Lietuvos istorijos institutas

The article analyses the founding, functions, and activities of the Bureau of Lithuanian Studies and its subdivision, the Museum of the Red Terror, which worked during the German occupation of Lithuania (1941–1944) and is fragmentarily represented in historiography. The institution discussed performed three functions: archival, by collecting and accumulating materials about the first Soviet occupation in Lithuania; research, by analysing and publishing the collected material in its publication; and, finally, the museum function, by organising an exhibition and developing the idea of the Museum of Red Terror. The article states that during the entire period of occupation, the smooth functioning of the Bureau of Lithuanian Studies and the Museum of Red Terror subordinated to it was determined by the activities carried out by both institutions, which were favourable to both Lithuanian and German interests.