Memorial place "Bitan bunkers" Memorial site
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Located in Mālupe Parish, Alūksne District.
The memorial stone was unveiled on October 13, 2017. Akmeņkalis Ainārs Zelčs.
On August 24, 1945, in the Dubna forests of Latgale, the Latvian National Partisan Association (LNPA) was established with the aim of restoring the Republic of Latvia in 1918. Regional headquarters were set up to better coordinate the activities of the guerrilla groups. National partisan groups operating in Beja, Mālupe and Mārkalne parishes united in the Priedolaine sector. The regional headquarters was headed by Jānis Liepacis. Propaganda divisions were established at each regional headquarters. One of them, the commander of which was Jānis Bitāns, was formed in the forest massif of Mālupe parish. Here, in the bunker, from 1946 to 1948, five press publications of the Latvian National Partisan Association “Mazais Latvis”, “Liesma”, “Auseklis”, “Māras Zeme” and “Tautas Sargs” were printed. The youth resistance movement “Dzimtenes Sili” of Alūksne Gymnasium was involved in the preparation and dissemination of information.
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In 2015, Dzidra Mazika, the head of the club “Sarma”, politically repressed in Alūksne and Ape counties, and the members of the club updated the research of the activities of the members of the national resistance movement in Alūksne and Ape counties. During the cycle of this event, partisan locations were explored, photos and videos were recorded, eyewitness records were recorded, and these sites were cleaned up and commemorated. Active participants in the identification of the activities of the National Resistance Movement were: Dzidra Mazika, the leader of the club “Sarma” of the politically repressed Alūksne and Ape region; historian Astrīda Ievedniece, veterans and commander of the 31st National Guard Battalion Juris Ločs, as well as Alūksne municipality.
