Vilnius Kaunas Anykščiai Birštonas Biržai Kelmė Kriklėnai Kurtavėnai

Mažeikiai Pakruojis Palanga Panevėžys Papilė Petrašiūnai Rietavas Rokiskis

Saločiai Šiaulėnai Šiauliai Siesikai Skaisgirys Skaudvilė Švėkšna Telsiai

Ūdrija Ukmergė Vilkaviškis

Vilnius

A card, sent from Vilnius . The postmark -with 'gezlink...' -must be of the railway-station-postoffice. The postage stamp is the overprint, commemorating the return of Vilnius to Lithuania. Original print size of this image: 14,156 x 9,203 cm (is something more as the postal item) This picture and all pictures below on this page, if not mentioned otherwise: scanned about 300 dpi. Then set right and cut out - noted the actual print size-, resized 25 % of this image and saved as jpg with compressionfactor 15.

At 9 oktober 1920 general Lucjan Zeligowski occupied the south-east of Lithuania -aboud one-third of the country -with the capital Vilnius (for Poland: Wilna). With this occupation start a long period of Polish administration in this area. The polish period endured until 19-22 September 1939, when Vilnius was occupied by the Sowjet-troops: On 10 October Vilnius was ceded on Lithuania and from 28 October 1939 Vilnius belongs (again) to Lithuania. On 27 October the Lithuanians begin marching in and sunday 29 October 1939 the Lithuanian troops have ocuupied Vilnius completely. After that only Lithuanian atamps are permitted for postage. From this period mixed postage is known: the postage itself can be mixed, postmarks are used indifferently, the postal rates can be Polish-Lithuanian-Russian. For commemorating the capture of Vilnius overprints has been issued on 28 October 1939: the stamp and postmark, resized 50 %:

On the other side of the card we see: that means 'Hill of Three Crosses' an on tis place -according the legend - seven Franciscan monks were crucified here in the 13th century. Crosses originally were erected in the 17th century but Stalin had them removed and buried and in 1989 were they rebuilt according to the original plans.

Many information about the changing geographical situation in this time you can find in a book from this time:
Lithuania past & present / by E.J. Harrison (former British Vice-Consul in Kaunas and Vilnius). - printed 1922.
This book can read online on internet or download in pdf:
site -with more interesting books- www.archive.org
In this book (p. 21):
The Lithuanian province of Vilnius has a superficies of 42,500 kilometres, i.e. approximately the size of Switzerland. On the north it touches the province of Kaunas and the Vitebsk government ; on the east Vitebsk and Minsk ; on the south Minsk and the province of Gardinas ; on the west Suvalkai. ..........
This province is divided into seven departments named after their respective capitals, viz. Vilnius, Trakai (Troki), Lyda, Sventionis (Svenciany), Vileika, Asmena and Dysna.

Original print size of this image: 13,978 x 9,169 cm (is something more as the postal item)

A card, sent from Vilnius to Tallinn. The date of the postmark is 1940, 31 December, and the picture-side is a Christmas-card. Lithuania ia already occupied by the Soviet Union, Soviet troops (15 divisions, 150.000 soldiers) crossed the borden on June 15, 1940. The postmark, resized 50%:

On 21 July 1940 the 'People's Seimas (Parliament) decided Lithuania to change in the Lithuanian SSR and asked the Soviet Union for joining. On 3 August the Lithanian SSR is 'admitted' to the Soviet Union.
1941, 22 June: invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany.

On this railway map of the thirties (resized 50 %), you see between Kaunas and Vilnius the demarcation-line.

Kaunas

In Kaunas -as 'provisional' capital- were established the consulates and embassies. Here you see a cover of the Dutch Consulate in Kaunas. In 1939 the the Dutch consul, Jan Zwartendijk, saved together with Mr. Chiune Sugihara (former vice-consul in Kaunas,) about 6000 jews Jews. Mr. Sugihara produced -without permission of his government- transit-visa for Japan. The honorary Dutch consul, Jan Zwartendijk, told Polish refugees he had gotten permission to stamp their passports with entrance permits for Curacao and Dutch Guiana, (now known as Suriname) situated in the Caribbean. To get there the Soviet government want a transitvisum for Japan, neeeded to go to the Dutch Caribbean. Most refugees never go to the, but directly to the United States or other countries, a group survived the war in China. Original print size of this image: 15,858 x 12,810 cm (is something more as the postal item)

About this subject:
www.remember.org/witness/righteous.html
and
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sugihara.html
and
www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/saviors/diplomats/2931.htm

This cover is sent by the 'Centralinis Žydų Bankas' (=Central Jewish Bank) in Kaunas. The postmark means 'Let we only buy products of our own country'. Jews had a special position in indepent Lthuania and had an important position in the economy. Original print size of this image: 15,731 x 12,861 cm (is something more as the postal item)

More about the Jews in Lithuania, see Telsiai.

A cover 1927 'Voketieja' means Germany. Original print size of this image: 15,680 x 12,505 cm (is something more as the postal item) Postmark, resized 50 %:

Cover 1934: Darius Original print size of this image: 16,264 x 11,540 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark, resized 50 %:

Backside: the arrival-stamp

Cover 1937. Original print size of this image: 15,274 x 13,115 cm (is something more as the postal item) Postmark, resized 50%:

Label on the backside, also resized 50 %. It is a customs control label.

Anykščiai

The arrival postmark of Anykščiai on a card from Panevėžys. Original print size of this image: 13,995 x 9,152 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark, resized 50%:

Anykščiai is located in nothern-east Lithuania, on the railway-line between Panevėžys and Ukmergė. On this railway map (resized 50 %) from the thirties you see also in the east the demarcation-line with Poland.

Birštonas

Card from Birštonas. Original print size of this image: 14,182 x 9,127 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark, resized 50%:

On the picture-side: I suppose near Birstonas, an area with a beautiful nature. In the above mentioned book (1922) of E.J. Harrison about this place, p. 26: 'At Birstonas are celebrated sulphur springs.' Birštonas belongs in this time to the district Alytus in southern Lithuania. Details about the administrative division of Lithuania in this time (1918-1939) you can find in the book of M. Lam: Lietuva Vietovardžiai 1795-1995 m. = Lithuania placenames 1795-1995 / M. Lam. - 2000 A-unpublished, only on cd-rom- book : place names in normal and 'reverse' order, administrative subdivisioin 1795-1995, geographical maps, 400 pages, bilingual article Lithuanian-English.

Biržai

Cover from Birſai, a little place in northern Lithuania. Original print size of this image: 18,017 x 12,226 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark and registering mark, resized 50%: In the above mentioned book (1922) of E.J. Harrison about this place, p. 28: 'The Birzai locality is known in history as the principal scene of Lithuanian opposition to Roman Catholicism and the headquarters of the Lithuanian Protestant Prince Nicolas Radvila the Black.'

Kelmė

A registered cover, sent January 11, 1939, from Kelmė. The cover is sent to the -I suppose local- lawyer (on the cover: advokatas = lawyer). Original print size of this image: 15,172 x 12,937 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark, resized 50%:

The registering stamp of Kelmė.

Kriklėnai

Part of a cover from Kriklėnai. The place is located in the district Panevėžys. This s also indicated in the postmark. Original print size of this image: 11,896 x 9,559 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark, resized 50%:

Kurtavėnai

Card, sent to "His Kindness Pakapė parish priest in Pakapė Pašiaušės agency." On the left side the cachet of the sender, the Kurtavėnai parish. As religious institution: franking-free. Original print size of this image: 14,266 x 9,254 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmarks, resized 50%:

Text: Hereby stated certificate in the Pakapė parish book of christened that Vincenta Butvilaitė born in Pakapė parish 20th of February 1907 received the sacrament of matrimony - 2nd of September 1930 married with Petras Barrinski KURTAVĖnai 1930 September 2nd No. 43 Kurtavėnai parish priest A. Rakauskas Vertical text at the left: "marked in the book of birth" Vertical text at the right: "sent to curia"

Mažeikiai

Here a card from Mažeikiai, a place in northern Lithuania. Original print size of this image: 14,055 x 9,127 cm (is something more as the postal item) The postmark, resized 50%:

The postmark is the first postmark of this place in this period -serial letter a- and used here very late.
Other reported postmarks: with serial B, D, e and F.
Mažeikiai is located in north-western Lithuania, as you can see on a detail of a railway-map from the thirties:



On the map is clear that Mažeikiai in this time was an important railway-junction, as it also was in tsaristic times.
In tsaristic times the place had also another name, see: tsaristic Mažeikiai