Re Litvaks and beards –
Yes, in some yeshivas there was shaving. But in others were more open to beards, for example, in the Novhardok yeshivas. Novhardok had a giant network of yeshivos.
The Litvishe way is not just Slabodka.
Of course, the war hit Novhardok hard and it was decimated, so it is less known today.
Anyway, when looking at such things we should know the context, e.g. terrible anti-semitism and mocking of frum people at that time.