1 A suitable justification of the study of underground movements is found in Zawodny, J. K., “Unexplored Realms of Underground Strife,” The American Behavioral Scientist, IV (1960), 2–5.Google Scholar

2 There seems to exist a general agreement on these dates. Colonel Burlitski, a former NKVD officer who participated in action against Lithuanian partisans, testified that the partisan movement existed “up to 1953.” See Hearings: Communist Aggression Investigation, Fourth Interim Report of the Select Committee on Communist Aggression, established under authority of H. Res. 846 and H. Res. 438 of the House of Representatives, 82nd Cong., 2nd Sess., p. 1372 (hereafter cited as Hearings). Similarly, Romas ˘sarmaitis, director of the Lithuanian Communist Party's history institute at Vilnius, related in an interview to George Weller, an American correspondent, that the partisan war lasted eight years, which must mean the period 1944-52 since Soviet re-occupation began only in 1944. See Chicago Daily News, Aug. 17, 1961; Cf. émigré sources: Brazaitis’, Professor J. article “Partizanai, “ in Lietuvių, Enciklopedija, XXII (Boston, 1960), 44–52 Google Scholar; Tauras, V. K., Guerilla Warfare on the Amber Coast (New York, 1962), p. 1962 Google Scholar; and Professor Stasys ˘zymantas, “Twenty Years Resistance,” Lituanus, VI, No. 2 (Sept., 1960), 44; H. Zimanas, editor of Tiesa (the Pravda of the Lithuanian Communist Party), differed slightly by writing that “it is possible to affirm that essentially banditism was liquidated already in 1950.” Pergale (Vilnius), No. 9 (Sept.), 1960, p. 103.

3 Daumantas, J., Partizanai Už Geležinés Uždangos (Chicago, 1950), p. 81 Google Scholar. This book is a firsthand account of partisan activities in 1944-47, written by Juozas Lukša, a prominent partisan leader, during his sojourn in the West. The author's identity has been revealed by the Communists in a series of articles in Tiesa (summer of 1959). In 1960 these were published in book form. See M. Chienas, K ˘smigelskis, E. Uldukis, Vanagai iš Anapus (hereafter cited as Vanagai). Specific Communist references to Daumantas’ book are found on p. 121.

4 Volčkova, K., “Komunistų partijos kova už Lietuvos liaudies ūkio atstatymą ir išvystymą pokario laikotarpiu (1945-1953),” Komunistas (Vilnius), No. 5 (May), 1960, p. 37.Google Scholar

5 Vabalas, A., ed., Kraują Sugėrė Dzūkijos Smėlts (Vilnius, 1960), p. 67 Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Kraujas). The author discusses a meeting of the leaders of the movement in February of 1959.

6 Ibid., p. 67.

7 Quoted by George Weller, Chicago Daily News, Aug. 17, 1961.

8 ˘Zymantas, S., “Aktyviosios Rezistencijos Tragedija,” Santarvŷ (London), No. 4, 1953, p. 16.Google Scholar

9 Daumantas, op. cit., p. 106.

10 ˘Zymantas, S., “Laisvės Rytojus Jau švinta,” Santarvė, No. 4-5, 1955, p. 177.Google Scholar

11 Pakštas, K., Lithuania and World War II (Chicago, 1945), pp. 31–32 Google Scholar; Pelėkis, K., Genocide (Germany, 1949), pp. 68–84 Google Scholar; Harrison, E. J. (formerly British Vice-Consul in Lithuania), Lithuania's Fight for Freedom (New York, 1952), pp. 30–31 Google Scholar; Kalme, Albert, Total Terror (New York, 1948), pp. 40–47 Google Scholar. On the introduction of Soviet rule in 1941 see Tarulis, Albert N., Soviet Policy toward the Baltic States (Notre Dame, 1959)Google Scholar; also Third Interim Report of the Select Committee on Communist Aggression, established under authority of H. Res. 346 and H. Res. 438 of the House of Representatives, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session (Washington, D.C., 1954). This report actually is a study of the Baltic States between 1918 and 1940, prepared by the Library of Congress.

12 For the story of the revolt see New York Times, June 24, 25, 29, and July 2, 1941; also Pakštas, op. cit., p. 35; Pelėkis, op. cit., pp. 93-99; Harrison, op. tit., p. 31; Ivinskis, Professor Z., “Kaip laikinoji vyriausybė išsilaikė šešias savaites,” Į Laisvę (New York), No. 6 (June), 1955, pp. 31–40 Google Scholar; K. škirpa (prime minister-designate of the provisional government), “Gaires į tautos sukilimą,” Į Laisvę (Chicago), No. 27 (Dec), 1961, pp. 1-13; S. Raštikis (former Lithuanian chief of the Army), Kovose Dėl Laisves: Kario Atsiminimai (Los Angeles, 1957), II, 293-317; series of articles by S. ˘Zymantas in Nepriklausoma Lietuva (Montreal), May 17, 24, 31, June 7, 14, 21, 28, July 12, 1961.

13 E.g., Rimkus, P., Tai Buvo Leipalingyje (Vilnius, 1961), p. 44 Google Scholar. A wide acceptance of this view deeply disturbed the Communists. See, e.g., ˘ziug˘zda, J., ed., Lietuvos TSR Istorija (Vilnius, 1958), p. 491 Google Scholar.

14 Daumantas, op. cit., p. 81; ˘Zudikai Bažnyčios Prieglobsty, ed. B. Baranauskas and G. Erslavaitė (Vilnius, 1960), pp. 50 ft. (hereafter cited as ˘zudikai).

15 Ragauskas, J., Ite Missa Est (Vilnius, 1960), p. 448 Google Scholar; Lietuvos Pionierius, Jan. 31, 1962, p. 2.

16 ˘Zudikai, pp. 28, 33, 85, 119-20.

17 A statement by Bishop P. Ramanauskas to his Communist interrogators. See ibid., p. 122.

18 Soviet writers claim that this Western orientation turned Lithuania into “a backwater of Europe.” See Metelsky, G., Lithuania: Land of the Niemen (Moscow, 1959), p. 150.Google Scholar

19 Cf. Zimanas, Pergalė, No. 9, 1960, pp. 104-5; V. Radaitis, Pergale, No. 2 (Feb.), 1961, p. 122.

20 Pelėkis, op. cit., p. 179; Į Laisvę, Dec. 8, 1943; Laisvės Kovotojas, Feb. 16, 1944. Both of these were illegal periodicals published by the nationalist anti-Nazi organizations in Lithuania during the war.

21 Views attributed by the Soviets to Bishop V. Borisevičius. ˘zudikai, pp. 33, 49.

22 Editorial in Laisvės šauklys, a partisan paper, of Mar. 20, 1947, quoted in S. ˘zymantas' article on the partisan press, Santarvė, No. 4-5 (June-July), 1955, p. 173.

23 Editorial in Aukštaičių, Kova, another partisan paper, dated Apr. 16, 1947, quoted by ˘zymantas, op. cit., p. 175.

24 Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 238-41; for a brief story of anti-Nazi resistance see Pelėkis, op. cit., pp. 103-74.

25 For documentation see Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 30-37, 47-48, 75, 79, 81, 84, 103.

26 (Moscow, 1957), pp. 105 ff.; , 2nd ed., XXV (1954), 260. The Soviets found many such farmer “collaborators,” because a full delivery of the quota of agricultural products as requisitioned by the Germans was regarded to be an act of collaboration. To make matters worse, special Soviet commissions decided whether this delivery was “full“ or only “partial.” The status of the “kulak” also was denned very arbitrarily and did not depend on the amount of land owned. See Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 105-6; also “Memorandum to United Nations and the Four Power Foreign Ministers Council by the United Democratic Resistance Movement (B.D.P.S.) of Lithuania,” Lithuanian Bulletin (New York), VI, Nos. 11-12 (Nov.-Dec, 1948), 11 (hereafter cited as “Memorandum“).

27 See “Order of the People's Commissar for the Interior of Lithuanian SSR of Year 1940,” reprinted in translation in the Third Interim Report of the Select Committee on Communist Aggression, p. 471; also “Instructions Regarding the Manner of Conducting the Deportation of the Anti-Soviet elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” signed by Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commissar for State Security of the USSR, ibid., pp. 464-68. Other translated documents, ibid., pp. 464-529; reprints of photostatic copies of originals in Russian and Lithuanian are found in the Lithuanian Bulletin, Vols. III-IX (1945-51). The Soviets apparently realized that these deportations were at least partly responsible for the violently anti-Soviet attitude of the Baltic peoples during and after the war. Some twenty years later these deportations were regretted as “exceedingly strong measures” and blamed on Stalin and his collaborators. See a public letter by Vilhelms Munters, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of independent Latvia, in , Apr. 8, 1962, p. 5.

28 “Memorandum,” loc. cit.

29 See “Order of the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs of the Lithuanian SSR, “ issued by the Commissar, Major General Bartašiūnas. This order, dated Feb. 15, 1946, promised amnesty to surrendering “bandits.” 150, 000 copies of the proclamation were distributed throughout the country. Photostatic copy in Lithuanian Bulletin, IV, No. 4 (Nov., 1946), 14; also in Pelėkis, op. cit., p. 222.

30 ˘Zudikai, p. 10.

31 , Oct. 24, 1961, p. 4.

32 The extent of the alleged American and British involvement is discussed on pp. 515-16. The charge of German sponsorship and partisan collaboration must be taken up now, though available space does not allow a longer discussion. The Soviets have never produced evidence to show that armed resistance in Lithuania was German-inspired, because such a link never existed. Until very recently, Soviet Lithuanian historians did not even attempt its fabrication (cf. J. ˘ziugžda's history, published in 1958, which does not contain this charge, op. cit., pp. 490-91). Such fabrication was tried later as a part of an extremely intensive Communist propaganda campaign in Lithuania, designed to create a pro-Nazi image of the partisans and to destroy existing nationalist influences by indiscriminately identifying all nationalists with the regime of German occupation (cf. Baranauskas, B, “Buržuaziniai Nacionalistai-Hitlerininkų. Talkininkai,” Tarybinis Mokytojas (Vilnius), Dec. 21, 24, 28, 1961 Google Scholar. Cases of “collaborators” among the partisans, produced by the Soviets very sparingly, usually involve Lithuanian insurrectionists against the Soviet regime in 1941 and former soldiers in German uniform. (For the latest case, tried in open court, see , June 17, 1962, p. 4.) Interestingly enough, the Soviets have not produced specific collaborationist or war crime charges against any of the better known partisan leaders. It would be unrealistic to assume, of course, that among the more than 30, 000 active partisans there were no people of compromised personal or political integrity. However, such cases were not numerous, even on the basis of Soviet data, and hardly provide grounds for generalizations that impugn the nationalist character of partisan resistance. It must be added that the Lithuanians did not consider a certain cooperation with the enemies of the Soviets, including the Germans, as infamous or treasonable. Although the German occupation was opposed by a strong nationalist underground, a minimum of cooperation with the Germans, ironically, was regarded to be natural for the purpose of keeping German armies fighting on the Soviet front. Thus, with the inescapable exceptions, neither the insurrectionists of 1941 nor local administration officials during the occupation nor indeed soldiers in German uniform were regarded as collaborators. The exceptions consisted of persons who worked for the Germans against the nationalist Lithuanian interests. Such cases usually were publicized by the anti-Nazi underground. See “Five Years of Lithuanian Underground Resistance, An Account of Activities of the Supreme Lithuanian Committee of Liberation,” Lithuanian Bulletin, III, No. 3 (May-June, 1945), 5; Daumantas, op. cit., p. 80.

33 , Oct. 24, 1961, p . 4.

34 Tiesa, Feb. 8, 1962, p. 3.

35 , Oct. 24, 1961, p . 4.

36 For criticisms of collectivization procedure see Gregorauskas, M., Tarybų, Lietuvos ˘zemes Ūkis (Vilnius, 1961)Google Scholar; also Tiesa, Feb. 8, 1962, p. 3.

37 Tiesa, Dec. 20, 1961, p . 2.

38 Discussion of partisan membership is based primarily on Daumantas’ work, on ˘zudikai, and on other items from the Soviet Lithuanian press.

39 See Už Tėvų, ˘zemę, Apr. 4, 1946. Quoted at length in Lithuanian Bulletin, IV, No. 4 (Nov., 1946), 8-9; also cf. Daumantas, op. cit., p. 236.

40 Daumantas, op. cit., p p . 79-82.

41 ˘zudikai, p. 67; Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 258, 271.

42 See Colonel Burlitski's testimony in Hearings, p. 1369.

43 Brazaitis’ article on partisans, op. cit., p. 44.

44 See Daumantas, op. cit., p. 238; ˘zudikai, p. 64; Kraujas, p. 66.

45 See ˘zudikai, pp. 47, 53, 55; Kraujas, p. 60.

46 See Vanagai, pp. 206, 241; ˘zudikai, p. 63; Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 85, 224, 278.

47 Daumantas, op. cit.; Kraujas, p. 66.

48 See Daumantas, op. cit., p. 391; ˘zudikai, p. 111.

49 See the 1953 declaration of the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, photostatic copy in Pelėkis, op. cit., p. 179.

50 Kraujas, pp. 64-68.

51 Daumantas, op. cit., p. 194.

52 Private document I.

53 Shortage of local officials was so great that teen-agers were frequently recruited to serve as chairmen of local raion Soviets; e.g., see Tiesa, Feb. 22, 1962, p. 2.

54 See, e.g., op. cit., pp. 107 if.; Tiesa, Jan. 31, 1962, p. 3; Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 105-6.

55 See, e.g., Daumantas, op. cit., p. 363; Tiesa, Dec. 27, 1961; Tiesa, Dec. 11, 1960, p. 2; (img), Dec. 22, 1960, p. 2.

56 švyturys (Vilnius), Aug., 1961, pp. 6-7.

57 Tiesa, Feb. 22, 1962, p. 2; Kraujas, pp. 58-59.

58 Testimony of Colonel Burlitski in Hearings, p. 1369.

59 ˘zudikai, pp. 80, 23.

60 See, e.g., Komunistas, No. 12, 1960, pp. 51-54; a partial list of liquidated officials in Zudikai, pp. 131-43; Tiesa, June 1, 1960, p. 3, Oct. 7, 1960, p. 2; biographies of liquidated teachers in Bieliauskas, A. and Ieamantas, G., Kad ˘zemeje ˘zvdėtų Gėlės (Vilnius, 1960).Google Scholar

61 ˘ziugžda, ed., op. cit., p. 491.

62 Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 93, 195, 242.

63 Ibid., pp. 187-89.

64 A Communist version of aspects of partisan relations with the West is available in the May and June, 1962, issues of švyturys (Vilnius), No. 9, pp. 10-11; No. 10, pp. 10-12; No. 11, pp. 16-17; No. 12, pp. 10-11. The series, entitled “Iliuziįų Sudužimas,” was published under the name of Jonas Deksnys, a liaison man between the Lithuanian émigrés in the West and groups in Lithuania, captured by the Soviets sometime in the 1950's.

65 Kraujas, p. 67.

66 Vanagai, pp. 107 ft.

67 Speech to the Supreme Soviet o£ the Lithuanian SSR. Tiesa, June 8, 1960, p. 2. See also P. Rimkus, op. cit., p. 51. The fact of LukSa's and his groups’ return to Lithuania in 1950-51 is confirmed by Lithuanian nationalist sources. See Į, Laisvę (Chicago), No. 19 (Dec), 1959, p. 11.Google Scholar

68 Kraujas, p. 70.

69 See Burlitski's testimony in Hearings, pp. 1373-74; also Vanagai, esp. pp. 149-241.

70 Private document I.

71 Daumantas, op. tit., p. 239.

72 , XLI (1956), 320.

73 Volčkova, Komunistas, No. 5, 1960, p. 37.

74 J. Bulota, Pergalė, No. 3 (Mar.), 1961, p. 175.

75 See A. Grabauskas, A. Deriūnas, article in Tiesa, Feb. 8, 1962, p . 3.

76 Burlitski's testimony i n Hearings, pp. 1368-69.

77 Biographical Dictionary of the USSR (New York, 1958), pp. 319-20. For a description of Kruglov's activities see Burlitski's testimony in Hearings, pp. 137 ft.

78 Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 103, 108.

79 Information taken from partisan paper Laisvės Varpas, No. 122 (Oct. 1, 1947). See ˘zymantas, Santarvė, No. 10, 1954, p . 368.

80 ˘zudikai, pp. 6 ft., 125 ff.

81 See Brazaitis in Lietuvių. Enciklopedija, XXII (1960), 47.

82 Daumantas, op. tit., p. 117; also Burlitski in Hearings, p. 1372.

83 Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 117-20.

84 op. cit., p. 106.

85 See B. Armonas and A. Nasvytis, Leave Your Tears in Moscow (New York, 1961), esp. pp. 37-48.

86 Daumantas, op. cit., pp. 189-90.

87 Ibid., pp. 305-6.

88 op. cit., p p . 106-10.

89 Kraujas, pp. 64-66.

90 op. cit., p. 109.

91 E.g., see Tiesa, May 27, 1960, p. 2; Oct. 30, 1960, p. 2; Dec. 11, 1960, p. 2; Lietuvos Pionierius, Jan. 27, 1962, p. 3; Vanagai, pp. 48-49.

92 See Komunistas, No. 3, 1961, pp. 45-46.

93 Story in Vanagai.

94 See Burlitski's testimony in Hearings, pp. 1373-74. Amnesty was declared again on Oct. 17, 1955, and Mar. 22, 1959, and yielded some results. Arrests also continued. On Mar. 11, 1961, Tiesa, for example, reported the arrest of a former partisan disguised as a specialist in a shop that repaired medical instruments; on June 17, 1962, several Soviet Lithuanian newspapers reported that a public trial of three partisans was held on June 12-15 of the same year in Rokiškis. The date of their capture, however, was not revealed.