Declaration of the Council of the Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement of February 16, 1949 – the victory of the ideas of freedom and democracy on this side of the Iron Curtain

The Declaration of the Lithuanian Freedom Movement Council of February 16, 1949 is the most important document of the almost decade-long Lithuanian partisan war against the Soviet occupation, which established the political aspirations of the partisan war, its essence and meaning. It is a unique legal act in the global post-war context – no other European nation has so clearly declared its goals, aspirations and values in any other document during the resistance to totalitarianism after World War II. Therefore, the Declaration can rightly be considered a victory of political significance for the Lithuanian partisans, testifying that the Lithuanian nation did not abandon its state even during the years of brutal Soviet occupation, fought for it and, with its cultural and geopolitical orientation, remained part of Western political civilization, which declares the supremacy of law over violence.

The Declaration expressed the will of the nation in the conditions of partisan warfare, therefore its text is concise and laconic, but capacious and meaningful – it is based on the most important values of Western political culture: the right of nations to self-determination, democracy, parliamentarism, human rights, dignity, Christian faith and social sensitivity. The document politically legitimized the partisan movement of the whole of Lithuania, and granted the partisan leadership the status of the Provisional Council of the Lithuanian Nation, representing the entire resisting nation. The Declaration is based on the democratic constitution of the country and the principles of parliamentarism proclaimed by the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania in 1922, it defines the features of the future political system of the state, regulates the responsibilities of the most important political institutions, and emphasizes the importance of justice, national education, religion, state social care and economic reforms.

The Lithuanian partisans' hopes for Western support in restoring the status quo of European states before World War II were linked in the Declaration to the Atlantic Charter and the political twelve-point program of US President Harry Truman, which expressed US support for nations enslaved by external aggressors. The occupied Lithuanian people also expressed their will to become part of Western organizations - primarily the United Nations Organization created after World War II, and later, perhaps, part of the European integration process that had begun. After all, the politicians who initiated European integration in the 1950s were also guided by the principles enshrined in the Atlantic Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is also important that the Soviet and Nazi occupations are treated equally negatively in the Declaration - just as in today's European memory trajectories dedicated to the memory of Nazi and communist crimes.

The Declaration was signed on February 16, 1949, at a meeting of Lithuanian partisan leaders in the village of Minaičiai (Radviliškis district). It was signed in the bunker of the commander of the Prisikėlimų district by eight partisan leaders representing all partisan units: Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas, Aleksandras Grybinas-Faustas, Vytautas Gužas-Kardas, Juozas Šibaila-Merainis, Bronius Liesis-Naktis, Leonardas Grigonis-Užpalis, Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas, Petras Bartkus-Žadgaila. The date of signing the Declaration – February 16 – and the term Provisional Council of the Nation used in its text create a symbolic link with Lithuania in 1918, whose Fathers – signatories – declared the Act of Independence, and whose Children – post-war Lithuanian partisans – expressed their desire to restore it.