rule At the beginning of the Second World War, Vilnius suffered from continuous German air raids. Despite German pressure, the Lithuanian government categorically declined the suggestions to participate in Germany's aggression against Poland. As a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and subsequent Soviet invasion, the territories of Eastern Poland were occupied by Red Army, which seized the city following a one-day defence on 19 September 1939. Soviet Union threatened the Lithuanian side, that the city would be incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR in case the Lithuanian side would not negotiate the future status of Vilnius according to the already prepared Soviet agenda. After talks in Moscow on 10 October 1939, the city and its surrounding areas were transferred to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. In exchange, Lithuania agreed to allow Soviet military bases to be established in strategic parts of the country. Lithuanian envoys were under pressure because at the same time there were talks about attaching the entire Vilnius region to Belarusian Soviet Republic. Only one-fifth of Vilnius region was actually given back to Lithuania, even though the Soviets were recognizing the whole region as a part of Lithuania while it was still under Polish control. Polish envoy in Kaunas protested against the unlawful taking over of the city on October 13 and left Lithuania three days later, suspending with this act once again diplomatic relations between both states. This reunited Lithuanian Jews, although some people involved in Soviet activities decided to leave. In few days over 3000 Jews left Vilnius for the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian army entered Vilnius on 28 October, but it was clear for Lithuanian officials that Vilnius could not be established as a capital without proper preparation. So for the time being former prime minister Antanas Merkys was named special government representative for the city of Vilnius and Vilnius region, he was later replaced by Kazys Bizauskas. A month of Soviet rule in Vilnius had catastrophic consequences: the city was starving, the museums and archives looted, the valuables, industry and historic documents were stolen and transferred to Russia, and many people were imprisoned or deported. Apparently, the Lithuanian government was deliberately slowing down the transfer of the capital back to Vilnius due to fears that the Soviet military presence around the city would enable the Russians to overthrow the Lithuanian government if it were based there. Annexation of Vilnius was greeted