'Stalirf is missing,., &t,
-aantt worry that will come." "That's obvious. Letts hope that it will
be soon, otherwise we might as well hang ourselves".
One c1..Fs not put much stock in the sincerity of Malanko is reform.
soviet :methods have provoked suspicion. Besides, these reforms do not
:;ec:m aduquate to actually raise the level of living in the kolkhozeR.
If they Cave the land baok to the peasants, it would produce six to
eight tines the amount it yields at present. One doesn't dare imagine
in what condition it might be in several years.
7. ':ihen ?Ialenl:ov cline into power, they said that the Constitution was going
to to changed. "Dontt change the Constitution, :Ce the ones who
aap1-- it" - sneered those with cannon sense.
25X1 I four-fifths of the population hope for a change in the future,
riany will be ready to give their lives. They are weary of this servitude,
s,i#fcring and hardship. They are especially tired of not being their
t;?rr, :uuaters in their homes.
03. iio,i do they picture the liberation'' Until now, they hoped for war. This
is sad to say, but it is the truth.. The people would prefer the temporary
hoer.or:i of a war to a Soviet occupation, where the horrors are just as
great and the number of victims is even greater.
), Unfortunately, the situation is much more complex than it seems 't. first,
for the youth is systematically unused to work (physical or mental) and
forc,~d into drinking and smoking. This is the true russification -
womtkening of the will by vice. However, the le - 20 year olds are still
deeply anti-Soviet, and look forward to liberation as do all their elders.
20. L ;rir:ronc? knots tha' he ;:au, do notliin~ for himself. . The out side
world= must initiate ?uu liberation. lir:til now, the people believed it could
come only through a Now ti,e r are beginning to believe that
perliaju it could be accomplished tt-,rou;h diplomatic channels. But iiow
uueh long,u will the servitude last, That is what they would like to
know. They are convinced that the liberation will come one day, but
-Lacy ask "when" and "flow".
11. One knows very little about Lithuanians living abroad. Radios are too
rare a luxury and those who do have ore are afraid to divulge too much
of the;; hear in case the news steads-. The Soviet press often
an insight into people's personal lives through careles..ly-
:rritt c:r; newspaper articles. For example, one day, "Literatur it i?Ienas"
put,lished a violent article against Brazdzionis because he had presented
Itir,, ;;::Lf to the Vatican. In the "salle des professeurs" a Party member
w, rc+, ding the: article with a malicious tone. A professor commented
in a sharp voice: "He is still the way he was". But they knew what
he meant. And that day they felt more light-hearted, with a fiery hope,
because they felt less deserted. But, in general, the activities of
the free Lithuanians are hardly Imown.
C Oil? IDEI T IAII
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C ONF IDLN' IAI
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reification oft he Country
Ruasifioation is the actual though secret (yet partly concealed) goal of Sovietization.
Theoretically, courses in the schools are conducted in the Lithuanian language (with
the exception of a course in Russian). At the same time the students are taught in
Lithuanian that the most beautiful language in the world is Russian, that the noblest
and beat people are the Russians, !bat all the scholars are Russians, that all
the world a great discoveries have been made by the Russian and then exploited by
others, that Russian civilization is alone' worthy of the name, that Art is Russian,
and that writers and philosophers are only to be found in Russia.
In Vilna, it is ispossible to purchase a postage stamp or a railroad ticket if one
cannot sp,eek this holiest of languages. Should you speak Lithuanian in a department
a-tore, either no ont will attend to you or they will reply haughtily that they do
not understand.
Oh, this Russian arrogance) No one can imagine what it is in the West. It is the
basis of the most rigid social class distinction. German racism appears childish
in comparison with Russian chauvinism. All of Russia is born with the conviction
of its superiority over other people.
In the occupied countries, every well-paid position t9 held by a Ruosir+.n, unless
it is a very conspicuous position, for it is impor :at that the Govern_.ont have
the semblance of being composed of Lithuanians. But behind each of t..vse
figureheads is a Russian who watches and spies.
Last June 53 a decree was announced ordering all Russians not speaking Lithuanian
to leave their posts and to return to the USSR. All jobs were to be held by
Lithuanians or by those persons who spoke and understood the language well.
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