Forest Brothers

The Forest Brothers (also Brothers of the Forest, Forest Brethren, or Forest Brotherhood; Estonian: metsavennad, Latvian: mežabrāļi, Lithuanian: miško broliai) were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II.

The Red Army occupied the independent Baltic states in 1940–1941 and, after a period of German occupation, again in 1944–1945. As Stalinist repression intensified over the following years, 50,000 residents of these countries used the heavily forested countryside as a natural refuge and base for armed anti-Soviet resistance.

Resistance units varied in size and composition, ranging from individually operating guerrillas, armed primarily for self-defense, to large and well-organized groups able to engage significant Soviet forces in battle. However, concentrated efforts by the Soviet Union broke the Forest Brothers movement in the early 1950s.

Forest Brothers in The Hot War
The Forest Brothers remained active in Lithuania during and after World War III. They took advantage of the chaotic state of the Soviet Union after the war ended to step up rebellious activities, insuring an increasingly gruesome and brutal uprising in Lithuania.