SUMMARIES
Algis Kašėta. Sources of anti-Soviet armed resistance in Dzukija 11 Lithuanian Freedom Army (Lietuvos Laisves Armija; LLA)
There were no favorable conditions for LLA activities in Dzūkija. A big part of Dainava was occupied by Poland in 1920-1939, so there were not enough military intelligentsia. This part of Lithuania was too far from biggest towns and underground centers. More significant traces of LLA activities can be found in Merkine region and some regions of Lazdijai (Seinai to 1945) district.
LLA organization structures in Dzūkija were destroyed in summer of 1944, when almost all its leaders retreated West with Germans.
Red Army occupied the whole Dzūkija in July, 1944. Former LLA members joined the partizans' units. They did not care how they were called. Some units were led by former LLA members.
LLA Kaunas district headquarters led by general Aleksandras Listopadskis were established at the end of 1944, and LLA Alytus district headquarters started to act at the beginning of 1945. Partizans' units of Simnas, Miroslavas, part of Alytus region were led by them just to the spring of 1945. Later these units united into Dzūkai unit. Captain Dominykas Jecys under pseudonym Azuolis was elected its commander.
It is clear now, that LLA Alytus district headquarters were ignored by partizans. Maybe the headquarters were too weak in military and intellectual aspect. The commanders of units did not know almost anything about LLA organization. Partizans could not trust in LLA leaders, because they lived legally.
There are some grounds to think that a few different headquarters acted in Dzūkija on LLA behalf. One of LLA representatives Antanas Staciokas-Liepa maintained the relations with partizans of Masaliskes unit from October, 1944. Later he became the commander of this unit, but was killed soon. The other — captain Kazys Kilna-Smakas - tried to unite the partizans of Merkine and other regions, but he was arrested later. Many LLA leaders and ordinary members who lived legally were arrested.to the autumn of 1945. In the meanwhile partizans of Dzūkija united into two larger units: Dzūkai unit (led by D.Jecys-Azuolis) and Dzūkai group (later — "A" group; led by J.Vitkus-Kazimieraitis). Head of LLA Alytus region headquarters A.Jauniskis-Silas began to negotiate with them upon the common activities of above mentioned organizations. At last, Kazimieraitis agreed to be appointed the commander of partizans' district by LLA. On November 30,1945, he announced the 1st order of the commander of "A" district, which had to annex Dzūkai unit to the district led by him. Commander of Dzūkai unit refused on December 6, but later this problem was solved, because most of LLA leaders were arrested.
So we can make the following conclusions:
I. LLA influence was weaker in Dzūkija, than in some other regions of Lithuania.
2 Since many commanders of LLA in Dzūkija retreated West, organization structures were destroyed. The rest of LLA members joined the partizans' units.
3. Higher LLA headquarters which acted in other regions tried to annex to LIA partizans' units of Dzūkija, but they did not succeed.
4. LLA headquarters in Dzūkija were weakened by arrests and had not enough authoritative personalities.
So LLA, as the organization, has not taken root in partizans' structures of Dzūkija.
Nijole Gaškaitė. Some features of Jonas Deksnys portrait
Jonas Deksnys was bom in 1914. Being the chemist, he could live beautiful and significant life devoted to his motherland and its people. Alas, the generation of Jonas Deksnys was sentenced to the largest history disasters, which destroyed many lives and demanded self-determination from everyone.
J. Deksnys joined the resistance in the years of first Soviet occupation. He was arrested in 1940, but succeeded to come out of prison soon. Vyriausiasis Lietuvos išlaisvinimo Komitetas (VLIK; Chief Lithuania liberation Committee) was founded on November 25,1943, and J.Deksnys became one of its leaders. In May of 1944 he was arrested by Nazi, but soon he was set free by the troops of CIS.
J.Deksnys had chosen the way of compromises, though he was imprisoned by both occupants. That was very important for the totalitaristic system. MGB paid to him special attention. When J.Deksnys came to Lithuania in 1946, MGB let him go back accompanied by its agent J.Markulis.
J.Deksnys had experienced all the levels of MGB activities. First of all he was used by MGB though he did not know anything about it ("v temnuju" in Russian). J.Deksnys was used in this way from 1946 to 1949. It is clear now, that he had some suspicions, but he did not care for it because of his personal ambitions.
After some time, he had reached the second level and became MGB agent under the pseudonym Petrauskas. J.Deksnys did not refuse to fulfil these obligations even after partizan war in Lithuania was over. His reports of 1959 seemed to be not a compulsory information, but analysis of the character, personality, views of life of those whom he spied upon. That means that J.Deksnys had reached the third level and became an agent of influence between the intelligentsia. He accepted this like the form of self-expression, not like the compulsory load. He had used all his possibilities in this walk of life before 1960. Then he had became an archive agent and was, so to say, retired.
His activity reached its peak in 1959. Since he was a translator, he could communicate with almost all intelligentsia. One of those he spied upon, writer J.Dovydaitis, used to say: "You will be my consultant who would not let me lose the determined direction of the flight".
J.Deksnys relations with the poet A.Miskinis were different. In this case J.Deksnys tried to exploit the complex of "guilty". He felt that the poet was still sorry for his compulsory curtsies, and tried to humiliate him again and again.
J.Deksnys wrote his reports to MGB in 1959, having an agent's experience of ten years. But we can find out that he looked for excuses for his actions. He tried to convince himself and others that Marxism was a great national achievement, that emigrants were "degenerated" and partizans became "bandits". He could not solve these problems for 10 years, though he made his decisions at his will. J.Deksnys had to solve the tragic dilemma of existence what is easier — to accomplish a feat or to betray? Contrary to J-Luksa, J.Deksnys had chosen the last way. But it seems that he was wrong, because he did not know how hard his load will be.
Diana Varnaitė. Occupants were afraid of them, even dead
"Laisves kovu archyvas" announces historic data about resistance in Lithuania, as: partizans' documents, data from soviet security archives, memoirs of freedom fighters, their relatives, witnesses, studies of the historicians. This time we present a little bit different material: the material of investigation of the places where partizans' remains were buried and material of the exhumation of the remains.
The search of freedom fighters' remains was organized in Anykščiai region, Viešintos, in 1994. It was different from many other searches and organized according to the demands made for such works. All necessary specialists were present, archeological research was done, the remains were photographed and examined by the expert of the court. This material was analyzed and account of 93 pages was prepared to be kept in archives of monuments keeping service Anykščiai region board. These researches had shown that found remains belonged to the people whom their relatives looked for, and it was a valuable information for the future generations.
There were some articles about the exhumation and re-burying of partizans' remains in "Lietuvos aidas" (No.169,180 of 1994); "Žiburys" (No.10 of 1994) and "Tremtinys" (No.25 of 1994). The copies of the said articles are kept in the account too, besides, there are many photographs and graphic materials (drawings of burring places etc.) in it. The quotations of the main documents are presented here.
Croatian political prisoners from 1918 to 1991
In the Croat people's struggle for freedom, imprisonment has been an unavoidable factor, from the times of Habsburg monarchy until the establishment of today's democratic, independent and internationally recognized Republic of Croatia.
The period from 1918 to 1991 can be considered in four phases: a) the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941), b) the Independent State of Croatia (NHD) (1941-1945) and c) the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ) (1945-1991) and d) the Republic of Croatia.
a) The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941)
During this period Croatia was contained within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was assembled against the will of its constituent nations and against the decisions of their highest political constitutions. Thus, against the will of Croat people and against the decision of the Croatian Parliament, under a declaration by the king of Serbia a joint "State of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" was formed on 1st December 1918 by the unification of the "State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs" with the Kingdom of Serbia, to which Montenegro and Vojvodina were also connected. From 1929, the state was known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
In the new state, known as the "prison of nations", Serbian elite, supported by the royal court, the army and the police, imposed centralist Greater Serbian rule. The Croatian Parliament was dismissed by force and the "Vidovdan Constitution" (1921) was proclaimed illegitimately, in the absence of representatives of the Croat people and without a qualified majority.
Cinder the Law of the Protection of the State of 1921, thousands of Croats who opposed the Greater Serbian regime were convicted and incarcerated in prisons in Lepoglava, Srijemska Mitrovica, Pozarevac, Maribor, Zenica, Nis and many others. Political prisoners were often deprived even of those rights granted by the Detention Law, such as the right to probation etc.
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was established as a centralized state, enforced by coercion and dictatorship., together with severe suppression of any use of the Croatian name, flag and other symbols, restrictions to the freedom of speech and application of censorship.
All this contributed to the growing unpopularity of the regime, its policies and its representatives among the people. As a consequence of that, in 1929 the illegal organization "Ustasha — The Croatian Liberation Movement" was established under the leadership of Dr. Ante Pavelic with the goal of establishing a free and independent Croatian state.
This influenced the Croatian national movement to become a strong political factor and the Croatian issue became the most important political problem of the state. That was also shown in the elections of 1935 and 1938, in which the united opposition led by Dr. Marek won 37,4% and 44,9% of the votes. On 26th August 1939, Agreement on the Creation of Banate of Croatia restored the equality of Croats and their autonomous position within Yugoslavia.
It is not known exactly how many Croats were sent for compulsory labor in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. An figure can be derived indirectly from the official estimate of about 10,000 Croats killed during the period from 1918 to 1941, many of whom passed through prisons, penitentiaries and concentration camps. Also approximately 400,000 Croats were forced to leave their homes and go abroad during that period.
b) The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) (1941-1945)
The period of the NDH is a particularly tragic chapter in the history of the Croatian people. On 10th April 1941, after the German forces had entered, the NDH was proclaimed in Zagreb. In 1942 the Croatian Parliament and all the necessary ministries were re-established, the armed forces were been organized. Since the NDH was created by the help of Axis Powers, with their defeat in this region on 15th May 1945, the NDH ceased to exist.
c) The Federativna Narodna Republika Jugoslavija (FNRJ) (Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia) and the Socijalisti'ka Federativna Republika Jugoslavija (SFRJ) (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) (1945-1991)
Before the advancing communist forces, numerous members of the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia, their families and other civilians retreated westwards. Forced to surrender unconditionally to the victors of the Second World War, they were immediately handed over by the British to units of the Yugoslavia Army, without any international guarantees about their future.
By 1948 the communist system was established throughout the country. On 29th December 1945, the Constitutional Assembly in Belgrade revoked the monarchy and proclaimed the FNRJ.
Besides the prisoners of war, entrepreneurs, peasants and especially the church soon came under attack.
In 1963 the country acquired a new name — the Socialist Federal Repub-lie of Yugoslavia — and Croatia was renamed the Socialist Republic of Croatia.
According to current estimates, some 15,000 Croats were killed and around 900,000 were expelled, which presents a clear picture of the repressive system.
In soon became evident that the one-party communist systems could not bring economic prosperity and political freedom to individuals or to nations, and they were overthrown in several countries in Europe. That process gained momentum in 1990 and reached a peak in the following year. Estimated figures on repression between 1971 and 1991 show that some 10,000 Croats were killed and around 850,000 were expelled or fled abroad.
From 1991 to the present
It should be pointed out that the collapse of Yugoslavia began in 1989 and that in 1990 there were free democratic elections in Croatia. In a referendum on the 19th of April 1991, 93,4% of voters expressed their wish for a sovereign and independent Croatian state, and consequently on the 25th of June by a constitutional ruling the Croatian parliament proclaimed Croatia's independence.
Greater Serbian hegemonies and nationalists could not accept the loss of their privileged positions. In August 1990, the so-called "Knin Timber Uprising" marked the beginning of Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia, with the so-called Yugoslav Peoples' Army becoming directly involved in September 1991. In 1992 The Greater Serbian aggression was turned towards the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the war is still going on, with more severe consequences than in Croatia.
As early as 20th of November 1989, a group of 18 former political prisoners took the initiative of forming the Society of Croatian Political Prisoners. Later the founding assembly was held and the society was officially founded on the 17th of February 1990. As was stated at the assembly, over 100,000 Croats passed through Yugoslav detention institutions.
After the first free elections, a significant number of former political prisoners were appointed to high positions in the state, parliament and government.
From the very beginning the society's members played their part, within
the Croatian Army in defending the country against the Greater Serbian aggression on several battle fronts, where many of them gave their lives.
Zagreb, January 12, 1995
Zdravko Dizdar, M. Sc.
