With Hitler’s blessing, on June 14, 1940, Soviet Russia invaded (and subsequently occupied) Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Not to be outdone, on October 22 same year, Great Britain's Churchill rushed to the Soviets with his own, uninvited blessing for the invasion and occupation of the Baltic States [•], which he termed - not as bluntly as it certainly deserved - an 'incorporation'.
And, while the Soviet-controlled (as, if there were any other in Soviet Russia and Soviet-occupied countries) mass media salivated about the jubilant mood of the Balts celebrating the 'incorporation', the NKVD and NKGB had their hands full - they were looking for all possibly available prison space for Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians - those, who were not so jubilant about the prospect of Soviet citizenship.
Although not at all deterred by the possibility that the number of those incarcerated Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians may exceed the number of those, still remaining outside the penal system, the Soviet regime has reached for the time-honoured and proven Soviet recipe - DEPORTATION.
Among those deported were thousands of interned Polish military and police personnel, as well as Polish civilians, who, following the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, found shelter in the Baltic States.

ABSOLUTELY SECRET

I N S T R U C T I O N
for the manner of executing the operation of deportation of anti-Soviet elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

1. General Situation

Deportation of anti-Soviet elements from the Baltic Republics is a task of great political importance. Its successful execution depends upon how the counties' operative troikas and operative headquarters are capable to carefully work out a plan for executing the operation and foresee everything indispensable. Moreover, it is necessary that the operation went without noise and panic, in order not to allow any manifestations and other excesses not only by those being deported, but also by a known part of the surrounding population - hostile towards the Soviet rule.
Instructions on the manner of the execution of the operation are provided below. They should be adhered to, but in particular cases those executing the operation pass by the concrete terms of the operation, and in order to properly evaluate situation they can and should make other decisions aiming at the same purpose - to fulfill the task, assigned to them, without noise and panic.

2. Manner of Instructing

Instructing of the operative groups by the counties' troikas is to be conducted a day before, within as short a time as possible before the beginning of the operation, with consideration for travelling time to the place of operation.

to be continued...

Deputy People's Commissar for State Security
of the Union of the S.S.R.
3rd Rank Commissar for State Security -
/ S E R O V /

(translation by Electronic Museum Canada from the original Russian language version)

SOVIET DEPORTATIONS OF POLISH NATIONALS, 1939-1941

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