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Lithuania Under the Sickle and Hammer

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Lithuania Under the Sickle and Hammer LITHUANIA UNDER THE SICKLE AND HAMMER By COL. JONAS PETRUITIS of the Lithuanian Army Published by THE LEAGUE FOR THE LIBERATION OF LITHUANIA Cleveland, Ohio Printed in the United States of America Biographical Sketch of Col. Jonas Petruitis At Rozalimas, a peaceful and fruitful village in the county of Panevezys, Lithuania, was born Jo nas Petruitis, in the year 1890. He received his earliest education in the primary school of Rad­ viliskis, then was transferred to the Saule Seminary in Kaunas and later graduated from the sixth class of the Gymnasium at Libau, Latvia. From his earliest schooldays he outshone all his comrades in his ardor for Lithuanian freedom and his sincere religious beliefs. In 1911, Jonas was called to military duty under the Czarist regime and was transported to the Caucasus where he served as a private in a regiment stationed on the Persian border. During this period there was an uprising in Persia and his regiment was sent there to crush t he movement. Later Jonas was sent to the officers training school at Tiflis, Georgia, where he gra duated and attained his first lieutena ncy in the summer of 1914. During the first World War Jonas participated in various battles on the Russian front, and for his bravery and alertness was pro­ J moted to the rank of Captain. During the Russian Revolution in 1917, Jonas organized a battalion comprised of Lithuanians who were serving in the Russian Army and he remained its leader until the battalion was demobilized. Notwithstanding all obstacles, Jonas survived the stormy Bolshevik Revol ution, and found his way back to his beloved Lithuania in 1918. He learned that Lithuania had proclaimed herself independent since February, 1918, and Jonas immediately gave all his energy to the work of defense. With a nucleus of men whom he gathered from the region of his birthplace, he began the organization of the Lithuanian Army. From ·the beginning of 1919 to the end of 1920 Jonas and his faithful adherents participated in all the most important battles for Lithuanian liberty. Especially did he distinguish himself in the war against the Bermontists at the battle of Radviliskis (Autumn of 1919) and in the war agai nst the Poles at the battle of Gied'raiciai (Autumn of 1920). While fighting against the onslaughts of the Bolsheviks, he was taken prisoner in 1919, bu t managed to escape and return to rally on his still struggling battalion. In 1924 Jonas was promoted to the rank of Colonel and until 1927 he led the Second Infantry Division and even for a time assumed the duties of Commander of this division in Kaunas. Towards the end of 1927 Jonas was discharged as an army reserve and settled down as a farmer in Alytus on the beautiful forest-clad banks of the Nemunas river. There he cultivated a modest farm and wrote his memoirs, four volumes of which were published before the beginning of World War II. Colonel Jonas Petruitis was characterized by his straight­ forward manners and a very sensitive nature. He was of medium stature though very strong physique. His features were classic and his hair flaxen blond. His eyebrows were bushy, almost white, and underneath shone eyes of beautiful grey-blue. He was a figure unique and not easily forgotten. The present war found him stranded at Alytus. The thread of his life can be followed from this point in his poignant memoirs. It is barely a year that news of his death in Lithuania filtered through, and numerous Lithuanian newspapers announced the end of a noble Lithuanian patriot's life. Introduction and Historical Sketch of Lithuania Plato, in speaking of true knowledge, gives the example of a man who has spent all his life in a cave. This man sees only shadows through the opening of the cave, and draws his con­ clusions about realities only from shadows. Led out from the cave this cave-man, although he sees real objects, cannot see them clearly for his eyes are unaccustomed to the light. And much time must elapse before his eyes become accustomed to seeing things as they really are. What is known in this country about Soviet Russia is further than the shadow from the real object. And it is not surprising: the American mentality is so different from the bolshevist-Russian one that for the first to understand the second long and specialized study is necessary. Besides, Communistic propaganda which has been very intensive in the past year has darkened the picture of the Soviet Union even further-a picture which is already far from clear to the American mind. The fact that the Soviet Union in the course of this war became the ally of the United States and contributed a great deal to the defeat of Hitler further confuses the picture, for it forces one "volens nolens" to think of the Soviet Union in favorable terms. Everyone remembers only that the Soviet Union has saved many lives of Americans in taking upon herself the principal burden of the war against Hitler. In the face of all this the American public, if confronted with a true glimpse of the Soviet Union, does not understand it any better than the cave-man who sees the real object instead of the shadow for the first time. That is why W. C. Bullitt's article appearing some time ago in Life magazine created a real sensation and evoked a flood of comment. True, Bullitt is neither a Russian, nor is he a Communist. There is some justification for doubting his statements. But there can be none when similar statements are made by a Russian and a Communist, not an ordinary man , but one who has played a leading role in the USSR. A Com­ munist should be able to judge what Communism and its aims for the world are. And in spite of all this the writings of two prominent Communists, Victor A. Kravchenko and Alesander Barmine are met with great reservations and suspicion. This is perhaps because they give too much light on the subject; there­ fore, eyes which are not accustomed to the light are dazzled by the sudden glare. But does this mean that all whose eyes are unused to light should be satisfied with only shadows? No, we are not slaves or cave-men in chains. We are free citizens of a free country. We are not afraid of the light of day although its effects may some­ times be dazzling. The story by Colonel Petruitis given below sheds that light on Communism which is lacking to most people. At the same time, it is a document from one of the most tragic periods in the life of the Lithuanian nation. It illustrates the Bolshevik terror in Lithuania during the first Soviet occupation of Lithuania (1940­ 1941). Today Lithuania is occupied for the second time by the Soviets. Devastated and ruined by the war, having lost a large number of her inhabitants, some forcibly deported by the Soviets to the depths of Russia, some to Germany for labor by the Nazis, the Lithuanian nation is in deadly danger. However, there were times when Lithuania was a great and powerful state. Allying herself with Poland, in the west she was able to protect herself from the incursions of the Teutonic Knights, ancestors of the Junkers of the present day. Extending her boundaries far to the east, Lithuania for centuries formed a wall protecting the rest of Europe from the nomadic tribes of Eastern Europe and Asia, especially the Tartars. Behind that wall Western civilization was enabled to grow and flourish. The Lithuanians are an ancient race. There is reason to think that their ancestors-the Aestiorum gentes-as early as the neolithic age, or about 3000 years before the birth of Christ, lived on the Baltic shores between the Vistula and Dauguva rivers, and even beyond the Dauguva-up to present day Estonia. The first to mention the name-Aestiorum gentes-was the Roman writer Tacitus. However, the name "Lithuanians" is encountered only in the beginning of the IX century, in a report of a scout of Charlemagne sent to discover what nations lived beyond the boundaries of his empire. Although they are mentioned already in the IX century, the Lithuanians did not form their state till the XIII century when a Lithuanian duke named Mindaugas overthrew other rulers and became the ruler of unified Lithuania (1236-1263). Due to national unification, the Lithuanians were the only tribe of the Aestiorum Gentes to remain unconquered by the Teutonic Order. While the Latvians and Prussians were conquered in the XIII century, the Lithuanian rulers were able to create a large and powerful state which flourished exceedingly in the XV century and existed to the very end of the XVIII century. But Mindaugas' creative work did not end in the national unification. Understanding the great significance of Christian culture and civilization and wishing to prevent the Teutonic Order from continuing its attacks on the Lithuanians as pagans, Mindaugas and his court accepted Christianity in 1251. In 1253 he was crowned King of Lithuania. But this act which enabled him to receive the kingly crown set all of pagan Lithuania against him. Besides, Mindaugas had many enemies, mostly dukes who had been defeated in the struggles for national unification. Personal ambitions and reactions against the new religion gave rise to the murder of Mindaugas in 1263 by a conspiracy of the dukes. This fact however does not detract from his renown and only shows that he was too modern for his times-at least a hundred years in advance of his contemporaries.
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