Forest Brothers: The Account of an Anti-soviet Lithuanian Freedom Fighter, 1944-1948

422 Pages·2009·9.75 MB·English

by  Juozas Daumantas

ABOUT THE AUTHOR “The Bolsheviks surrounded the bunker
Forest
Juozas Lukša (1921–1951), also known Forest with three rings of men and set up machine
F
by code name Daumantas or Skirmantas, guns pointing at the bunker from various
Brothers
was one of the most prominent post-World directions. The soldiers closest to the bun-
War II resistance leaders in Lithuania. o ker, dug themselves trenches. Then one offi-
Brothers
cer decided to try his luck. For two hours he
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR r paced back and forth across the top of the
Laima Vincė is a graduate of Columbia bunker, shouting out a speech in which he
University, School of the Arts MFA pro- e The Account of an Anti-Soviet invited the partisans to come out and sur-
gram in Creative Writing, and the editor
render. He personally ‘guaranteed’ their
and translator of three anthologies of con- s Lithuanian Freedom Fighter, safety. This officer had a lot of patience. He
temporary Lithuanian literature: The Earth
continued his speech, even as smoke rose
Remains (Columbia University Press), Lith- t
An autobiographical account of the armed resis- 1944–1948
from the bunkers ventilation holes. Inside
uania in Her Own Words (Tito Alba), and
tance against the Soviet Union, which took place the bunker the partisans were busy destroy-
Raw Amber (Poetry Salzburg).

between 1944–1956. Published in English for by ing documents. (…)
B After the documents and supplies inside
CONTENTS the first time in unabridged form, Lukša’s mem- Juozas Lukša
the bunker were destroyed, Ąžuolas pulled
oir remains one of the few reliable eye-witness
Introduction out his pistol and shot himself. The other
r
accounts of the “Invisible Front,” as dubbed by fighters snuck through the passage way and
The Invisible Front: Lithuania’s Armed
Resistance Against the Soviet Union – Soviet security forces. emerged outside. The Soviet Interior Forces
o
Laima Vincė were caught off guard when the partisans
At its zenith 28,000 guerilla fighters participated emerged from underground not at all in
Part I. t
in battles and skirmishes throughout Lithuania, the place where they had expected them to.
The Decision to Stay on our Native Land,
(…) Those who were successful in exiting
July 1944–July 1945 Lukša being one of the leaders. Forest Brothers h
the bunker tried to break through the three
Part II. also documents the role of women in the resis-
rings. However, in the end the partisan gun
Choosing the Fate of a Partisan, tance, giving equal credit to these often silent e fire was just a drop in the ocean compared
July 1945–January 1946 partners. to the massive forces of Soviets who were lit-
r
Part III. erally crawling all over the forest. Only Senis
In 1948 Lukša and two comrades broke through
was able to make it through the three rings
On the Partisan Road,
s
January 1946–May 1947 the Iron Curtain on the Polish border. He sought and find safety by hiding in the bushes. After
Central European
training from the French intelligence and from several hours of talking and waiting, the
Part IV. University Press
Soviet Security Officers finally entered the
Breaking Through the Iron Curtain to Budapest – New York the CIA. Lukša was flown back into the Soviet
bunker where they found nothing except for
the West, Sales and information: Union under the radar on the night of October 4, the ashes of the burned documents.
June 1947–December 1947 [email protected]
1950. He managed to survive and operate eleven Juozas After this incident, for the very first time,
Website:
Afterword http://www.ceupress.com months until his near capture and death on the Lukša the Bolsheviks dared to publicly announce
A Journey into the Heart: A Post-War through their Soviet press that there was an
night of September 5, 1951. His account, written
Love Story – Laima Vincė underground that was disturbing the peace
during 1948–1950, while he was living in hiding
An Account from the Post-War Border- of daily Soviet life. They called the under-
lands – Jonas Öhman in Paris, describes in vivid scenes and dialogue ground a pack of ‘bandits.’ This statement
9 789639 776371
Appendix the daily struggles of the resistance. was a complete reversal of the position they
had held up to this point, namely that oppo-
[book & cover design by sebastian stachowski] sition did not exist.”
Introduction
Forest
Brothers
I
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Introduction
IV
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Introduction
Forest
Brothers
The Account of an Anti-Soviet
Lithuanian Freedom Fighter
–
1944 1948
by
Juozas Lukša
Translated and with
an Introduction by
Laima Vincė
Central European University Press
Budapest - New York
III
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Introduction
English translation, Introduction and Afterword©LaimaVincėSruoginis,2009
Afterword©JonasÖhman,2009
Published in 2009 by Central European University Press
An imprint of the
Central European University Share Company
Nádor utca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: [phone] or 327-3000
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ceupress.com
400 West 59th Street, New York NY 10019, USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the permission of the Publisher.
We gratefully acknowledge the following organizations and individuals for providing
the photographs: Museum of Genocide Victims, Vilnius; Lithuanian National
Museum; Centre for Research of the Ukrainian Liberation Movement;
Nijolė Bražėnaitė-Paronetto; Laima Vincė Sruoginis; Jonas Öhman.
ISBN 978-963-9776-37-1 cloth
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Daumantas, Juozas, 1921-1951.
[Partizanai. English]
Forest brothers: the account of an anti-Soviet Lithuanian freedom fighter,1944–1948/by JuozasLukša;
translated by Laima Vince.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-9639776371 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Daumantas, Juozas, 1921-1951. 2. World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements--Lithuania.
3. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Lithuanian. 4. Guerrillas--Lithuania--Biography.
5. Lithuania--Politics and government--1918-1945. 6. Insurgency--Lithuania--History--20th century.
I. Title.
D802.L5D313 2009
940.53’4793092--dc22
[B]
2009002744
Printed in Hungary by Akaprint Kft.
II
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Introduction
Contents
Introduction
TheInvisibleFront:Lithuania’sArmedResistance
Against the Soviet Union – Laima Vincė 1
Part I.
The Decision to Stay on our Native Land,
July 1944–July 1945 33
Between Home and Kaunas 35
TheOccupiersChange 35
We Go into Hiding 41
Vosily’s Warning 45
Burning Personal Files in the Crematorium 46
Our Friendship with the Red Army Soldiers 48
TheRedArmyRansackstheVillages 52
Forced Labor Digging Ditches and Building Airports 54
Recruitment for the Front 55
Travel Documents 56
First News of the Partisans 58
In the Student Dorms 60
TheFateofPropertyLeftBehind 61
Feeding and Heating the University 63
TheStudentCouncil 64
Student Arrests Begin 65
Lithuanian Soldiers are Deported to Siberia 67
My Brother’s Turn Came 70
Mardi Gras 72
Hours and Days Spent Outside the Kaunas Jail 76
V
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Contents
Looting the Middle Class Families of Prisoners 86
My Brother is Released: His Friends are Deported to Siberia 89
TheArmedResistance 92
Organizational Concerns 92
ThePartisanMovement 94
Collaborators 97
Partisans of Foreign Extraction 100
TheIronWolfRegiment 101
Accounts of a Few Partisan Battles 103
TheNortheasternPartisanUnits 121
TheSamogitianPartisans 122
ThePartisansofCentralLithuania 123
ThePartisansActAgainstBolshevikPlans 124
Provocation Units in Suvalkija 126
Part II.
Choosing the Fate of a Partisan,
July 1945–January 1946 129
TherewasnoOtherChoice 131
Our First Days Spent with the Partisans 131
TheAtomicBomb 136
Setting up the Tauras Military District 139
Bartašiūnas’s Amnesty 142
TheChurchChoir 143
TheTragedyonOctoberEighteenth 144
In the Iron Wolf Regiment 147
TheThievesofVainatrakis 148
TheInterrogatorVarnas 151
TheBattleattheLaukasFamilyFarm 152
Dealing with ThievesinPaprienis 153
TheGrainCollectors 154
Celebrating Christmas Eve with the Partisans 157
A Partisan Christmas 157
My Brother and I Finally Set Out 159
VI
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Contents
Part III.
On the Partisan Road,
January 1946–May 1947 165
Taking My First Steps as a Partisan 167
Recon 167
Working for the Press 172
TheTriptoDainava 173
Visiting with a Former American 175
TheBolshevikandthePartisanPress 177
Under Astra’s Supervision 179
In the Forest Camp 180
TheJourneybySledge 183
TheApproachingElections 184
ThePre-ElectionCampaign 186
Election Day 188
TheElectionResults 193
Searching the Forests and Villages 194
TheFateoftheProletariat 194
From the Gymnasium to the Forest 196
TheFordandStudebakerBonfire 196
TheDeportations 198
Guarding Deserted Farmsteads 202
TheFighterNastė 203
Blood for the Press 204
A Prohibition on Home Brew 207
Desecrating Fallen Partisans 209
TheRighttoChooseWork 212
Uniting the Partisans 213
Evaluating Our Activities 214
Building the Bunker 216
Again on Unification 218
Two Visitors from the West 219
TheTripThroughtheCleansingOperation 222
ThePartisansAmbushtheBolsheviks 226
In the Market Square 226
Mykolas Jonas is Killed 229
VII
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Contents
We Lose Vabalas and Gegužis 230
More Manhunts 231
Taking on a Position of Leadership 233
For Bravery and Courage 233
Requisitioning Food for the Partisans 235
Taking Measures against the Stribai 238
Žvainys is Arrested and Interrogated 239
TheJourneybyTrain 240
Visiting the Vytautas District 245
Christmas Eve 1946 245
Retreating from Vilnius 246
Setting Up the Birutė Regiment 246
The“BlackCat”ofKaunas 247
Poverty in the City 247
ThePartisanProvocateurs 248
New Assignments 252
TheMassiveInterrogations 255
Mažvydas and Pušelė’s “Engagement” Party 257
TheAftermath 264
More Bolshevik Killings 267
Part IV.
Breaking Through the Iron Curtain to the West,
June 1947–December 1947 269
TheFirstJourney 271
Approaching the Border 271
We Break ThroughtheIronCurtain 275
On the Polish Side of the Border 278
TheWestRecommendsweReturnandWait 282
A Stormy Return 284
Visiting with a Freedom Fighter from Lithuania’s First Fight
for Independence 289
ThievesInformingfortheNKVD 291
Bolshevik Legs over our Heads 292
We are Persecuted, but we Continue to Sing 294
TheReportfromtheWest 296
VIII
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Contents
TheDeputyattheDemonstration 299
TheFightersVarnasandVaidilutė 300
Partisan Martyrs 302
A Meeting with the District Leader 304
My Dream Becomes Reality 304
TheDainavaHeadquartersareSurrounded 308
Preparing the Troops 311
In the City of Lean-tos 316
Not Everyone Arrived Safely 321
Who were ThosePeoplewhoWenttoFightintheForests 322
TheLiaisonManArtūras 324
Two Women Wander into Camp 325
A Punishment for Unnecessary Brashness 326
A Sudden Attack 327
TheHeroesofRaišupis 328
TheTragedyattheBunkeroftheBirutėUnitHeadquarters 331
Implementing a Plan with Percentages 336
A Trap in Kaunas 337
Again Tragedy Strikes in the Birutė Unit 338
Fighting Against the Collectivization of Farms 339
Once more to the West 343
Preparing for the March 343
Traveling through East Prussia 346
Russian Collective Farm Workers 350
A Bloody Trip across the Rominta River 353
On Polish Soil 357
A Christmas Miracle in the Manger 360
Afterword 363
A Journey into the Heart: A Post-War Love Story – Laima Vincė 365
An Account from the Post-War Borderlands – Jonas Öhman 393
Appendix 405
IX
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