Temporary capital of Lithuania historical grounds, as the city was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, the city was multi-ethnic and other groups laid similar claims. Belarusians saw it as the capital of the Belarusian nation and laid claims to the heritage of the former Grand Duchy; Jews saw it as the capital of Yiddish culture; Poles saw it as a Polish-inhabited city. As Soviet forces pushed westward to spread the global proletarian revolution, German Ober-Ost administration evacuated and the Lithuanians withdrew to Kaunas. Vilnius was captured by the Red Army on January 5, 1919. During the Polish–Soviet War the city
Capital punishment in Lithuania and fragmentary. Due to the martial law, the executions were carried out by the military by shooting though legal acts provided hanging. In 1937–1940, Lithuania operated a gas chamber in Aleksotas within the First Fort of the Kaunas Fortress. In January 1937, the criminal code was amended to provide execution by gas which at the time was viewed as more civilized and humane. Lithuania considered and rejected execution by poison. The first execution was carried on July 27, 1937: Bronius Pogužinskas, age 37, convicted of murder of five members of a Jewish family. Černevičiūtė counted at least nine executions in