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Sigitas TAMKEVIČIUS, clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church, cardinal, participant in resistance to the Soviet occupation regime, editor of the Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania:
I will be open, learning about the beach was painful. I do not understand such freedom. The freedom to entertain and do whatever you can think of is not real freedom. Such freedom often leads to slavery.
In my opinion, this is an extraordinary plaza. The rebels shed blood here, and thousands of people suffered nearby. I don’t think this place is suitable for the beach. The plaza must be managed in such a way that respect for all those who have suffered for Lithuania is maintained.
People were definitely not fighting for the beach. We fight for freedom and free people. But freedom is not anarchy and it is not doing what simply shoots it in the head. Freedom is life indeed. In this situation, the truth is clear: it is a square that is very important to the life of our nation. And there are many other places for the beach in Vilnius. More suitable for places near bodies of water.
I hope the President makes a wise decision, although it is not always easy to do so.
Dissident who spent 11 years in Soviet camps, prisons, exile Antanas TERLECKAS:
Lukiškės Square is definitely not a place for a beach. I don’t understand why politicians do this and who needs it. Neither the KGB Palace nor the Lukiškės Square can be seen through its windows, it is not a place for entertainment. These are places that must be respected and that respect must be appropriate.
I was imprisoned in those cellars for many years. There were those who spent 20 years or more there. Perhaps for the inexperienced, it is difficult to understand. I can safely say that the prisoners and freedom fighters did not suffer for such freedom. Until now, I perfectly remember how we dreamed of other prisoners that one day we would be released from prison for a free Lithuania and see Vytis standing in Lukiškės Square, the symbol of our independent state. Now we hear that the debate is not over on whether Vytis is needed. Instead, the bunker is pushed, the beach is dumped … What is being done with Lukiškės Square is terrible.
Seeing this, every true Lithuanian patriot must protest. Chasing is very important for us, for each one of us. He is a symbol of all of us.
It is a pity that for some this beach does not bother me.
In prison, we read the press and saw how people did not understand that the fight for an independent Lithuania was being hampered. It seems that we are seeing similar demonstrations even now.
Interview with the nun, dissident Nijole SADŪNAITE:
– How did you feel when you heard that a beach was being dumped in Lukiškės Square?
I was horrified. Very painful. This is a joke. KGB employees did not mock as much as the government mocked free Lithuania. Here the rebels and martyrs of the ridge. It seems to me that the installation of a beach in Lukiškės Square is an eclipse of the mind. There are millions of places on the Vilnius beach … What should a person think when deciding? I pray for the Mayor of Vilnius R.Šimašiai every day. I feel sorry for this man. I wonder what he would think if a beach were installed in his nearby graves. If so many of your loved ones were ridiculed?
– Do you think such a decision could have been inadvertently, without thinking?
– Either it is a misunderstanding or ill will. I think it could be an order. I don’t think a young person behaves so irrationally. Probably a deliberate mockery. I cannot explain it in any other way. Something very bad is happening in Lithuania.
I am glad that the pandemic has allowed us to think, at least a little, that we are straying from the path of truth. The worst is our spiritual pandemic. It is more terrifying than physical. Because an angry person is very unhappy. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so angry. These are the poor that I pray for every day.
There are people who do not like independence because during the occupation they lived better than now. For example, collaborators, slaves of the occupants. So they did not have to worry about the future, their life was richer. It’s all just about material values.
– The mayor of Vilnius says that the beach is an expression of the freedom of people living in an independent country. Tortured prisoners in the KGB cellars dreamed of a beach on Lukiškės Square?
– (Laughs.) I dreamed that both truth and light would accompany our steps. To maintain respect for our supporters, martyrs. Thousands of people gave their lives for freedom.
I spent 10 months in the KGB prison. After that I was deported to Siberia for another 3 years. It is incomparable to what others have had to endure. Also, I have never felt so close to God as in my life. It strengthened me, filled me with exaltation. The KGB brothers were very upset by my good mood.
Sometimes they ask me to take a tour of the KGB palace. I am constantly amazed at how foreigners, who come to Lithuania, experience our history, listen to it with respect and wonder. All the martyrs in our history are our roots. We have to trust them. We must maintain respect for history. I don’t know how it would feel now to see the beach through the windows of the KGB palace. It is probably clear to a young child that there is no place here for the beach.
– What does Vytis mean to you?
– Vytis and Tricolor have always been the most precious symbols of the nation’s freedom for us. Portable secrets. Due to these symbols, people were tortured and transported to Siberia. Unfortunately, thirty years later, in independent Lithuania, we have to fight for Vytis again. And to shake in Tricolor, you may need to be judged. After all, this is not understood by common sense. And everyone is silent.
Vytis is still important to all Lithuanians. He is the symbol that unites us. We are waiting for you at Lukiškės Square. Thanks to Vytis, people gave their lives. Vytis is not only our physical strength but also our spiritual strength.
The gospel says that “there are no hidden things that cannot be revealed. What is done in secret will be announced on the roofs.” Then the truth will still come to light and the heroes who are now mocking will receive their respect.
– Your name is Lithuanian consciousness. What decision do you think President G. Nausėda should take regarding the law passed by the Seimas to grant commemorative status to Lukiškės Square?
– I am very grateful to the Seimas members for their wisdom. I have great respect for our President, I voted for him because of his Christian values. I trust the President and I trust that he respects our history and the heroes of our nation. I think he will confirm that there must be a square of serenity and concentration here, not a place to run with rabbits.
Addressing the President
After Aušrinė Armonaitė, a member of the Seimas and a fellow Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius, addressed the president on Tuesday, urging him to veto the decision made by the Seimas, the president received the opposite appeal yesterday. Twenty representatives of public, political and patriotic organizations addressed Gitan Nausėda in a public statement on the political situation in the state’s history.
The appeal points out the danger that current historical policy represents to the state and national security of Lithuania. The authors of the appeal call the current situation intolerable, and “the systematic and growing falsification and destruction of the historical memory of Lithuania, after the morally and politically bankrupt communist utopia of the extinction of nations and states”, “fundamentally destroys the foundations of national security and directly threatens the existence of the state. ” “
The authors of the letter ask the President to have the opportunity to meet and discuss vital issues in the history policy of the Lithuanian state.
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