Lithuanian Liberty League

[1] The event tested the limits of glastnost and other liberal Soviet reforms and is often cited as one of the first signs of the Lithuanian independence movement.

[4] Demands raised at the event included publication of the Pact, rehabilitation of those deported into Siberia, and greater rights to the Catholic Church.

[4] TASS, the official Soviet news agency, labeled the event as a "hate rally" and participants as "aggressive extremists.

[6] On 28 September 1988, the League organized an unsanctioned rally to commemorate the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation in the Cathedral Square, Vilnius.

[9] In the early morning of 29 September, militiamen beat and arrested a group of dissidents on a hunger strike near Vilnius Cathedral.

[10] Activists of Sąjūdis, including its leader Vytautas Landsbergis, not only participated in the rally but also openly questioned the Soviet authorities how such an incident fit into the official program of glastnost and perestroika.

[13] Main organizer and initiator of the forcible dispersion of the peaceful rally, Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania Nikolai Mitkin was removed as well in October 1988.

[14] Due to LLL's uncompromising agenda of full independence,[15] the organization did not enjoy widespread support among the skeptic Lithuanian society.

[16] More prominent scientists, artists, and other activists joined the Sąjūdis reform movement, which had more moderate agenda and was established with permission from the Soviet authorities.

[19] The League played an important role by marking all more sensitive dates from the history of Lithuania with protest rallies or declarations thus stirring up suppressed collective memory and revising official Soviet versions of the events.