• Molotov fortified line in Lithuania

In 1940 SSSR has anexed Lithuania, and has started to build fortified line along the german border. It was part of so called Molotov fortified line. In Lithuania Molotov line consisted of four fortified districts:Telshiai (Palanga to Judrenai), Shiauliai (Pajuris to Jurbarkas), Kaunas (Jurbarkas to Kalvarija) and Alytus (Kalvarija to the current border with White Rusia).

Fortified district	Front	Depth	Strong points	Number of casemates
				Planned	Built
Telshiai	75 km	5 -16 km	8	389	23
Shiauliai	90 km	5 -16 km	6	430	27
Kaunas	106 km	5 -16 km	10	630	31
Alytus	57 km	5 -16 km	5	293	20

Overal 101 casemates were built, but none were completed in Lithuania before the WWII. Location of fortified regions is shown on the map. Badly built and yet not finished Molotov line was not seriuos obstacle for attacking german army in Lithuania. Only a few casemates have resisted, and those were neutralised quickly by throwing grenades or pouring gasoline into absolutely unprotected periscope shafts. None of the casemates had cloches in place, and none were even planned for roof protection.

Molotov line fortified districts in Lithuania: 1 - Telshiai 2 - Shiauliai 3 - Kaunas 4 - Alytus

Molotov line casemate close to Endriejavas, near Kaunas-Klaipada freeway, Telshiai fortified district.

Same casemate from behind, freeway in the background.

Artillery casemate in Shiauliai fortified district.

Tiny casemate for one machinegun in Palanga, close to Birute hill, Telshiai fortified district.

Casemate in Palanga, close to Naglis hill, Telshiai fortified district.

Private warehouse made of casemate in Telshiai fortified district.

Armoured machinegun shield in one of Kaunas fortified district casemates.

July 1941. From SS archives: SS soldiers are inspecting fallen russian casemate after a battle.

More information about Molotov fortified line:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov_Line
2. Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II by J. E. Kaufmann, Robert M. Jurga, H. W. Kaufmann
3. 1941 god - uroki i vyvody. M.: Voenizdat, 1992

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