Memorial place for members of J. Indan - J. Gravelson and M. Poklevinska national partisan groups
Memorial site

160

Informative stand and memorial place for Indān - Gravelson's national partisan group in Kalna parish of Jēkabpils county, in the vicinity of Sūpes purva, opened on Lāčpleš day - November 11, 2019. Its opening was attended by representatives of Jēkabpils and Viesītes counties, former national partisan H. Miezīte, historian H. Bruņinieks, as well as guests from Lithuania and other interested parties. The memorial site and the stand are located by the Sūpe swamp, which is connected to the places of settlements and battles of the national partisans. Deeper in the forest was also the bunker of the Indan-Gravelson group.

After the deportations of Latvian residents on March 25, 1949, the supply system of the national partisans was destroyed. From the summer of 1949 to the middle of 1952, the national partisan movement in the vicinity of Aknīste, Sauka, Elkšť, Birži and Viesīte experienced its decline, as it suffered from ethnic cleansing and regular countermeasures by the Soviet army and security authorities. The settlement of the group of national partisans of Jānis Indāns and Jānis Gravelsons in the Elkšņu forest, 1949-1950. during the winter period of 2010, there was a very serious defense system, uncharacteristic of that time, which did not exist anywhere else in Latvia or in its neighboring country, Lithuania, in the 1950s. The bunker of the Indan-Gravelson group had specially designed circular defense trenches and gun emplacements. Along with the military readiness of the partisans to sacrifice their lives in the fight against the enemy, it is also possible to talk about their special identity, which was also manifested in the involvement of the other family members in the ranks of the national partisans.

12 people worked in the joint partisan group of Indāns-Grāvelsons, including five women and one Lithuanian partisan: Jānis Indāns, Jānis Edvards Grāvelsons, Alma Gravelsone, Pēteris Indāns, Kristīne Indāne, Milda Ārija Indāne, Vasilijs Sokolovs, Voldemārs Otto Sātnieks, Jānis Ķepiņš, Hilda Deputy, Artūrs Snikus, Jons Žukauskis. Their last battle took place on February 25, 1950 in the Elkšņu forest, when 11 partisans fell in the fight against disproportionate numbers. Only Hilda Vietniece (Miezite) survived, who was captured and later spent six years imprisoned in Gulag camps.

Used sources and references:

https://www.jekabpilslaiks.lv/lv/zinas/jekabpils-novada-atklas-nacionalajiem-partizaniem-veltitu-pieminas-vietu/

https://latvijaspieminekli.lv/pieminas-vieta-indana-gravelsona-apvienotajai-nacionalo-partizanu-grupai/

 

Related stories

Settlement of Sēlija forest brothers in Sūpe bog

Sūpe swamp is connected with the places of guerrilla settlements and fighting, which have developed in the interaction of people and places. This is described in the ballad of the Latvian exile Albert Eglītis about the events in his homeland in Sūpe mire "Moss and mud" - a tribute to the partisans of Sūpe mire: