ENGLISH SUMMARY
Juozas Matusevičius.Jurbarkas partisans and united Kęstutis district
First partizans units were organized in the territory of United Kęstutis district (Jungtinė Kęstučio apygarda, JKA), i.e. Tauragė, Raseiniai, partly -Kaunas, Kėdainiai, Šiauliai and Klaipėda regions, in summer and autumn of 1944.
Lithuanian men retreated to the forest for many reasons, but the purpose was the only - to fight for independence.
Underground organizations of South Žemaitija, as well as all over Lithuania, prepared to fight with Bolsheviks since the first Soviet occupation. Organization of Lithuanian freedom defenders (Lietuvos laisvės gynėjai, LLG) was organized in Jurbarkas and its region by teacher Petras Paulaitis during the war and it became a basis of partizans groups after the war.
Partizans activities of Jurbarkas region could not be imagined without the personality of LLG founder Petras Paulaitis.
He was bom in Kalnėnai village of Jurbarkas region in 1904, studied and worked in Italy and Portugal. After the returning to Lithuania, he was arrested by German occupation power for co-operating with illegal press. Later, he succeeded to run away and lived illegally. By his decision separate partizans units were united to Jurbarkas partizans group. P.Paulaitis became its leader till the autumn of 1946 - till founding of JKA. To 1947, Jurbarkas partizans group acted as a separate unit of Lithuanian freedom fighters, and since January, 1947, it was called the unit of 'Three lilies" (Jurbarkas town emblem). In the autumn of 1946, P.Paulaitis took part in JKA foundation together with other Žemaitija partizans leaders. Vl.Gudavičius-Radvila was appointed Jurbarkas partizans leader. P.Paulaitis-Aidas (later - Barkus) became the head of headquarters Information department. He had organize reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, agitation and propaganda, publishing of district newspaper "Freedom Bell" (Laisvės varpas).
P.Paulaitis worked in Kęstutis region headquarters just for almost half a year. He was arrested by Red Army soldiers in 1944, but he escaped the imprisonment MGB Tauragė region officers arrested him again after a be-
trayal, on April 12,1947. His investigation was over on August 20, the same year. Nevertheless, his case was sent to USSR MGB Special board. P.Paulaitis was sentenced to 25 years of prisoners' camp. During the Khruschev thaw, situation changed and P.Paulaitis went out of Ozemoj compulsory labour camp in 1956. P.Paulaitis did not refuse of his fight for Lithuanian freedom and independence he organized underground organization in Kaunas, so he was arrested again in autumn of 1957 and sentenced for 10 years of imprisonment more.
P.Paulaitis came back from prison just in 1983, after spending in Gulags 35 years.
Nijolė Gaškaitė. Partizans’ death sentences: fiction and reality.
There are twenty thousand partizans shot, burnt, killed, tortured in freedom fights. There are no their graves or their names: they were dangerous to occupants even dead. After the end of freedom fights, Soviet propaganda did its best to soil partizans' name.
By the decision of Lithuanian communist party of April, 1959, special organization was created with purpose to from public opinion on partizans as murders of innocent people. This slander continued during all occupation period Even in 1987, KGB informed that some tens of articles, 8 broadcasts and telecasts were prepared on the grounds of its data, 16 KGB leaders were interviewed by journalists.
The facts were counterfeited consciously. There were no accounts about the killed civil unarmed persons in MGB statistics. These figures were included to the lists of killed NKVD soldiers and destroyers to show that partizans killed civil inhabitants. Most of Soviet officers, party activists and MGB agents were armed and ready to kill, so they should not be treated as innocent victims.
Many massacres made by KGB or Red Army soldiers themselves were imputed to partizans in MGB reports, as well as the persons killed by criminals.
MGB used to falsificate documents and discredit partizans or their supporters by blackmail of MGB agents, with the purpose to make partizans to execute death sentences on the grounds of these false evidences.
Shockers of specgroups fulfilled terror acts to hide their activities and to set people against partizans.
At war conditions, partizans had no possibilities to apply another punishments than warnings, fines and death sentences. The time of investigation and execution was limited. Since the beginning of occupation, partizans tried to regulate execution of death sentences for separate categories of collaborationists and criminals by law. Partizans death sentences were executed just after the warning in the case if the sentenced continued his destructive activities. It was forbidden to execute a sentence without bringing an action and making a case with investigation protocol and testifyings of 3 witnesses. It was strictly forbidden in partizans' statutes to torture the sentenced ones or to kill juvenile members of families. Partizans who did not acted according to Discipline and Criminal statutes were punished.
The whole partizans movement should not be accused for the crimes of non-disciplined or single armed criminals.
It is a small number of civil persons killed by partizans during the war which continued for almost ten years. It shows that partizans executed death sentences just in special cases, fighting against occupation power, punishing for the crimes or trying to avoid of betrayals.
Vytautas Bukauskas.Inmates of Alma Mater in freedom fight movement
There are many facts confirming that most of Lithuanian people took part in resistance during Bolshevik occupation. Lost independence, repressions, terror and perspectives of destruction of Lithuanian nation caused active resistance. Young generation took it especially seriously. Youth organized itself into underground groups and worked inspired by patriotism and hate to occupants. Youth resistance organizations were founded in many education institutions.
For example, eleven students from Vilnius and Kaunas universities decided to begin anti-Soviet activity in summer of 1950. Theoretical program was prepared by J.Petkevicius, future lawyer. C.Ajauskas prepared the Statute, which was approved in Kaunas next year. The organization was called United Labour Onion (Vieningoji Darbo Sqjunga, VDS).
Armed resistance already had many losses, so VDS members preferred ideological fight They also decided to co-operate with partizans' underground press. Publishers of Kęstutis partizans district press accepted their articles and poems with pleasure. Vice versa, partizan press was distributed among the students. VDS program was sent to Kęstutis district. ABakšys, leader of Jūra partizans region, was interested in VDS activities, he offered to join a new LLKS political organization to be created.
Alas, arrests of VDS members began in September, 1952.16 members were arrested. The organization was betrayed by V.Murauskas who entered Vilnius university as KGB agent
C.Ajauskas, K.Banys, J.Bersėnas, A.Bitvinskas, V.Bukauskas, P.Čižas, L.Gaižauskas, T.Jagelavičius, V.Kaminskas, J.Kreimeris, B.Kryževičiūtė, A.Lukaševičius, J.Petkevičius, A.Urbonas, K.Vaišvila, J.Žukauskaitė - Petrauskienė were sentenced and sent to Siberia prisoners camps.
Former VDS members described their underground activities, life in prisoners camps, their destinies back in Lithuania in the book "Students' case" published in 1955. Their efforts to fight and work for restoration of independent democratic Lithuania are the significant part of the history of whole nation's resistance.
Ideas of Lithuanian Freedom Fight movement and United Labour Union should resurrect in young Lithuania. The fight for real Independence and nation's future is still not over.
Diana Varnaitė.Is there no one blame for the outrage upon the buildingin Vilnius, Gedimino pr. 40?
Repair works of the former Lithuanian KGB building in Vilnius, Gedimino pr. 40, were described in press and TV in 1995. Almost nobody had no doubt that these works destroyed many evidences of genocide of Lithuanian people.
In Soviet times, this building was included into the lists of history and architecture monuments. After the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990, there was a hope that historical meaning of this building would be defined clearly. Its door was opened in 1991, and every detail of interior was a witness of Soviet genocide.
Nevertheless, attention was paid first of all to the architecture and not to the fact that genocide of Lithuanian people was planned and organized exactly at that building. For example, documents of 1992, approved by Monuments restoration institute, said that the only meaning of the mentioned building was that it was built in XIX century and destinated for the court Even more there were offers to destroy evidences of Soviet genocide, for example, summer chambers in one of the interior yards.
In the part of building belonging to the Ministry of Justice, repair works were started in spite of protests of Culture values protection department of the Ministry of Culture. On the other hand, this department paid no attention to the repairs of the Museum of Lithuanian genocide victims, when the great damage to autentic interior of KGB period was done.
In generalization of what was said above the following conclusions can be made historic researches of former Lithuanian KGB building were made just to 1940; there were offers to destroy authentic interior of KGB period later.
It is clear from the documents that the institution which should control protection of culture values, Le. Culture values protection department of the Ministry of Culture, knew about the repair works destroying interior of KGB period and performed without necessary permissions and designs already in April, 1995. Anyway, no means to stop them were used for more than half a year, till members of Seimas, Union of political prisoners and deportees, State board of monuments protection made their strict decision against this outrage.
Department of culture values protection still have not counted up the damage done by repairs of the Museum of Lithuanian genocide victims, while the damage done to the part of the building belonging to the Ministry of Justice was calculated very quickly.
Juozas Starkauskas. Standpoint of Lithuanian partizans to soviet elections.
First elections to the Supreme Council of Soviet Union were organized by occupants and local collaborants on February 10,1946. Real power belonged to communist party and the councils of all levels were just a screen to hide communist power and to demonstrate "people's will" home and abroad Partizans who represented Independent Lithuania understood that fiction and opposed electrons organized by occupants. Elections of 1946 took place during especially hard fights. There were about 6-7 thousand of partizans who lived illegally, and their armed forces were strong enough. Occupants ruled just towns and small territories around NKVD and destroyers headquarters. Most Lithuanian people thought that they would demonstrate their resistance for all the world if they would ignore elections, and if they took part in the elections they would strenghten fact of the occupation.
Partizans activities before the elections are described clearly in one of their documents, the letter of partizans leader Vacius to another leader Ezerietis. This document says that partizans must distribute periodically special proclamations, strenghten acting and organization sections both, take temporary identification documents from people with Bolshevik point of view, destroy telephone and telegraph communications at night to February 10, try to prevent the elections: to take the ballot papers, ballot-boxes and destroy them together with the results of elections.
There were various kinds of proclamations - from those printed in partizans headquarters to the simple sheets of paper written by pupils.
NKVD-NKGB had its information network of secret agents and collaborants, so it was clear that the elections could not be organized easily. NKVD troops were strengthened extremely. 63 partizans' units were destroyed, 667 people were shot (28 leaders among them), 1046 partizans arrested, 85 anti-Soviet organizations and groups destroyed by them from December 1, 1945, to February 10,1946.
Partizans' activity was also intensive. 518 their attacks were registered by occupants. 362 people were killed during this period. Of course, most of them were sentenced by partizans' court-martial.
The elections of February 10,1946, indicated mass resistance of Lithuanian people who supported partizan war and did not forget the years of Independence. Though elections results were counterfeited by occupants, partizans' activity had a huge influence on it. There were different elections results in regions with well-organized partizans structures, for example, in
South Lithuania, from the regions with weak partizans' activities - as in Klaipeda region and East Lithuania.
Occupants had to face open and passive resistance of Lithuanian people and were deeply confused. Their unability to hide counterfeited elections results confirms this fact
