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In June 1940 Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union and became a Soviet Republic. Following new rules, the majority of the factories and shops belonging to the Jews of Vilkovishk were nationalized and commissars appointed to manage them. All the Zionist parties and youth organizations were disbanded, several of the activists being detained and Hebrew educational institutions were closed. Supply of goods decreased and, as a result, prices soared. The middle class, mostly Jewish, bore most of the brunt and the standard of living dropped gradually. Five families and two bachelors were exiled to Siberia, the heads of these families being sentenced to 5-18 years of forced labour in the terrible Reshoti camps there. They were:

    Uliamperl Yitzhak, with wife and son, blamed for being the owner of a nationalized factory, and who died in Reshoti;

    Pustopedsky Shmeryahu (Zunia) with wife Liuba, blamed because he was a member of the Betar organization, survived Reshoti;

    Zimansky Avraham (single), the same accusation, survived;

    Starkovsky Ya'akov (single), the same accusation, died in Siberia;

    Uliamperl Munia (with wife and two children), also blamed for being a Betar member, died in Reshoti;

    Kovarsky Berl (with wife), accused of being a shop owner, died in Reshoti;

    Goldberg Moshe (with wife and son), blamed for possessing a farm, died in exile.