In the summer of 1941, German forces overran Lithuania (Litauen) as part of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.  By late 1941, Lithuania, together with Latvia, Estonia, and western parts of the Soviet Union, was incorporated into the Ostland administrative region.

During the German occupation, a single set of overprinted stamps was released for use throughout Lithuania, and another set was released for use solely in the Southern Lithuanian Vilna area.  In addition, numerous local provisional issues were printed.

The occupation lasted until the summer and fall of 1944, when a resurgent Red Army pushed the German forces west on their eventual retreat to Berlin. 

Following its liberation, Lithuania would not return as an independent nation.  It was occupied by the Soviet Union, where it remained until its independence was reestablished in 1991.