President: We have shown by our example that small nations know how to appreciate freedom

“Today we remember those who fought tirelessly for the freedom of Lithuania and those who perished in this struggle: shot in the dense forests, blown up on the ground, despised in city squares. What seemed like defeat at the time is like a victory in our eyes, a triumph of the human spirit in the face of great injustice. And after many years in the history of guerrilla struggles, the voice of the Nation remains, which has not been silenced and has not been defeated, ”said President Gitan Nauseda at the opening ceremony.

The President highlighted that this was a generation that had experienced up to three occupations from their own country in a short time, one of which was more brutal than the other. He clearly understood that only a free nation and an independent Lithuanian state could guarantee the safety and dignity of its citizens. Their desire for freedom was best embodied in the Declaration of the Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement of February 16, 1949, which defined the desire to restore a free, democratic and dignified Lithuania based on the fundamental values ​​of Western civilization. It was this wish that our generation fulfilled on March 11, 1990.

“The history of Lithuania’s freedom struggles reminds us that even after the darkest night comes a bright morning. Even a nation that awakens from the deepest sleep can change its destiny. Even the bitterness of temporary defeats hardens steel. Sometimes all that is needed is a living and unadulterated historical memory. Like a deep wound embedded in the fabric of a nation, it does not allow you to feel comfortable in captivity, to reconcile, to calm down. It reminds us over and over again that the freedom of the nation and of the country, as well as the freedom of each one of us, is a fundamental value that must be guarded and defended and for which it is worth fighting ”, said the President.

The president wished that this sword and the wall of memory of the dead speak forever of the incalculable cost of freedom and remind us of our duty to strengthen the State that has caused so many victims.

“I rejoice in my town and in the people who have gathered here, guided by memory and crying. This monument commemorates and gives meaning to partisan victims in the name of Lithuanian freedom. Let’s stop and think: the decision of Lithuanian men and women, young men and girls at that time, whose lives were still before their eyes, was to sacrifice their lives. For the sake of the future, realizing that we have less than a year to live in the fight for our present freedom. They defeated her death. I am proud of our nation because we understand the meaning and the price of the postwar struggle, “said Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, who participated in the ceremony.

The Prime Minister sincerely thanked all those who, with their perseverance, initiative, faith and sincere work, contributed to the implementation of this important and significant idea.

As ELTA has already announced, the Government’s efforts have completed the noble work begun a decade ago by Bishop Alfonsas Svarinskas and erected a monument to the Lithuanian partisans, a sign of respect and gratitude to the fighters for the independence of Lithuania.

For the construction of the memorial and the implementation of the investment project, the Government in 2019-2020. allocated from the state budget 505 thousand. euros. Others 29.98 thousand. was assigned to the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Center to compile an electronic directory of archival historical data on Lithuanian partisans who died in exile and in prisons.

The authors of the commemorative project are the sculptor Tadas Gutauskas and the architect Saulius Pamerneckis.

The monument consists of an obelisk in the shape of a Lithuanian sword about 25 m high; about 30 m long memorial wall with Vytis cross-shaped steel supports, on which about 11 thousand. the names of the dead partisans; Tomb of the Unknown Partisan; Tribute Square; as well as in 2018. November 25 The part of the memorial dedicated to the partisans of the Kęstutis district was opened to the public, consisting of a chapel bell tower and nine inclined concrete planes next to the chapel with the nicknames, surnames, dates of birth and death of the Kęstutis district partisans.

In the future, it is planned to build an information pavilion-museum on the history of the Lithuanian partisans next to the stairs leading to the monument.

The Raseiniai District Municipality, the Lithuanian Resistance and Genocide Research Center, the Ministry of Culture and the Government Chancellery contributed to the organization and execution of the monument’s construction works.