The Sites of Battles of Latvian and Lithuanian National Partisans – the Forest Brothers

It is located on Rīgas Street near the Krustpils Lutheran Church.

On September 22, 1996, a memorial stone to Rihards Pārups and the group of national partisans led by him was unveiled in Krustpilis. The memorial stone was created by the sculptor Ilgvars Mozulāns, but its creation was financially supported by the speaker of the Saeima, Ilga Kreituse. This event was organized by the board of the National Partisan Association of Latvia.

Rihards Pārupa's national partisans,
who were murdered by the Cheka special group
Rihards Pārups (1914 - 1946 2.VII)

Group commander
Rihards Stulpiņš (1923 - 1946. 2. VII)
Alberts Avotiņš (1912 - 1946. 2. VII)
Eric Juhna (1928. -1946. 2. VII)
Aleksandrs Lācis (1919 - 1946. 2. VII)
Pēteris Lācis (1921 - 1946. 2. VII)
Jānis Ēvalds Zālītis (Āboliņš) (1911 - 1946 2. VII)
Siegfried Bimstein, Theodor Schmidt (... - 1946. 2. VII)
Uldis Šmits (... - 1946. 2. VII)
Pēteris Lazdāns (1926 - 1947. VI)
Eric Konvals (1929 – 1947. VI)
Niklas Ošiņš (1908 – 1954. 12.X) – executed in Riga
Alberts ħiķauka (1911 – 1972. II) – imprisoned in the Mordovian camp

Rihards Pārups was born on June 11, 1914, in "Kakšiš" of Krustpils parish. During the Second World War, he was a sergeant in the anti-tank division of the 15th Latvian Division. Participated in national partisan operations in the vicinity of Jēkabpils and Madonas and was a member of the National Resistance Movement, unit leader in the vicinity of Jēkabpils and Madonas. Rihards Pārups fell in battle with Czech troops on July 2, 1946 in Vietalva parish. Unfortunately, the burial place is unknown. A commemorative plaque has been installed in the Riga Brothers' Cemetery. In the fall of 1945, a group of national partisans, led by R. Pārups, was formed in the Jēkabpils district. During its short existence, it participated in more than twenty armed clashes with units of the then Ministry of the Interior. In the report of Cheka's colonel Kotov to the Riga headquarters, it is stated that the activities of the Soviet authorities in Jēkabpils and Madona districts were effectively paralyzed as a result of the group's activities during this time. The national partisans led by R. Parupa found and destroyed several lists to be sent out, thus saving the lives of many people. The leadership of the Security Committee, unable to destroy the national partisan unit in an open battle, infiltrated into it four people from the Czech special group, who shot ten partisans of the unit, including R. Parup, on the night of July 2, 1945. In 1947, two more were shot near Jaunkalsnava, and in 1951, one member of this unit was shot. After twenty-five years of hard labor in the Mordovia camp, a few days before liberation, the fourteenth partisan of the group led by R. Parupas died.

The group of national partisans of Pētera Prauliņa (1911-1949) of Biržu parish was part of the group led by Mārtiņas Pokļevińskas (1902-1951). The group carried out several partisan actions in which they punished Soviet collaborators and requisitioned food and property of the economic institutions of the occupying power. The partisans of P. Prauliņa's group did not observe sufficient conspiracy, many persons visited their settlement, which created an opportunity for betrayal. Lack of military experience was one of the weaknesses of the guerrilla armed movement.

P. Prauliņa's partisan group was destroyed on May 16, 1949 in the Kalna forest of Biržu parish during the operation of the Ministry of State Security of the LPSR, in which military units also participated. The Forest Brothers had created a bunker with circle defenses, well camouflaged and located at an indeterminate height in a swampy area. The partisans fiercely resisted the Czech army units for at least 40 minutes, but the entire composition of the group fell: Pēteris Prauliņš, Artūrs Bružuks, Jānis Kalvāns, Edvīns Slikšāns and Francis Skromanis. The forest brothers who were shot were dumped near the parish house, but their remains were later buried in nearby gravel pits. Irma Bružuk was seriously wounded, who was captured and died on May 17 in Jēkabpils hospital. She was buried outside the cemetery, but when the cemetery was expanded after the restoration of Latvia's independence, a monument was placed on her grave.

The memorial stone for the partisans of P. Prauliņa's group in Kalna parish was consecrated in November 1998. The place of P. Prauliņa's bunker is located in the 4th district of the 99th block of Vidsalas, Kalna parish. The stone on which P. Prauliņš sat has been preserved.

The memorial site has been created by the regional highway P74 Siliņi - Aknīste, 12 kilometers from Aknīste turning to the Latvian national forest "Žagaru road".

At the end of the summer of 1944, the vast forest massif of the northern part of Elkšť parish became a gathering place for people who were preparing for an armed struggle against the Soviet occupation. At the end of 1944, groups of national partisans began to form around Aknīste. A suitable place for the establishment of a partisan camp was the Dimantu mež , which was located on the southern edge of the large Elkšņi forest, near Aknīste Great Marsh. There, less than 10 kilometers from Aknīste parish, the national partisans created three winter bunkers for wintering. The connections of the men gathered in the forest were ensured with the support of the residents, neighbors and partisans of the nearby houses - Baltimore, Gargrode, Lichi, Priede, Krumi and other houses.

The partisan battle with the soldiers of the State Security Ministry of the LPSR took place in the Diamond Forest on February 13, 1945. The Chekists, having captured the hostages, drove them forward to show them the partisan bunkers. The forest brothers, seeing the danger, opened fire without sparing the hostages. 10 representatives of the Soviet occupation troops, eight national partisans and four hostages died in the battle. Despite the losses of the forest brothers, the Chekists failed to capture the partisan bunkers. The surviving partisans waited for darkness and left the settlement. Czech soldiers wounded in the battle could not leave the kingdom, moaning. After this battle, which can be considered the first "baptism of the forest brothers", the partisans felt like brothers and the rifle seemed more precious than anything else, as the only reliable savior.

The white cross and the information stand were installed in the Diamond Forest on Lāčpleš Day - November 11, 2022. The creation of the memorial has been supported by the municipality of Jēkabpils region, the association "Tēvzemes sargi" and Latvian state forests. The author of the content part of the informative stand is historian Haralds Bruņinieks.

Today, the building of the former Susėja Parish Hall houses the Sansusī Residence Center and the guest house "Susēja". On the facade of the building you can still see the traces of the attack, left by the bullets fired during the attack of the national partisans on July 7, 1945.

The former Susėja Parish Hall, which at that time functioned as the local executive committee of the Soviet occupation power, suffered an attack by the Selia national partisans on July 7, 1945. The attack on the executive committee of Susėja was a part of a wider action by national partisans and took place simultaneously with the attacks on the Vilkupe dairy and the house of the exterminator Kaunacka.

According to the instructions of Albert Kaminsky (1920-1946), the commander of the national partisan group of Suseya, the forest brothers were supposed to destroy the security of the local executive committee, take weapons, militia uniforms, documents and destroy telephone communications. About 17 Lithuanian partisans of the forest brothers participated in the attack on the Susėja executive committee under the leadership of Jozos Kuveikais. The battle lasted 15-20 minutes, one Lithuanian partisan fell during the shooting, and on the opposite side - fighter battalion fighter Jānis Kakarāns. During the shooting, the windows of the executive committee were broken and the telephone was damaged.

The second attack on the executive committee of Suseia took place on July 16, 1945, when a longer firefight took place between the forest brothers and fighters of the fighter battalion who sought refuge in the executive committee building. During the battle, a group of Soviet soldiers came to the aid of the latter, who opened machine-gun fire from the flank and forced the partisans to retreat. At least five forest brothers and five destroyers fell in the battle. Attacks on this administrative object of the occupying power proved the nature of the armed resistance of the guerrilla war and were a warning of the people's resistance to the Soviet occupation power.

The unit of national partisans of Susea was formed from smaller, fragmented groups of forest brothers, because initially there was a lack of a leader who could unite them. Artūrs Grābeklis, later Markeis Gorovņov, who died in the winter of 1945, tried to coordinate the activity of Susėya partisans for a short time. The strengthening of the national partisan unit of Suseia took place after the arrival of the former legionnaire Alberts Kaminskis in Selia after the general capitulation of Germany in Kurzeme. He established stricter discipline and united smaller groups for a common struggle against the Soviet occupation. Cooperation was also formed with groups of forest brothers from nearby parishes and surroundings, especially with the Gārsene group and Lithuanian partisans who had settled on the border between Lithuania and Latvia.

In the early stages of the armed movement, it can be seen that the forest brothers were not prepared for attacks, unable to occupy the Kaunacka homestead, nor to break into the building of the executive committee of Susėja. The partisans suffered losses and were not able to resist the Czech troops for a long time, and the main method of fighting was to think about retreating in time. There was also a problem with the supply of the partisans. In spite of the difficulties, the national partisan unit of Susa was still able to actively resist the Soviet occupation in the first post-war years. This partisan group ceased to exist after the death of its commander A. Kaminsky on May 14, 1946. This was followed by the legalization of several forest brothers, as well as the joining of other guerrilla groups.

The monument to the national partisans of the Suseia detachment was opened on November 11, 1997, following the initiative of the researcher of the history of the national partisans of Selia, Gunārs Blūzma. Next to the words of the fallen national partisans of Susėja, the text: "On the head of a hedgehog, protect the land of your fathers" is engraved in a rough-hewn boulder under the sign of the cross. The memorial mentions those who died in the attack on the Susės executive committee on July 16, 1945 - Jānis Grābeklis (1923-1945), Ādolfs Rācenis (1919-1945), Bronīslavs-Arvīds Bīriņš (1919-1945) and Edgars Ārglis (1920-1945), later added the murdered Names of Lina Kaminska (1917-1945) and Albert Kaminska (1920-1946). Arnold Dombrovskis (1923-1945) and other national partisan groups of Susėja in 1945-1946 are missing from the monument. the names of active and fallen national partisans.

The graves of the brothers of the national partisans of Selia were opened on October 30, 2004 with the support of the Ministry of Defense of Latvia and Aknīste municipality. Partisans Alberts Karankevičs (1914-1949), Vilis Tunķels (1911-1949), Arnolds Tunķels (1926-1949), Osvalds Tunķels (1929-1949), Ēvalds Kundzāns ( 1927-1949).

partisans Juris Alfreds Voldemārs Lācis (1908-1945), Eduards Kaminskis (1910-1945), Osvalds Mežaraups (1911-1945), Alberts Mežaraups (1915-1945), Antons Bružiks (1911-1945), Jānis Britāns (1926-1945) and one unknown. Marta Mežaraupe (1907-1945), Alberts Lācis (1902-1945), Juris Resnītis (1901-1945) and Pēteris Bite (1907-1945), as well as the groups of Indān-Grāvelsons, who fell during the battle and were taken hostage by the Soviet occupation authorities, are also buried in the common cemetery. fallen partisan Voldemārs Otto Sātnieks (1911-1950). There is also a monument to Alfred Silaraup (1925-1946), a national partisan of the Aknīste company, who fell during a check operation on July 30, 1946, on a narrow-gauge railway in the Elkšņu forest.

A black granite stele with the emblem of the National Partisans Association of Latvia is placed at the foot of the White Cross installed in the cemeteries of the Brothers of the National Partisans of Selia and the text "For the national partisans of Selia. You sacrificed your lives for Latvia in the fight against the communist occupation regime in 1944-1954." There is also a memorial stone in the grave area with the inscription "There are tears that will be done in silence." There are scars that won't heal if healed", which Stanislav Šadurska installed at the beginning of the Awakening at the pit where the Chekists buried the national partisans and hostages who had fallen the day before on February 14, 1955.

Partisan Bunker and Memorial Cross can be found by turning off the regional road 3604 (Rokiškis-Maineivos- Naujasodė) between Juodupė and Žiobiškis in the direction of Plunksnočiai Forest.
In 1947, the partisans of the Gediminas Company of the Kunigaikštis Márgiris (King Márgiris) Unit, led by Juozas Bulavas- Iksas, were located in the Plunksnočiai forest stand. Until 1948, they did not have a permanent wintering place, so they took refuge with people who supported them. After World War II, Plunksnočiai Forest was a swampy area with a small mound in the middle of the swamp. In 1949, the partisans set up a hiding place there. However, they were betrayed by an infiltrated Russian security agent, who knew the location of the bunker. On 14 November 1949, after the partisans had fallen asleep, he threw antitank grenades into the bunker. Seven partisans died.
The partisan bunker has been restored and a memorial cross with the names of those who died there has been erected. Today, the surrounding forest is green and walkable. A monument and information signs have been erected in a small square a few dozen metres from the bunker, pursuant to the initiative of the Young Riflemen of Rokiškis.

The Museum of the History of Freedom Fights is located on Vytauto Street, Obeliai (Obeliai-Zarasai road KK117) on the left side (a road sign is installed on the road).
Founded in 1998, the museum introduces the development of the Lithuanian state, the history of the Obeliai region and Lithuanian folk art. A large part of the exhibition is devoted to the theme of freedom fights.
The evidence of the freedom fights was collected and donated to the museum by a teacher and former partisan, Andriejus Dručkus (1928–2018).
In addition to the themes of Soviet repressions, deportations, the partisan war, the anti-Soviet resistance movement, and the rebirth of independence, which reflect the experiences of the Obeliai region, the museum also stands out due to its peculiar accents. The museum presents the history of the erection, destruction and restoration of the unique monument dedicated to the participants of the June 1941 uprising and the victims of Soviet terror. An overview of the Lithuanian defence system after 1990 is also provided, as well as uniforms of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and other services. The open-air exhibition of the museum has replicas of a Lithuanian partisan bunker and a Siberian barracks for deportees on display. The sites can be visited individually, and special educational programmes are also offered, which enable visitors to experience the everyday life of partisans and deportees to understand what it was like to live in a bunker or barracks.

The site can be accessed from the town of Antazavė by forest roads.
At the end of 1944, the Lokio Unit of Lithuanian partisans was formed in the area of Antazavė in north-eastern Lithuania. It was led by a former Lithuanian Army officer, Captain Mykolas Kazanas. The unit established five dugout shelters at Lake Vinčežeris, in the uplands of the dense spruce and pine forests of Antazavė.
On 26 December 1944 (27 December according to other sources), the Battle of Antazavė Forest took place here. It was one of the largest partisan battles in eastern Lithuania. The partisan camp was surrounded by Soviet Army units from Utena and Zarasai, as well as soldiers stationed in Antazavė Parish. After a day-long struggle, 85 partisans managed to break the siege and successfully retreated. One partisan died during the retreat.
Currently, two partisan dugouts have been built on the site of the partisan camp, and battle positions, a cross, a memorial plaque, and benches for visitors to the camp have been installed at the site. The partisans’ dugouts are outstanding in terms of their size – they are relatively large and massive underground structures and differed significantly from partisan bunkers that were later built in the forests of Lithuania.

The museum is located in Utena, near the junction of the Kaunas-Daugpilis (A6) and Vilnius-Utena (A14) trunk roads. The museum was established in 2015 at the former narrow gauge railway station building of Utena. The museum claims to be a form of poetry that tacitly exposes the post-war truth. The exhibition “A Common European Identity in the Context of Totalitarian Regimes” offers to explore the past of Lithuania and Europe through the history of one Lithuanian region. It tells the story of secret documents and the division of Europe in 1939, the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the forced participation of Lithuanians in World War II, exile, post-war resistance and the organisation of collective farms in the Utena region. The painful events of 1940–1965 in the Utena region and the events in Lithuania are contrasted with life behind the Iron Curtain. The history of the narrow-gauge railway station also has tragic pages. From here, in 1941 and from 1945–1953, train cars with deportees were sent to Siberia.

Located in Šimonys Forest, along road No. 1216 (a sign and a stand have been installed). Šimonys Forest was known in the post-war Lithuanian partisan struggle as the centre of activity of the largest partisan unit in Aukštaitija, the Algimantas military district. Approximately 200 partisans were operating in the area in 1945, while by 1952, there were only 20–30. From 1947 to 1949, the Šimonys Forest was used by the commander of the East Lithuania (King Mindaugas) partisan territory, Captain Jonas Kimštas-Žalgiris, and in 1949, by the commander who took over from him, Antanas Starkus–Montė, as hiding places – command posts from which the partisan movement in Aukštaitija was coordinated. The route of the partisan battles of the Algimantas military district invites you to get acquainted with six partisan hideouts of the Algimantas military district, created by the partisans of the Žalioji, Šarūnas and Kunigaikštis Márgiris (King Márgiris) units, who hid and fought here. There are two walking routes of different lengths (5 and 10 km) in Šimonys Forest, which invite you to follow the paths of the partisans.

After driving past Andrioniškis Cemetery (there is a signpost), there is a preserved hideout – a command post. From 1944– 1949, a command post of the Lithuanian partisans of the Eastern Lithuania (King Mindaugas) region operated in this hiding place. In the summer of 1944, Balys Žukauskas, with brothers Petras and Juozas Jovaišos, established the hiding place to evade the mobilisation announced by the Red Army in 1944. At the end of 1945, Antanas Slučka-Šarūnas started to use the hiding place. He was the first one to form a partisan unit in the Troškūnai area and later united the partisans of Rokiškis, Anykščiai, Kavarskas, Troškūnai, and Andrioniškis to form the Šarūnas Unit. In 1947, A. SlučkaŠarūnas became the commander of the Algimantas district, and in 1949 – the commander of the Eastern Lithuania partisan region. This means that from 1949, the hiding place became the command post of the Lithuanian partisans in the Eastern Lithuania region. The hiding place, which had successfully sheltered partisans for five years, was betrayed on 28 October 1949. The farm where the partisans were hiding was besieged by KGB troops; the partisans refused to surrender and blew themselves up.
The bunker has been preserved, and a cross and a monument to the fallen have been installed.

The monument is located in the centre of Troškūnai, Anykščiai district, near the Church of Holy Trinity. During the partisan war of 1944–1953, the territory of Lithuania was divided into nine partisan military regions. From 1947–1950, partisan units of the Algimantas region of Lithuania, the establishment of which is closely related to Troškūnai, were active in the Panevėžys and Anykščiai area. The inhabitants of this town organised partisan units in Aukštaitija. The first partisan commander of the Algimantas region, Antanas Slučka-Šarūnas, was born and lived in Troškūnai.
In 1996, pursuant to the initiative of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, a monument dedicated to the partisans of the Algimantas Military District was erected in Troškūnai. The monument was created by sculptor Jonas Jagėla and architect Audronė Kiaušinienė. The main part of the monument is a black stone gate that symbolises the fallen defenders of the homeland. The bronze crosses on the sides of the gate symbolise the Christian faith, while the bronze sword, like the sword of St Michael the Archangel, symbolises the light of faith and hope. In the square in front of the monument, a black stone plaque commemorates the three units of the Algimantas region: Šarūnas, Žalioji and Kunigaikštis Márgiris.