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.
Viktoras Šniuolis-Vytvytis, a participant and witness of the battle, remembers: "On August 10, 1949, Žadgaila marched from Kęstutis district. A couple of days later, on the evening of August 12, Svajūnas, Žadgaila, Naktis, Džiugas and I gathered the necessary documentation, took a rotator and a typewriter and marched to the Užpelkės forest [...] Having marched about 20 km, we reached the Užpelkės forest at dawn. There, having arrived the day before, four rebels were already waiting.
A beautiful morning of August 13th dawned. I was on duty in the camp, and another partisan was on guard duty farther away. The liaison officer Dangus came and said that the area was quiet, that my mother was preparing breakfast, which she would bring soon. While talking to the liaison officer, I noticed that the camp was surrounded by Chekists and I shouted: 'Men, danger!'
A hellish fire broke out. The Chekists wanted to push us out into the open, but Svajūnas gave the command to break through the encirclement ring and push into the depths of the forest. We pushed in a planned manner, with escapes, covering each other with fire. When I finished breaking out of the encirclement ring, I made an escape and, having established myself behind a thick tree, opened fire. At that moment, Žadgaila changed position. Having caught up with me, he suddenly groaned, grabbed his chest and crouched. I changed position once more and Naktis crouched on the other side of me [...]
About 20 meters from us lay Svajūnas. He had to change position, but only after turning his head towards us did he stay in place and continue to cover us with fire. That was his last look... We retreated, and he sacrificed himself, stayed and died..."
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Sąjūdis Memorial to Lithuanian Freedom Fighters in Minaičiai (Minaičiai Bunker-Museum)
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.
Partisan liaison officer's homestead in Saiai
The homestead of the partisan supporters of the Sajės in Balandiškis, Grinkiškis eldership, Radviliškis district, is connected with the struggles for freedom in Lithuania. Its history is usually presented together with the Mikniai homestead, located in nearby Minaičiai (Lithuanian Freedom Movement Memorial).
This secluded and modest homestead, according to the recollections of Viktoras Šniuolis-Vitvytis, an eyewitness to the events, and confirmed by some research, was the place where the founding documents of the Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement (LLKS) were probably prepared. The LLKS became the most important organization of resistance to the Soviet occupation, covering the entire territory of Lithuania. It is reported that since 1946, freedom fighters had been visiting this homestead to rest and get some strength. After the partisan liaisons held a congress of partisan commanders at the Mikniai homestead in February 1949, the headquarters of the LLKS Public Division operated in the Sajai homestead (in a bunker installed in a barn), and the LLKS periodical, the newspaper "Prie rymancių rūpintojėlio", was published.
Partisans visited the bunker of the Sajai homestead many times, wintered there, or were treated for injuries. The hearth of freedom existed in the Sajai homestead until 1952. In the autumn of that year, the bunker was discovered, and the owners of the homestead were arrested.
Currently, the homestead is almost completely dilapidated, but it contains a monument, an information stand, and a chapel pillar to commemorate important historical events that took place at this location.
