A collection of poems in memory of the partisans. Illustrated with archive photographs

This is an encyclopaedic publication dedicated to the partisans of western Lithuania, the Kęstutis, Prisikėlimas, and Žemaičiai Commands. The publication contains a lot of detailed, structured information: the dates, locations, and circumstances of the deaths of Lithuanian freedom fighters. It is supplemented with maps specifying the locations and dates of the battles mentioned in the book and giving a reference number to the description of the battle. The publication is illustrated with archive photographs of Lithuanian partisans, memorials, monuments, and other commemorative sites; detailed descriptions of the illustrations and an index of names are provided. This publication will serve a source of information about the fight of the Lithuanian partisans and will provide a better understanding of the extent of the battles and losses.

A collection of presentations made for the conference ‘My Lithuania’ held on 21 June 2010 and dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Soviet occupation. The political situation in Lithuania in 1940 is examined by P. Jakučionis, chairman of the Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees, A. Anušauskas, a member of the Seimas, and others.

The book contains biographies of the main organisers, leaders, messengers, and their assistants of the 1941 June Uprising in Lithuania. The book describes how the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF), the organisational centre of the June uprising, was established in Berlin, how the key centres of the uprising in Lithuania, which later became the headquarters of the LAF in Kaunas and Vilnius, and the border crossing point Varpėnų Dvaras (Varpėnai Manor) were established, according to reminiscences of the participants and archive documents. The rebels’ biographies emphasise their role in the preparation of the June Uprising, disclose well- and less- known facts of their lives, and gives further details about the anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet resistance movement.

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The book presents the key characteristics, areas, methods, and measures applied by the KGB in fighting the anti-Soviet resistance between 1954 and 1991. The book is illustrated with archive photographs.

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The publication covers the campaign in the West for the liberation of Lithuania, which began soon after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 and grew into the Movement for the Liberation of Lithuania, which was active throughout the period of occupation. The liberation of Lithuania is shown through the activities of the Lithuanian organisations abroad (Lithuanian American Council [LAC], Chief Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania [VLIK], Lithuanian Freedom Committee [LLK], and Lithuanian World Community [PLB]). The joint and individual contributions of each of the organisations in expressing the main and unchangeable objective of the Lithuanian people to re-establish a free and independent Lithuania is shown. The Lithuanian struggle in the West for freedom is followed until 1975, when the European Conference on Security and Cooperation took place and the final Helsinki Act was signed, which was a sign of a change in the international situation.

This book provides a digest of the periodicals published by participants in the resistance over the years of occupation (1940–1989). The digest contains information about the underground periodicals of the armed resistance (partisans), political prisoners, and exiles and the non-armed resistance published using various means.

This is Volume III of the multi-volume publication The Genocide of Lithuania’s Residents (a list of surnames of the victims of the Soviet genocide) and the second book dedicated to the victims of the 1948 repressions. Because the number of people affected by those events in that period was more than 50,000, Volume III is subdivided into two volumes (A–M and N–Ž).

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The author of this book covers the most widely spread interpretations of the events in Lithuania in 1940 in historiography. On the basis of the works of the historians who tackled this theme, archive materials, and stories of eyewitnesses of the events, he demonstrates that the process of the incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR was planned by Moscow and that the plan was diligently implemented by Moscow’s designate Dekanozov, who involved local communists in the Sovietisation of the country. The author provides a detailed analysis of the events between the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the declaration of Lithuania as a Soviet republic.

Alma Mater is a Lithuanian underground publication from 1979. It was devoted to the 400th anniversary of Vilnius University. A fair portion of the publication is devoted to the history of the university and special anniversary events. The publication includes articles about philosophy, culture, morality, etc. that are relevant today; documents about the secret agreement between Stalin and Hitler are also provided. Under the difficult conditions of occupation, repression, and total control of the government, Alma Mater was published by dissident Povilas Pečeliūnas and his aides. Four self-published issues appeared. This publication played an important role in the history of underground publishing and the entire resistance movement.

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The author of this book, Samuel Bak, is a renowned Jewish painter born in 1933 in Vilnius. His book presents vivid and moving reminiscences about the city of his youth, people who were close and dear to the author, and their frequently tragic fates in the Second World War. After more than 50 years, the author paid a visit to Vilnius.

The book dedicated to the young generation tells about the partisan war in Lithuania after the second Soviet occupation. The young people in the occupied country had to make a decision whether they would defend and fight at an early age, usually at the age 16. The difficult choice sometimes came at a very early age; many partisan messengers joined the fighters after they graduated from the six-year basic school.

For nearly a decade, the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania has organised an essay competition for school pupils called the History of Lithuanian Battles and Sacrifices for Freedom. The competition aims to encourage young people to study and respect the history of their country. The best and most original essays are published as separate publications. Book 4 of the pupils’ essays, Courage is the Secret of Freedom, contains essays received between 2007 and 2008. The publication is illustrated with pupils’ paintings.

A collection of posters for the commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania (MSFL) of 16 February 1949 and the 60th Anniversary of the MSFL. A collection (14 posters) consists of eight portraits of the signatories and their short biographies, the Declaration facsimile and a description of its importance.
On February 2–22, 1949, the Congress of Lithuanian Partisan Leaders was called, with the participation of the representatives from the whole of Lithuania. The most important document prepared at the Congress was the Declaration, adopted on February 16, 1949 at the MSFL Council meeting, which was signed by eight participants of the meeting: Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas, Chairman of the Presidium of the MSFL Council, leader of the Western Lithuanian Partisan Region and the members of the MSFL Council: Aleksandras Grybinas-Faustas, leader of Tauras Command, Vytautas Gužas-Kardas, Chief of the Headquarters of the Western Lithuanian Partisan Region, Juozas Šibaila-Merainis, Chief of the MSFL Social Part, Bronius Liesys-Naktis, Chief of the Headquarters of Prisikėlimas Command, Leonardas Grigonis-Užpalis, leader of Prisikėlimas Command, Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas, leader of Southern Lithuanian Partisan Region and Petras Bartkus-Žadgaila, Secretary of the Presidium of the MSFL Council.
The declaration, together with other documents adopted at the Congress of Lithuanian Partisan Leaders, made the legal and political basis for Lithuania’s armed resistance, imparted a new quality to the fights for freedom, legalized the MSFL as the organization of the organized armed resistance against the Soviet occupation, and its Council as the only legal power in the territory of the occupied Lithuania.

The Belgian historian Thierry Pinet wrote a study about the armed Lithuanian resistance to the Soviet rule and partisan war. The author maintained contacts with the Lithuanian long-term émigré diplomat Dr. Stasys Bačkis and visited Lithuania. When writing the work Th. Pinet most of all used document collections, memoirs and studies, published in emigration in the English language, as well modern Lithuanian research, first of all books by Nijolė Gaškaitė and Kęstutis Kasparas. In the monograph the author combined successfully the scientific approach and vivid presentation understood by non-specialists. The publication contains quite a lot of photos; the bibliography is given at the end. This book will be useful to all who can read in the French language, who are interested in the 20th-century history of Lithuania and East Europe.

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The diary of the partisan Lionginas Baliukevičius (1925–1950) lay for forty years in the KGB archives in Vilnius. It shows the tragic personality of an idealist. His views, longings and aspirations are show against the background of bitter fighting. Out of the context of everyday life crystallise general statements about essential issues for the survival of the nation and the state. Having accurately pointed out the causes which brought Lithuania to its knees in 1940 and the first Soviet occupation, Baliukevičius analyses the political, national and moral issues of the postwar times and reflects on the problems and everyday lives of the partisans.

This is an encyclopaedic publication dedicated to the partisans of southern Lithuania, the Tauras and Dainava Commands. The publication contains a lot of detailed, structured information: the dates, locations, and circumstances of the deaths of Lithuanian freedom fighters. It is supplemented with maps specifying the locations and dates of the battles mentioned in the book and giving a reference number to the description of the battle. The publication is illustrated with archive photographs of Lithuanian partisans, memorials, monuments, and other commemorative sites; detailed descriptions of the illustrations and an index of names are provided. This publication will serve a source of information about the fight of the Lithuanian partisans and will help to understand better the scope of the battles and losses.

The author of the book Vladas Pupšys (b. 1935), sentenced in 1952 to the 25-year imprisonment in the camp for setting up a youth anti-Soviet resistance group at Secondary School No. 1 in Šilutė, shares reminiscences of a 17-year-old youth about his endured experience – arrest, interrogation, and prison. He describes broadly his Odysseys in the camps of extreme regime in Taishet and Ozerlag, tells about the people he met in the Siberian gulags, difficult everyday life conditions of deportees, and constant persecution on the part of Soviet security after their return to the Homeland. Memoirs are written in a vivid and imaginative style; they contain plenty of witty observations and a good sense of humour. These memoirs are one of the few about somewhat later period of Soviet repressions, revealing here also changes in the repression system, influence of political events, public sentiments, etc.

The author of the book Renata Bernotienė in the documentary story tells the life story of her grandmother Ona Česnutienė, exiled on May 22, 1948. A young woman was deported to Siberia with four little children. But she was not broken down by painful losses: death of her husband in the camp and of a youngest son, exhaustive work, and diseases. Longing for homeland helped to endure all disasters and come back to Lithuania. This story is as if a monument to the mother’s trials, her spiritual strength and self-sacrifice, simultaneously embodying the fate of all deportees.

The songs created and sung by exiles in the wagons carrying them far away from Lithuania and the songs sung in partisan bunkers and written down in the notebooks of young female messengers constitute a unique historical and cultural heritage. Unfortunately, little is known about them, they have been inadequately assessed, and they are undervalued. This CD is yet another way to converse with the listener about history that is sometimes too hard to be expressed in plain words.
The range of the music on the CD is from traditionally performed songs of the partisans to modern improvisations, narrative songs, and contemplative songs. The songs of partisans and exiles are performed by Veronika Povilionienė, the ensembles Blezdinga and Bičiuliai, the folk group Sutaras, and young singers such as Jonas Čepulis, Rasa Bubulytė, Ieva Narkutė, and the winners of the pupils’ contest the History of Lithuanian Battles and Sacrifices for Freedom organised by the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. You can also hear saxophone music played by Petras Vyšniauskas. Adults and young people continuing the tradition of expressing the main issues of the day in the form of song bind together the link between the generations disturbed by occupation.
A book containing the lyrics of all the songs is enclosed with the CD. The book is illustrated with the paintings of the pupils participating in the contest the History of Lithuanian Battles and Sacrifices for Freedom organised by the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania.
The CD And we wanted to live so much… is available bookshops or you can get it cheaper at the Publishing Department of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (Didžioji g. 17/1, Vilnius) or the Museum of Genocide Victims (Aukų g. 2A, Vilnius).

This is the first book of Volume III of the multi-volume publication The Genocide of Lithuania’s Residents (a list of surnames of the victims of the Soviet genocide) dedicated to the victims of the 1948 repressions. The average number of people affected by those events in that period was around 60,000, therefore Volume III is subdivided into two volumes.

Anicetas Simutis is the last diplomat in prewar Lithuania, who had been on diplomatic service under extremely difficult conditions until the very re-establishment of independence. The publication contains his articles, manuscripts of speeches, letters, booklets, travel descriptions, official documents, which reveal a long and complicated life of the diplomat, and his public activities in emigration. The reader may also learn about the operation of the Lithuanian General Consulate in New York, émigré organizations and interrelations. A wide introduction by Juozas acquaints with the biography of Anicetas Simutis, his diplomatic activities in independent and occupied Lithuania, creative and publicist works. The publication is supplemented with the photos reflecting the diplomat’s activities; an exhaustive index of surnames is presented.

Although many books about the struggle of Lithuanian partisans have been published, the rich collection of photographs has been unjustifiably neglected. The photographs represent documentary material that tells about the main events in the life of partisans: meetings of commanders, training, the daily life of partisans, the clothes they wore, etc. It is also worth noting that the faces and eyes of young people can tell more than some texts.
The structure of the photograph album is based on historical logic; the commands of the partisans (nine units) and themes (top commanders, munitions, press, etc.) are presented separately. Besides photographs, each chapter contains an informative text, descriptions of the photographs, and an extended index of names. By using readily available means, the history of the post-war partisans is being told to those who know very little or nothing at all about it.
This is the second edition, which has been amended and supplemented.

The collective monograph generalizes the historical research of modern times, covering the fifty-year-long rule of occupied and annexed Lithuania. The author sought to analyze the most important periods of Lithuania’s history: the 1940–1941 Soviet occupation and annexation; the 1941–1944 Nazi occupation; the 1944–1953 totalitarian Stalinist regime; the 1953–1964 destalinization and political detente; the 1965–1987 Soviet modernization and stagnation; the 1987–1990 rebirth and recreation of the independent state. The most important political events of each period are revealed, the role of Lithuanian émigré in seeking to achieve independence is elucidated; the cultural life, the activities of the Church and of the diplomatic service of the State of Lithuania are presented. The 1991–2004 chronicles of the State of Lithuania are provided at the end of the monograph.