it is important to remember this book smuggling as a symbol that even small nation can resist against huge empire like soviet union. every effort counts, and as a result, we in Lithuania still use our language.
The big boom in minority-language publishing came in the 1920s and early 1930s, when there were major drives to improve minority-language literacy and translate as a rule higher-education teaching materials into local languages. However, starting from Stalin, minority-language publishing was reduced to little more than a token effort, mostly socialist-realist poetry or fiction and newspapers of exceedingly local concern. Furthermore, the print runs for minority-language books were minuscule, even for very large minorities like the Tatars. It wasn't until glasnost that minority-language publishing took off again.
so no, it's not like you are saying.