Temporary capital of Lithuania during the invasion of Poland, to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. Since then Vilnius has been the capital of the Lithuanian SSR and then independent Lithuania. Lithuania refused to have diplomatic relations between Poland and Lithuania until the ultimatum of 1938. Railroad traffic, telegraph lines or even mail could not cross the Polish–Lithuanian border. Lithuania continued to declare Vilnius as its capital in all official documents, including the constitution. Since the city was controlled by Poland, all Lithuanian authorities were transferred to the city of Kaunas, which became the seat of the government. To reconcile reality with
History of the Jews in Lithuania his funeral as at the fall of Jerusalem, or when being led into the Babylonian captivity." This sympathy and the record thereof would seem to indicate that long before the event in question the Jews had enjoyed considerable prosperity and influence, and this gave them a certain standing under the new "régime". They took an active part in the development of the new cities under the tolerant rule of Gediminas. Little is known of the fortunes of the Jews of Lithuania during the troubled times that followed the death of Gediminas and the accession of his grandson Vytautas (1341). To