Dubingiai Massacre - Aftermath

Aftermath

The reprisal actions of AK in Dubingiai, even if premature and unplanned by AK command, marked the beginning of a wider AK operation in which units beyond the 5th Brigade were involved. From 25 to 27 June various Polish units entered pre-war Lithuanian territory and carried out a series of actions against Lithuanian Nazi police forces and those labeled as Nazi sympathizers. Bridges and telecommunication lines were destroyed. Polish sources note that a number of civilian casualties, both Lithuanian and Polish, occurred as a result of the wider operations during that period, particularly when several buildings caught fire. According to Lithuanian sources between 70-100 Lithuanians, including civilians, were killed in total by the end of June 1944 in Dubingiai and the neighbouring villages of Joniškis, Inturkė, Bijutiškis, and Giedraičiai.

Boradyn contends the AK's reprisal of 23–27 June was successful, since there were no further actions by Lithuanian forces similar to the preceding Glinciszki massacre. This contention of success against the Lithuanians is, however, largely speculative as the potential for further escalation by either side was cut short by the Soviet occupation of Vilnius (pre-war Wilno) two weeks later.

This chain of events stained the reputation of AK in Lithuania. According to Boradyn this was the only reprisal action against Lithuanians ever undertaken by the AK.

Zygmunt Szendzielarz, the commander of the 5th Brigade, which was responsible for the massacre, and later member of the Polish anti-Soviet resistance, was arrested in 1948 by the communist Polish secret police and after more than two years of torture and interrogation was executed by the communist Polish government in 1951. After the fall of the communism, Szendzielarz was rehabilitated and declared innocent of charges which he had been accused of. On 2007 Polish president Lech Kaczyński posthumously awarded Szendzielarz the order of Polonia Restituta, creating controversy in Lithuania.