リタス
Soon after the occupation started, Sovietization policies were implemented. On July 1, all political, cultural, and religious organizations were closed, with only the Communist Party of Lithuania and its youth branch allowed to exist. All banks (including all accounts above 1,000 litas), real estate larger than , private enterprises with more than 20 workers or more than 150,000 litas of gross receipts were nationalized. This disruption in management and operations created a sharp drop in production. Russian soldiers and officials were eager to spend their appreciated rubles and caused massive shortages of goods. To turn small peasants against large landowners, collectivization was not introduced in Lithuania. All land was nationalized, farms were reduced to , and extra land (some ) was distributed to small farmers. In preparation for eventual collectivization, new taxes between 30% and 50% of farm production were enacted. The Lithuanian litas was artificially depreciated to 3–4 times its actual value and withdrawn by March 1941. Before the elections to the People's Parliament, the Soviets arrested some 2,000 prominent political activists. These arrests paralyzed any attempts to create anti-Soviet groups. An estimated 12,000 were imprisoned as "enemies of the people." When farmers were unable to meet exorbitant new taxes, some 1,100 of the larger farmers were put on trial. On June 14–18, 1941, less than a week before the Nazi invasion, some 17,000 Lithuanians were deported to Siberia, where many perished due to inhumane living conditions (see June deportation). Some of the many political prisoners were massacred by the retreating Red Army. These persecutions were key in soliciting support for the Nazis.