Editing Kaunas (section)

===Nazi occupation===
{{Main|German occupation of Lithuania during World War II}}
[[File:Wehrmacht in Liberty Avenue, Kaunas.jpg|thumb|right|[[Wehrmacht]] soldiers marching through the [[Laisvės alėja|Liberty Avenue]] in Kaunas]]

On 26 June 1941 the German {{Lang|de|[[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]]}} ordered the rebel groups to disband and disarm.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bubnys|first=Arūnas|author-link=Arūnas Bubnys|title=Vokiečių okupuota Lietuva (1941–1944)|page=38|location=Vilnius|publisher=Lietuvos tautinis kultūros fondas|year=1998|isbn=9986-757-12-6|language=lt}}</ref> Two days later Lithuanian guards and patrols were also relieved of their duties. Already in July, in a conversation the [[Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast|Tilsit]] Nazi [[Gestapo]] agent {{ill|Heinz Gräfe|de}} clearly stated to [[Stasys Raštikis]] that the [[Provisional Government of Lithuania|Provisional Government]] was formed without German knowledge. Such a form, although not having anything against individuals, is unacceptable to the Germans. The current Provisional Government should be transformed into a National Committee or Council under the German military authority.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Valiušaitis|first1=Vidmantas|title=Kodėl J. Brazaičio perlaidojimo ceremonija sukėlė tiek aistrų?|url=https://www.delfi.lt/news/ringas/lit/kodel-j-brazaicio-perlaidojimo-ceremonija-sukele-tiek-aistru.d?id=58794181|website=[[DELFI]]|access-date=25 May 2012}}</ref> The [[Nazi Germany|Nazi Germans]] did not recognize the new Provisional Government, but they did not take any action to dissolve it. The Provisional Government, not agreeing to continue to be an instrument of the German occupiers, disbanded itself on 5 August 1941 after signing a protest for the Germans action of suspending the Lithuanian Government powers. Members of the Provisional Government then went as a body to the Garden of the [[Vytautas the Great War Museum]], where they laid a wreath near the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]] in the presence of numerous audience. The [[Sicherheitsdienst]] confiscated the pictures of the wreath-laying ceremony, thinking that it could be dangerous for the [[German occupation of Lithuania during World War II|German occupation policy in Lithuania]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Škirpa|first1=Kazys|title=Sukilimas Lietuvos suverenumui atstatyti|date=1973|publisher=Franciscan Fathers Press|location=New York|page=502|url=http://www.partizanai.org/k-skirpa-sukilimas-lietuvos-suverenumui-atstatyti}}</ref>

On 17 July 1941 the German civil administration was established. The government's powers were taken over by the new occupants.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Baltic States: Years of Dependence 1940–1990 |first=Romuald J. |last=Misiunas |author2=Rein Taagepera |publisher=University of California Press |edition=expanded |year=1993 |isbn=0-520-08228-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/balticstatesyear00misi/page/47 47] |url=https://archive.org/details/balticstatesyear00misi/page/47}}</ref> [[Nazi Germany]] established the [[Reichskommissariat Ostland]] in the [[Baltic states]] and much of Belarus, and the administrative centre for Lithuania (''[[Generalbezirk Litauen]]'') was in Kaunas ruled by a Generalkommissar [[Adrian von Renteln]].<ref>Kay, Alex J. (2006) ''Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940–1941'', p. 129. Berghahn Books.</ref>