Augustinas Povilaitis was a captain of the Lithuanian Army and Director of the State Security Department of Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. Together with Minister of the Interior Kazys Skučas

Kazys Skučas

Kazys Skučas was a Lithuanian politician and General of the Lithuanian Army. Skučas was the last Minister of the Interior of independent Lithuania. He was a target of anti-Lithuanian Soviet propaganda in the days leading to the 1940 Soviet ultimatum and occupation of Lithuania...

, Povilaitis was a target of anti-Lithuanian Soviet propaganda in the days leading to the 1940 Soviet ultimatum

1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania

The Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania before midnight of June 14, 1940. The Soviets, using a formal pretext, demanded to allow an unspecified number of Soviet soldiers to enter the Lithuanian territory and to form a new pro-Soviet government...

 and occupation of Lithuania. Right after the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 invaded Lithuania on June 15, 1940, Povilaitis was arrested, transported to Moscow, and executed in 1941. In 2006 he was awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis

Order of the Cross of Vytis

The Order of the Cross of Vytis is a Lithuanian Presidential Award conferred on people who heroically defended Lithuania’s freedom and independence.-History:...

.

Early life and career

In 1919, Povilaitis volunteered for the Lithuanian Army and participated in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence with the Bermontians. In the army he rose to the rank of a captain. From 1920 to 1931 he worked as on officer in the security and criminal police. As a volunteer in the army, Povilaitis received 15 hectares (37.1 acre) of land in Giedriai village and established a farm. In 1931 he was appointed chief of the security police. As an extramural

Extramural

Extramural means to study outside, but under the aegis of, a university or other institution. Extramural studies are taken by the student away from the physical campus, and are often used for those unable to attend classes....

 student, he obtained a high school diploma and enrolled to the Vytautas Magnus University

Vytautas Magnus University

Vytautas Magnus University ) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university...

 in 1933. He graduated in 1939 with a degree in economics. In 1934, Povilaitis was promoted to the Director of the State Security Department. In this capacity he enforced the ban of the Communist Party of Lithuania

Communist Party of Lithuania

The Communist Party of Lithuania was a communist party in Lithuania, established in early October 1918. The party was banned in December 1926.-History:...

, which made him unpopular with the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Povilaitis contributed articles to several newspaper and journals, including Lietuvos aidas

Lietuvos aidas

Lietuvos aidas is a daily newspaper in Lithuania. It was established on September 6, 1917 by Antanas Smetona, and became the semi-official voice of the newly formed Lithuanian government. When the government evacuated from Vilnius to the temporary capital, Kaunas, it ceased publication...

, Vairas, Ūkininko patarėjas.

Soviet persecution

In spring 1940, the Soviet Union heightened its anti-Lithuanian rhetoric and increased diplomatic pressure. The Lithuanian government was accused of kidnapping, torturing, and interrogating two Russian soldiers, stationed in Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty was a bilateral treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on October 10, 1939. According to provisions outlined in the treaty, Lithuania would acquire about one fifth of the Vilnius Region, including Lithuania's historical capital, Vilnius,...

 of 1939. Minister of the Interior Kazys Skučas

Kazys Skučas

Kazys Skučas was a Lithuanian politician and General of the Lithuanian Army. Skučas was the last Minister of the Interior of independent Lithuania. He was a target of anti-Lithuanian Soviet propaganda in the days leading to the 1940 Soviet ultimatum and occupation of Lithuania...

 and Povilaitis were singled out as the main perpetrators of the provocations. Despite Lithuanian repeated pledges to fully investigate the incident, the Soviets kept pressing the charges. Just before receiving the Soviet ultimatum

1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania

The Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania before midnight of June 14, 1940. The Soviets, using a formal pretext, demanded to allow an unspecified number of Soviet soldiers to enter the Lithuanian territory and to form a new pro-Soviet government...

, Lithuanian government decided to dismiss Povilaitis. However, it was not enough and the Lithuanians were presented with the ultimatum, listing three demands. The first demand was to put Skučas and Povilaitis on trial.

After Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union on June 15, 1940, Skučas and Povilaitis were arrested near Povilaitis' birthplace close to the Lithuanian border with Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. For a time they were held in Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

, but then transported to a prison Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. After a trial Povilaitis was sentenced to death and executed in July 1941. For a long time very little was known about his trial or execution. His family escaped abroad and thought that Povilaitis was alive and imprisoned in some Soviet Gulag

Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

. In 1960 the soviet released bits of Povilaitis' interrogation protocols to prove that he conspired with Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 against the Soviet Union. According to the protocols, in February 1940 Povilaitis traveled to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and discussed options of German protection, especially in case of aggression from the Soviets, with Werner Best

Werner Best

Dr. Werner Best was a German Nazi, jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg...

. Reportedly Germans replied that they could establish a protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

by September 1940. Some Soviet historians used these evidences to justify the Soviet occupation as protection of Lithuania from the Nazis.