page_title: Polish–Lithuanian relations during World War II
section_title: Conflicting ideologies
hierarchical_section_title: Polish–Lithuanian relations during World War II / Conflicting ideologies
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument commemorating Poles murdered in Paneriai massacre, Paneriai, Vilnius, Lithuania. Text (translation from Polish): "In a tribute to many thousands of Poles murdered in Ponary, countryman from Wilno region." The right side is a prayer for the dead.
context_page_description: The issue of Polish and Lithuanian relations during World War II is a controversial one, and some modern Lithuanian and Polish historians still differ in their interpretations of the related events, many of which are related to the Lithuanian collaboration with Nazi Germany and the operations of Polish resistance organization of Armia Krajowa on territories inhabited by Lithuanians and Poles. In recent years a number of common academic conferences have started to bridge the gap between Lithuanian and Polish interpretations, but significant differences still remain.
context_section_description: The Vilnius Region had a mixed population of often-conflicted Polish, Jewish, Belarusian and Lithuanian communities. This was further aggravated by Germans forcibly relocating Lithuanian families to the region from western parts of Lithuania.
  A significant number of Lithuanians started collaborating with the German occupiers,
   a prominent example being the Lithuanian Activist Front, many members of whom came from the National Unionists whose pre-war slogan was 'Lithuania for Lithuanians'. The Lithuanian government, encouraged by the Germans, hoped that the Germans would grant Lithuania as much autonomy as it has granted Slovakia. Even through LAF faded after 1941, and Germans never granted the Lithuanians the autonomy they desired, elements within the Lithuanian government, collaborating with Germans, engaged in the program of ethnic and racial purification, targeting Jews, Poles and other non-Lithuanian ethnic minorities. Anti-Polish rhetoric and violence became common under the Juozas Ambrazevičius government in 1941 (followed by the role of Petras Kubiliūnas as a puppet counsel to the German rulers). Kubiliūnas led the puppet-Council advising the German government of the "general District Lithuania" (Generalbezirk Litauen) led by Generalkommissar of Lithuania Theodor Adrian von Renteln. Some Lithuanian clergy called for pogroms of Poles, stating that the Poles were worse than the Jews and offered indulgences for killing Poles. A Lithuanian professor wrote a pamphlet on "Why Should we hate the Poles", and LAF campaigned for the establishment of ghettos for Poles, requirement for them to wear identifying badges, and reduction of their food rations, claiming that "under Soviets, we killed 50% of Poles, under Germans we will kill the other 50%". One of the most infamous series of incidents took place in the Paneriai (Ponary) district of Vilnius, where from 1941 to 1943 Germans and Lithuanians massacred tens of thousands of Jews and Poles.
  Around 1943 one of the political factions of the Government Delegate's Office at Home for the Vilnius region, the Democratic Union of Vilnius (Wileńska Koncentracja Demokratyczna) – the underground union of leftist Polish parties, partly because of the pro-Nazi stance of Lithuanian authorities, and partly influenced by the nationalist stance of Polish Endecja party, stated a plan to occupy Lithuania after the war, submit it under the rule of Polish General Commissariat and to re-educate "corrupt" Lithuanians. On March 1, 1944, Polish Convent of Political Parties issued declaration expressing preparation to fight for Eastern territories (Vilnius, Hrodna, Lviv, Lida, Navahradak, and Pinsk). However, such declarations of local Polish politicians differed significantly from the official statement and actions of the Polish government in exile, which was the only country among the anti-Nazi coalition which declared its support for the cause of Lithuanian post-war independence.
  Although Lithuanian and Polish resistance movements had common enemies – Nazi Germany and Soviet Union – they never became allies. The main obstacle in forming an alliance was the question of Vilnius – the Polish government in exile and the Polish resistance regarded Vilnius as part of Poland, while Lithuanian resistance regarded Vilnius as the capital of Lithuania. Lithuanian resistance saw Soviet Union as the main enemy and Nazi Germany as its secondary enemy. Polish resistance saw Nazi Germany as the main enemy and had no clear consensus on the Soviet Union. Only in 1944–1945, after the Soviet reoccupation, did Lithuanian and Polish resistance start cooperating in the fight against the Soviets.
caption: Monument of Polish victims of Ponary massacre. Tens of thousands of Poles and Jews were executed there by Germans and their Lithuanian auxiliaries.
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