Editing Wolf children (section)

===Lithuanian aid===
Many German children went on food-scrounging trips into neighboring [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]], where they were adopted by rural Lithuanian farmers who called them ''vokietukai'' (little Germans) and often gave them food and shelter free of charge. Most of these children made trips back and forth many times to get food for their sick mothers or siblings, travelling along [[railroad track]]s, sometimes catching rides on top of or in between railroad cars, jumping off before reaching Soviet control stations. After the 1990s, the children were branded "wolf children" because of their [[wolf]]-like wandering through the forests. Lithuanian farmers who sold their products in the townships of East Prussia in 1946 looked for children and young people to support them in their daily work, and thus many children streamed regularly to the eastern Baltic region to receive food in exchange for products or their labor. They adopted some of the younger ones, and some of the children remained on the Lithuanian farms permanently, but exact statistics are not available. According to rough estimates, 45,000 German children and young people stayed in Lithuania in 1948.{{Citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Lithuanians who assisted the German children had to hide their efforts from the Soviet authorities, risking severe punishment if detected, with many German children's names changed, and only after the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1990 could they reveal their true identities.<ref>[http://www.politische-bildung-brandenburg.de/publikationen/pdf/wolfskinder.pdf Ruth Leiserowitz: ''Von Ostpreußen nach Kyritz. Wolfskinder auf dem Weg nach Brandenburg.'' (title translated: From East Prussia to Kyritz. Wolf children on their way to Brandenburg.) Brandenburgische Zentrale für politische Bildung, Potsdam 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716234125/http://www.politische-bildung-brandenburg.de/publikationen/pdf/wolfskinder.pdf |date=2011-07-16 }}, {{ISBN|3-932502-33-7}}, p. 21, 23-26 </ref>

{{blockquote|text=Most of them became orphans by war and flight in the stage of child or baby. They had to care for themselves and find out how to survive. Many reached Lithuania, where they worked at farms to gain their living. Most had no chance for school education. A larger part never got lessons to write or read. In many cases, the children got new Lithuanian first and family names and became Lithuanians. There was no choice, as it was forbidden for them to opt as Germans.<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.webarchiv-server.de/pin/archiv01/3701ob20.htm translated citation to illustrate the strategies for survival in ''Wolfskinder: Leben zwischen den Welten'' (title translated: Wolf children: Living out of borders) in "Das Ostpreußenblatt" from September, 15 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203111238/http://www.webarchiv-server.de/pin/archiv01/3701ob20.htm |date=2009-12-03 }}</ref>}}