1945–present thumb|Participants' ships of the 2017 Sea Festival in Klaipėda During World War II, from the end of 1944 into 1945, the battle of Memel took place. The nearly empty city was captured by the Soviet Red Army on 28 January 1945 with only about 50 remaining people. After the war the Klaipėda Region was incorporated into the Lithuanian SSR, as the post-1937 German occupation of various regions of Europe, including Klaipėda, was considered illegal.
1945–present thumb|Participants' ships of the 2017 Sea Festival in Klaipėda During World War II, from the end of 1944 into 1945, the battle of Memel took place. The nearly empty city was captured by the Soviet Red Army on 28 January 1945 with only about 50 remaining people. After the war the Klaipėda Region was incorporated into the Lithuanian SSR, as the post-1937 German occupation of various regions of Europe, including Klaipėda, was considered illegal.