Lithuanian Liberation Army

LLA was founded in the winter of 1941 as a military organization to combat Nazism. From the very beginning, the LLA rejected the idea that Nazi Germany would help restore Lithuanian independence. She was guided by the Western allies - the United States and Great Britain, but did not expect release from these countries, but she herself planned to regain her freedom with arms in her hands. LLA established a 29-year-old law student who graduated from Kazis Veverskis-Senis Military School. He also headed the Ateytininkai corporation, Kestutis, in Vilnius.

In the summer of 1940, K. Veverskis secretly crossed the arm of the Neman and fled to Germany. In Berlin, he worked as a worker in a printing house, but did not get involved in the political activities of the Lithuanian Front of activists. 1941, secretly, on foot, returned to Lithuania, where he stayed with his brother Pranas in Kaunas. He introduced his brother to the program of the Lithuanian Activist Front, on the basis of which K. Veverskis created the program basis for the Free Lithuania Army. December 13, 1941 A secret constituent assembly was organized in Vilnius. The exact names of all meeting participants are unknown. It is known for certain that the meeting was attended by Kazis Veverskis-Senis himself, an employee of the Vilnius criminal police, reserve lieutenant Lönginas Švalkus, and medical student lieutenant reserve Domas Matutis. Later, Pranas Veverskis, reserve lieutenant P. Galyunas, E. Ialovekkas, A. Eidimantas actively participated in the organization. They entered the organization on the basis of personal contacts and past acquaintances. Each new member of the organization attracted at least two reliable, well-known people. LLA distanced itself from many Lithuanian nationalist political organizations ^[5] , believing that the creation of numerous organizations would only split the nationalist movement. It was considered a militarized organization with strict discipline ^[6] , it declared its distrust of the USSR and Germany and its readiness to fight only for the interests of the Lithuanian people. The LLA did not report to the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania ^[5] and did not cooperate with the Lithuanian local detachment ^[6] . LLA members were forbidden to leave the territory of Lithuania and retreat together with German troops ^[1] . Kazis Veverskis was the leader of the Lithuanian Liberation Army, personally drafting all the directives and signing orders ^[5] , publishing the newspaper “Karines ir politinės žinios” ( lit. Karinės ir politinės žinios , Military and political news ) for the military and the newspaper “Karžigis” ( lit. Karžygys , Warrior ) for civilians ^{[6] [1]} . His deputy was Adolfas Eidimitas, known by the nicknames "Zhibartas" and "Vygantas".

Veverskis recruited former Lithuanian policemen from the schutzmanshafet ^[6] and Lithuanian army soldiers who served until 1940 in the LLA: for example, 12 colonels of the Lithuanian army who commanded the districts obeyed him. There were 4 zones of LLA operations: Vilnius , Kaunas , Šiauliai and Panevezys , each zone was divided into districts corresponding to the okrugs of the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Lithuania of the interwar years ^[5] . The district headquarters included the operational, intelligence, organizational departments and the personnel department. LLA tried to prepare detachments in order to oust the Polish Army from Craiova from Vilnius, but these plans were not implemented ^[5] . The structure of the ASL was created on a hierarchical, territorial and functional basis. The central leaderships of districts and regions were created, work was carried out in the organizational, intelligence and economic sectors. Until 1943, the organization operated by dividing into districts in which there were headquarters. From the spring of 1943 until July 1944, the organization acted according to a single structural plan:

The power of the organization was strengthened by an increase in the number of its members from specific social groups, since the LLA did not have political requirements for the participants. The organization focused on men who are able to participate in armed hostilities. Women were not included in the organization. Particular attention was paid to officers and non-commissioned officers. Some of the members partially or fully lived underground and were supported by the organization. Worked in various fields. Mobility was guaranteed at the expense of members working in the fields of communications, railways, and mail. Members of the police, security, and self-defense battalions carried out intelligence work. Workers provided material supplies. Funds came from membership dues (each paid 10 marks a year) and individual donations. It was they who accounted for most of the revenue and were used to purchase weapons, printing houses and for the needs of the headquarters.

LLA consisted of the districts of Vilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai and Panevezys. Vilnius County was led by K. Veverskis-Senis, Kaunas - Colonel Jonas Lenartas (later Major B. Svilas), Panevezys - Captain V. Sakalas-Sakalauskas, Šauliai - Captain Adolfam Eidimtas. Later, the founded Telšai district was led by Colonel Ipolitas улиulis. In November 1943, the first meeting of the district commanders was convened at the Vilnius Academy of Sciences, in which K. Veverskis-Senis, A. Anryushaitis, Jonas Lenartas, A. Karalius-Varyanis, Gudenas, A. Kubilius and others took part. In 1943, the Vilnius District counted about 2,000 members, in the districts of Šiauliai, Kaunas and Panevezys, 1,500 each. The total number of organizations could be about 7000-8000 people. The leadership of the LLA put a lot of effort into maintaining contacts with the West. Through resistance channels, the ASL leadership sent Antanas Valiukenas to Berlin instructions and printed publications of the organization. With the help of Kazis Zheromskis, who left for Vienna, attempts were made to contact Austrian, French, Polish, Czechoslovak, and Belarusian underground organizations ^[7] .

On July 1, 1944, the LLA declared martial law and ordered all its members to join platoons whose headquarters were in the woods ^[6] . Using the experience of the June uprising , the LLA began to prepare an armed uprising, which was supposed to end according to the plan by the proclamation of independent Lithuania ^[8] . All departments were replaced by two sectors at each headquarters: operational Vanagai ( lit. Vanagai / VS , Falcons ) and organizational (OS). Albinas “Varenis” Karalius ^[1] , who was responsible for armed resistance, was appointed commander of the operational sector of the LLA, and the organizational sector was responsible for the supply of food, information and transport to fighters of the operational sector ^[6] . The LLA headquarters was located in the Plokštine forest near Lake Plateliai in Samogitia , where their training camp was located ^[9] . In August 1944, Kazis Ververskis, General Moteyus Pechulenis and engineer Bronius Snarskis organized the Lithuanian Defense Committee ( lit. Lietuvos gynimo komitetas ) in order to attempt to unite all anti-Soviet Lithuanian armed forces and recognize the leadership of the LLA in this movement ^[9] .

Many members of the LLA went to Germany, contrary to the order forbidding it, and became displaced persons ^[5] , but others joined the “forest brothers”. According to testimony of Eidimtas during interrogation at the NKGB, by mid-1944 the number of LLA increased to 10 thousand people ^[5] , which historians consider doubtful ^[8] . Lithuanians inherited armaments and ammunition from the retreating Germans ^[10] , and in August – September 1944, the LLA sent about 100 soldiers to German intelligence schools, where they underwent sabotage courses and became paratroopers ^[1] . Despite all efforts, the LLA had no influence on the course of the war: by January 26, 1945, according to the declassified archives of the NKGB and the MGB, about 659 members of the LLA were destroyed and 753 people were arrested ^[8] . In the summer of 1944, M. Pechuliunis, who took the oath of membership, signed a directive in which the LLA armed forces were ordered to withdraw in discipline with the front, in case the Russian troops could not be stopped - hide weapons and go underground, to remain in Lithuania. On July 20, 1944, LLA was divided into two sectors - Organizational (OS) and Active (DS). At the same time, the principles of organization formation, structure and staff were established. The DS was called "Vanagai." In the summer of 1944, the LLA launched partisan operations. The organization was declared combat readiness. All members of the organization, who are able to fight weapons in their hands, were called up to join the Vanagai national teams. An officer with the highest military rank was appointed commander of the national team. His responsibilities included organizing a unit in the forest. LLA units became the basis for anti-Soviet partisan formations. Captain A. Caralius was appointed Chief of Staff of Vanagai, later A. Kubilius. To fight the Soviet occupation regime in 1944, the political organization “Committee on Defense of Lithuania” was founded. The Defense Committee of Lithuania has declared itself the head of all the resistance forces. In preparation for the second Soviet occupation, action plans were prepared: 1) to retain part of Lithuanian territory by means of arms, declaring it independent; 2) enter into negotiations (with the help of Western mediators) on the retreat of the army from Lithuania. If these plans are violated - go underground, publish a press and, having established radio communications, wait for the Peace Conference 1944 08–09. With the consent of the Nazi authorities, the LLA sent about 100 fighters to German intelligence schools who, after the war, landed in Lithuania and joined anti-Soviet partisan activities. This fact is estimated ambiguously. The leadership of the LLA was accused of collaborating with the Nazis.

K. Veverskis died on December 28, 1944, not far from Kaunas, near the Raudondvaro bridge, while transporting ASL documents to Kaunas. His death, the front that passed through Lithuania brought confusion in all parts of the resistance. It was necessary to create new communication channels. Several centers that retained the traditions of the ASL took over command and organization. Deputy K. Veverskas A. Eidintas assumed command of the ASL enlisted structures, maintained former contacts, and made new ones with the Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania ^[6] . The mentioned committee acted in Kaunas and claimed the role of leading the political struggle. In April 1945, the leaders of the ASL and the committee were detained - A. Eidimtas, A. Kubilius, L. Dabrauskas, Mindaugas Blonelis and others. General M. Pechulenis, who was left without support and connections, hid for about six months on the estate of K. Veverskis in Kalviai, and later - in the Šakiai district, not far from Lekiacai ^[11] . Where in 1945, the ASL General Staff was formally restored. The recovery council was attended by M. Pechulenis, ASL members Stasis Starkus-Starkevichus, Algimantas Ruzgis and brother K. Veverskis - Alexander. The headquarters could not be formed due to the arrests. The organizational structure of the Free Lithuanian Army formed the basis of the Lithuanian Freedom of Fight Movement, ASL charters were distributed throughout Lithuania, and anti-Soviet partisan documents were created on their basis ^[6] .

• Arvydas Anušauskas. Lietuva, 1940-1990. - Vilnius : Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras , 2005. - ISBN 9986-757-65-7 .
• Arūnas Bubnys. Nazi Resistance Movement in Lithuania 1941-1944. - Vaga, 2003 .-- ISBN 5-415-01684-8 .
• Stephen Dorril. MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service . - Simon and Schuster, 2002. - ISBN 0-7432-1778-0 .
• Dalia Kuodytė. Lietuvos laisvės armija // Lietuvos istorija. Enciklopedinis žinynas / Eugenijus Manelis, Antanas Račis. - Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras , 2016. - Vol. II. - ISBN 978-5-420-01765-4 .
• Romuald Misiunas, Rein Taagepera. The Baltic States: Years of Dependence 1940–1990 . - University of California Press, 1983. - ISBN 0-520-04625-0 .