ABSTRACT
World War II started with the joint invasion of Poland by the Third Reich and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in September 1939. Meanwhile, Poland's eastern provinces were absorbed into the USSR. Initially, the Baltic States were merely assigned to the Soviet sphere of influence. However, in June 1940, Stalin invaded Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and incorporated them directly into the Soviet Union. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic States followed its traditional pattern. The Soviet occupation administration not only appropriated all state property of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania but also community and private possessions of all ethnic groups in the conquered territories. Many of the industrial plants, cargo warehouses, and department stores were looted and their contents shipped to the Soviet Union. The Soviet occupation policy fluctuated and varied somewhat from one conquered state to the next.
