Dirva = Field. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1915-current, 1947-01-10
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LETTER FROM SUPREME LITHUANIAN
COMMITTEE OF LIBERATION
To Paris Peace Conference Delegation

The Supreme Committee of Lith-
uanlan Liberation addressed identi-
cal letters, dated July 26, 1916. tc
the presidents of the various dele.
cations to the Paris Peace Confer
ence. We quote in translation from,
| the French:
Mr.. President,
On the occasion of the Peace
Conference opened in Paris on July
70, 1916, in which the twenty-one
states are participating for the
purpose of solving certain problems
relating to the re-establishment of
Peace, as well as to the liquidation
Of the consequences of acts of VIC
lence, | have the honor to draw
your attention to the situation in
which the Republic. of Lthuan;a,
.ictim of unprovoked aggression,
now finds itself.
Lithuania is cne of the first vic
tins Of Germany: on March 2l,
1889, Germany seized from Lith-
dania the territory of Memel.
When war began on September
1, 1889, Lithuania, as did the 9TH
er Baltic States, proclaimed its
neutrality and adhered to this poll
cy, although the sympathies of
Lithuania, without any exception,
were on the side of the Western
Democracies.
In defiance of the demands re-
iterated by Germany that Lithuania
enter the war on her side against
Poland, the Lithuanian Government
and the entire Lithuanian Nation
energetically refuted these sum-
mons and accorded refuge to tens
of thousands of Polish citizens,
both civilian and military.
On Oct. 10, 1889, the U.S.S.R.
imposed on Lithuania the signing
of a pact of mutual assistance. by
which the Moscow Government ex-
pressly undertook not to interfere
in the internal affairs of Lithuania
and not to infringe the independence
of Lithuania.
On June Is. 1910, at time whell
the eyes of the entire world were
turned towards the events of wdr
in Western Europe, the Army OF
the Soviet Union, after an ulti-
matum, completely occupied Lith-
uania which, when she refused tc
enter the war against Poland, was
ceded by Germany to the Soviet
Union, by virtue of a secret pact
of September 28, 1889, between the
two Powers concerning Lithuania
fact which has also been reveal,
ed in the Nuremberg trials.
On June II, 1910, a plenipoten-
tiary of the Moscow Government
NJ. Dekanozov, sent especially fol
this purpose, formed the so-called
Lithuanian Government, an instru-
ment of the occupying Power.
Under such conditions, on July
I4-16, 1910, the said Government
organized in Lithuania simulacrur1
of elections for which there existed
only one list of candidates, estab-
lished by the occupying power to
ask for the Incorporation of Lith-
uania into the Soviet Union.
While the Lithuanian nation, with
all the means in it's power, resisted
such violation of it's will, representa-
tives of Lithuania abroad as well
as organizations of Lithuanians in
emigration protested with all their
forces against this act of violence
and asked the foreign Powers not
to recognize it.
On June %, 1941, Immediately
after the outbreak of the German
Soviet hostilities, the Lithuanian
nation, in expressing its true will
to be free and independent, revolted,
formed the Provisional Government
of Lithuania, restored the exercise
of the sovereign rights of the Re-
public of Lithuania, and introduced
it's own administration before The
arrival of the German troops.
The Government of the Reich
suppressed the Provisional Govern
ment and introduced into Lithuanla
it's regime of occupation, In this
struggle the Lithuanian people al
ways were contributing to the war
effort of the United Nations again