Lithuanian Partisans - Armed Resistance

Armed Resistance

The resistance in Lithuania was well organized, and the uniformed with chain of command guerrilla units were effectively able to control whole regions of the countryside until 1949. Their armaments included Czech Skoda guns, Russian Maxim heavy machine guns, assorted mortars and a wide variety of mainly German and Soviet light machine guns and submachine guns. When not in direct battles with the Soviet Army or special NKVD units, they significantly delayed the consolidation of Soviet rule through ambush, sabotage, assassination of local Communist activists and officials, freeing imprisoned guerillas, and printing underground newspapers. Captured Lithuanian Forest Brothers themselves often faced torture and summary execution while their relatives faced deportation to Siberia (cf. quotation). Reprisals against pro-Soviet farms and villages were harsh. The NKVD units, named People's Defense Platoons (known by the Lithuanians as pl. stribai, from the Russian: izstrebiteli - destroyers) used shock tactics to discourage further resistance such as displaying executed partisans' corpses in village courtyards.

On February 16, 1949 the Joint Staff of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters signed a declaration on the future of Lithuania. It was signed by the commander of the forces - Brigadier General Jonas Žemaitis and other commanders of territorial armed forces consisting of:

• Southern Lithuanian: Tauras and Dainavos Apygardos (districts),
• Eastern Lithuanian: Algimantas, Didžioji Kova, Vytis and Vytautas districts,
• Western Lithuanian: Kęstutis, Prisikėlimas and Žemaičiai districts.

The same day new military ranks were awarded for the commanders, and new insignia of rank were sewn on the uniforms.

The declaration stated, that re-instated Lithuania should be a democratic country, that would grant equal rights for every citizen, based on freedom and democratic values. It did declare that Communist party is a criminal organization. The document of the declaration has survived and was preserved by the KGB.

The report of a commission formed at a KGB prison a few days after the October 15, 1956 arrest of Adolfas Ramanauskas "Vanagas" (Hawk), the last official commander of the Lietuvos Laisvės Kovotojų Sąjūdis or "Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters", noted the following:

Juozas Lukša was among those who managed to escape to Western states; he wrote his memoirs there and was killed after having returned to occupied Lithuania in 1951.

Pranas Končius (code name Adomas), was the last Lithuanian anti-soviet resistance fighter killed in action by Soviet forces on July 6, 1965 (some sources indicate he shot himself in order to avoid capture). He was awarded the Cross of Vytis posthumously in 2000.

Benediktas Mikulis, one of the last known partisans to remain in the forest, emerged in 1971. He was arrested in the 1980s and spent several years in prison.