Sąjūdis Memorial to Lithuanian Freedom Fighters in Minaičiai (Minaičiai Bunker-Museum)
Bunker
176
In the fall of 1948, the headquarters of the Resurrection District was looking for a place to spend the winter, and for this they chose the homestead of partisan supporters A. and S. Mikniu in the village of Minaičiai (Radviliškio district). Guerrillas dug a small bunker under the granary, where members of the district headquarters settled.
On February 16, 1949, the partisan leaders in Minaičiai concluded and announced the Lithuanian Freedom Struggle, the main goal of which was the restoration of the Lithuanian parliamentary republic in 1920-1926. 8 persons officially participated in the meetings: Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas, Juozas Šibaila-Merainis, Petras Bartkus-Žadgaila, Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas, Aleksandras Grybinas-Faustas, Vytautas Gužas-Kardas, Leonardas Grigonis-Užpalis and Bronius Liesys-Naktis.
The bunker was also used later, in which the partisan pharmacist Izabelė Vilimaitė-Stirna treated the partisan Laurynas Mingilas-Džiugas, who was seriously injured in the battles of Užpelkii. In 1953, the uninhabited bunker collapsed and was closed by the owners.
In 2010, the reconstruction of the partisan bunker, the farmhouse granary, and the construction of the monument began. The names of all eight partisans who signed the declaration are immortalized in the monument created by the sculptor Jonas Jagėlas. The granary has an authentic, glass-covered, partisan bunker, which visitors can view from above, and the granary has an exposition.
Used sources and references:
Related timeline
Related topics
Related stories
A fateful meeting in a bunker: the 1949 Congress of Lithuanian Partisan Commanders
On February 10-20, 1949, the only congress of partisan commanders in occupied Lithuania took place in the Mikniai farmstead bunker in the Minaičiai village of Radviliškis district, during which the Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement (LLKS) was founded and the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.
The Last Battle in the Swamp Forest
On August 13, 1949, a fateful battle took place in Radviliškis County, in the Užpelkės Forest, during which Bronius Liesys-Naktis, a member of the Presidium of the Council of the Lithuanian Red Army and a signatory of the February 16 Declaration, was killed, along with other partisans of the Prisikėlimų district.