Monument to the participants of the June 1941 Uprising and the victims of Soviet terror at the Obeliai Cemetery
Memorial site

In the town of Obeliai, rebels began to gather secretly a few weeks before the war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, at the beginning of which Soviet army units were retreating through Rokiškis in the direction of Daugavpils. The Obeliai rebel units (about ninety rebels), most of whom were ordinary rural farmers, civil servants of the Independent Lithuanian State, and members of the Riflemen's Union, entered into battle with the retreating Red Army soldiers, militiamen, and party activists on June 23, 1941. Obeliai parish became a hotbed of resistance to the retreating occupier. Rebel units from Lukštai, Kriaunai, and Aleksandravėlė joined the uprising. The uprising that took place in Obeliai parish on June 23–28 claimed victims. The dead rebels and victims of Soviet terror were solemnly buried in the Obeliai cemetery.

The June Uprising that took place in 1941, the ability of the people of Obeliai to bravely and resolutely resist the Soviet occupiers, aroused a general need to commemorate this event with a magnificent monument. In 1942, an impressive eight-meter-long and three-meter-high concrete monument was erected in the Obeliai cemetery near the graves of the fallen participants of the June Uprising, with funds donated by local residents. The construction of the monument was organized by the pastor of the Obeliai church, Leonas Virkutis. The monument was designed and led by the Ukrainian railway foreman Gurijus Kateshchenko, a participant in the June Uprising.

During the Soviet occupation, the monument, as a symbol of brave resistance, was destroyed several times, but the sturdy monument was finally destroyed only in 1976.

The hope of the people of Obeliai to rebuild the memorial and thus honor the participants of the uprising and the victims of Soviet terror arose after the restoration of Lithuania's Independence. In 1997, Andrius Dručkus, the founder of the Museum of the History of Freedom Struggles in Obeliai, began to take care of this, and Donatas Smalinskas, an honorary citizen of the Obeliai region, managed to implement this noble idea. Thanks to his efforts and the will of many good people, the monument was rebuilt in 2013.