As a result of the Operation Bagration, Soviet 1st Baltic Front reached eastern borders of Lithuania in summer 1944 and continued to push forward during the Baltic Offensive. In occupied territories, young men were forcibly mobilized into the Red Army. Lithuanians, having suffered the repressive Soviet occupation in 1940–41, began evacuating towards the west and forming armed groups in Samogitia. On 28 July 1944, Lithuanian officers met in the village of and discussed options for defending Lithuania: either join the Wehrmacht and fight openly or become partisans and wage a guerrilla war, a tactic chosen by the Lithuanian Freedom Army. The former option won by a narrow margin of votes and these improvised units were organized into TAR, commanded by Captain Izidorius Jatulis. The Lithuanians established contacts with Hellmuth Mäder, an officer in the 9th Army, via priest Jonas Steponavičius. Mäder agreed to support the new unit and provide it with weapons and uniforms.