The cult of Antanas Juozapavičius and Povilas Lukšys, the first to die in the independence struggles, in interwar Lithuania
I Wars of Independence

Every February, Lithuanian society commemorates the first victims of the War of Independence (1918–1920), officer Antanas Juozapavičius and soldier Povilas Lukšis. This commemoration tradition dates back to the interwar period in Lithuania.

The most important figure in shaping the memory of these volunteers in interwar Lithuania was the Lithuanian Army. A year after the volunteers’ deaths, on February 4, 1920, the Commander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Army, Gen. S. Žukauskas, indicated that February 11 would be set aside to honor the fallen. This was like the beginning of the formation of a cult of memory for the battles of Independence. Over time, more specific shapers of this culture of remembrance emerged – the memory of Juozapavičius was particularly cherished by the 1st Infantry Regiment, whose commander on the day of his death – February 13, 1919 – was Juozapavičius (in the end, all officers who began service in the regiment were required to take an oath at Juozapavičius’s grave), and Lukšiai – by Col. Juozas Šarauskas, the head of the Kėdainiai Defense Area, the commander of the Kėdainiai battles that were fatal for Lukšiai.

In 1922, the commemoration of Juozapavičius' death in Alytus, at the initiative of the 1st Regiment, began to expand into the public sphere. The regiment's education commission formed a public committee, raised money, and on September 20, unveiled a monument in Alytus. Those speaking at the celebration emphasized that Juozapavičius was a commander who knew how to win the hearts of soldiers, raise their courage and determination. A year later, the first biography of Juozapavičius was published, in which he was presented as an understanding Lithuanian, despite the fact that he spent his youth in Riga and fought in a Latvian rifle regiment. In 1926, a biography written by the North Lithuanian partisan Karolis Dineika, "Lithuanian Hero Antanas Juozapavičius: Psychological Traits", was published, which sought to reveal Juozapavičius's internal transformations that led to his greatest campaign.

After the unveiling of the monument to Juozapavičius, “Trimite” published a call to honor Lukšis accordingly, although the culture of remembrance of the first volunteer had already begun to take shape – his portrait was hung in the War Museum in Kaunas and two streets in Kėdainiai were renamed after Lukšis. His grave in Kėdainiai was guarded by a rifle squad; in 1925, “Kardas” published poems by Liudas Gira about the fallen. Nevertheless, the public was urged to take the initiative and erect a monument.

However, until the 1926 coup, the tradition of commemorating neither Juozapavičius nor Lukšys became universal – they were mostly mentioned either within the army or around the places of their deaths; there was no rush to erect a monument to Lukšys. Only after the coup, when the army became an extremely important pillar of Antanas Smetona’s regime, did the importance of the cult of the Independence Struggles increase significantly. Already on February 16, 1927, at the celebrations at the War Museum, the commander of the Kėdainiai battles, Col. J. Šarauskas, who had actively participated in the coup, gave a lecture “The First Victims for the Independence of Lithuania – Volunteer Soldier P. Lukšys and Officer A. Juozapavičius”. A couple of years later, on February 4, 1929, the Kėdainiai army crew, riflemen and the public celebrated the feast of St. George's Church, a plaque was unveiled to honor the memory of the first people who died for Independence, as well as a monument to Lukšis at the place of his death, in the village of Taučiūnai. The ceremony was also attended by the president, the deceased's relatives - his mother, sisters, and brother. A. Smetona said that "the neighborhood that gave a volunteer is lucky", and urged people to follow Lukšis' example. Lukšis' mother, who lived in poverty, was given a plot of land in the Paobelė manor near the place where her son died, and the Šlikiai railway station was named after Lukšis.

Over time, the memory of Lukšis and Juozapavičius became the personification of the struggles for Independence themselves, and their individual experience began to be generalized as a symbol of the entire era, the struggle for the state. In the early 1930s, photos of Lukšis and Juozapavičius appeared in school textbooks, and their memory grew even more in preparation for the 20th anniversary of Independence. On February 6, 1938, at the instruction of Col. J. Šarauskas, a radio drama “Lukšiai” based on his own memoirs was read during a half-hour broadcast on the army radio. The most important characters in the drama were cousins Povilas and Florijonas Lukšiai (the latter died in the “liberation” operation of Klaipėda in 1923), and the plot centered on the stopping of the Bolsheviks near Kėdainiai and Alytus. Another drama, broadcast a week later, told about the life of Juozapavičius.

In 1938, busts of Juozapavičius, Lukšis and Gen. Žukauskas were unveiled in the garden of the War Museum16. The construction of the first two busts was initiated by the Volunteer Union, and the bases of the monuments were made of stones that separated Lithuania Minor and Lithuania Major, the busts were cast from cartridge cases fired at the enemies during the Independence Wars17. In 1939, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the military campaigns of the 1st Regiment and the first victims of the regiment who died honorably in the Independence Wars, the commission decided to purchase a painting of officer Juozapavičius, to equip a room for Juozapavičius in the Alytus Riflemen's House and to help his relatives. The funds of the Juozapavičius Fund created by the officers of the regiment were to pay for the education of the children of Juozapavičius' sisters Elena and Ona, and to purchase the necessary educational materials. In 1940, At the beginning, it was planned to decorate the Juozapavičius room with national motifs and furnish it with furniture of national motifs. The room was to perform a representative function on ceremonial occasions.