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In the small town of Kasčiūnai, in the beautiful pine forest-covered house of Dzūkija, a wonderful man lives on the banks of the Merkys River and witnesses to the history of the post-war freedom struggles of this region, the last supporter survivor from the Varėna region, Juozas Jakavonis-Tigras. Today celebrates an honorable anniversary: the 95th anniversary of his birth.
In 1945, the first headquarters of the southern Lithuanian commanders, Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanags and Juozas Vitkus-Kazimieraitis, was installed, and the partisan newspaper Laisvės varpas was published. J. Jakavonis rebuilt this command post, constantly telling people who visit it constantly how difficult and at the same time how significant the guerrilla struggle for Lithuania’s freedom really was.
People around the world want to hear about postwar freedom struggles from the lips of a living supporter. In it, the symbolic bridges of time seem to link the past and the present, and when we are here we seem to hear a lesson about the painful history of post-war Lithuania.
On the occasion of a beautiful anniversary, J. Jakavonis-Tigris was received by many honorable guests. The adviser to the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Lithuania, Lt. Col. Aurelijus Motiejūnas, congratulating Minister Raimundas Karoblis and thanking the anniversary for the living lessons of Lithuanian history, noted that he is an example of a fighter for all cadets In our country.
J. Jakavonis-Tigras was honored and received gifts from Adas Jakubauskas, Director General of the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Center.
Algis Kašėta, the mayor of the Varėna district municipality, who congratulated the jubilee and thanked the respected Juozas for his love for his country’s history and freedom struggles and wished him good health and optimism, recalled the beginning of the revival, when he met J. Jakavonis. discovery. Because he not only saw the partisans, but also interacted with them and was in a bunker. The mayor noted that the bunker, restored by the efforts of J. Jakavonis, is yet another testament to post-war party struggles.
Gediminas Reutas, the head of the Kaunas Crew Officers Club, and many other congratulators wished him good health and clear days.
Jolanda Česonis, a family friend of J. Jakavonis, daughter of Rimas Česonis, Lithuania’s honorary consul in Rochester, sent a sensual video greeting.
The opera soloists Liudas Mikalauskas and Egidijus Bavikinas, who came to greet and honor him, presented the patriotic Juozas with amazing patriotic songs.
The jubilee and Liudas Mikalauskas sang together a partisan song, which he sang together with Adolf Ramanauskas-Vanags. Both sang this song a few years ago in Rochester, United States, at the Partisan Tribute Festival, accompanied by Vytautas Lukošis, conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the city of Lappeenranta (Finland).
Jonas Sakalauskas, General Director of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Lithuania, congratulated the anniversary with sensitive melodies.
J. Jakavonis, who received congratulations on his jubilee celebration, was as joyous and happy as ever, brought from memory and willingly recounted the facts and experiences told to people who visited his home many times, shared memories, showed a bunker rebuilt on the bank of Merkys. , candles, typewriter, radio, newspapers “Laisvės varpo”, dishes from which people ate.
J. Jakavonis was born in 1925. July 10 In the village of Kasčiūnai. At age 20, he and other supporters in his parents’ yard in 1945. installed a bunker, which in 1945-1946. it became the headquarters of the partisan commanders of southern Lithuania. Partisan commanders J. Vitkus – Kazimieraitis and A. Ramanauskas – Vanagas from southern Lithuania lived and worked in the bunker.
As a link, J. Jakavonis also distributed the underground press, because the partisan newspaper “Laisvės varpas” was published in the bunker. 1946 December 8 carrying an underground press, he was ambushed by the NKVD and captured by the Enkavedists.
He endured inhuman torture and confrontations in the basements of Merkinė, Varėna, Vilnius (Lukiškės) NKVD and the offices of the interrogators, but did not extradite any of them, who were confronted by employees of the occupation structures. The Bolshevik military court (“troika”) sentenced Jakavonis to prison camps and exiles in Siberia, where he spent his youth from 1946 to 1959.
He worked in Kolyma copper and other mines. He survived only because of his innate optimism and love for the people who responded to him at the same time. When he returned to Lithuania, to his hometown of Kasčiūnai, the toughness of the local government was waiting for him, it was difficult to register in Lithuania, he did not get a job, so at first he had to work in Belarus.
But all the blows of life were received by a serene spirit, with a smile and confidence in the help of the Supreme. He shared with others everything he had. He was hardworking, modest, and helpful. He and his wife Zose raised two daughters, Angela and Biruta, and they have three grandchildren. In the fall of last year, after a serious illness, his wife traveled into eternity.
Speaking about the trials, J. Jakavonis-Tigras says that in order to survive, it was necessary to have three traits: sense of humor, song, and hope that he would return to Lithuania and spend his entire life sacrificing himself, telling the post-war story of Lithuania.
In 1994, the Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deporters awarded J. Jakavonis the Cross of Resistance, and in 1995, the Foundation of the Nation (USA) thanked the testimonies of living history. In 1998, by decree of President V. Adamkus, he received the Order of the Cross of Vytis of the third degree and in the same year he received thanks for his merits to Lithuania. In 2000 he received the Creator’s Medal of the Lithuanian Armed Forces from President V. Adamkus, in 1999 he received the title of Honorary Member of the Alytus A. Ramanauskas-Vanagas Gymnasium. Since 2015 November 15 he was elected an honorary member of the oldest Lithuanian student organization Neo-Lithuania (“Naujoji Lietuva”), in 2018 he was honored with the badge of honor of the municipality of Varėna district “On merits for the Varėna region ”
2005 J. Jakavonis published a scrapbook “On the side of death”. Hoping that after reading it, people, especially young people, will realize the high cost of Independence.
He, despite his respectable age and poor health, warmly welcomes every visitor from spring to fall, and they are there almost every day, especially in summer. People even come from distant lands to see the farmer, the bunker, and their keeper, the Juozas Jakavonis-Tiger supporter.
Students from all over Lithuania visit here. Also surviving supporters … Historians and filmmakers find the Kasčiūnai farm about partisan resistance: from Lithuania, the United States, Georgia, Germany … It is spoken in Lithuanian, Russian, English and German, as there is a growing interest in the postwar Lithuanian armed resistance. , who helped our Homeland to be the first of all the “fraternal” republics to liberate themselves from the Soviet occupation in 1989-1991 and captivate the world with the spirit of their freedom …
Daughter Angelė, speaking of her father, points out: “It is for this reason that he only had one son in the family, the parents did not send him to the United States with his aunt … Perhaps the father had been a famous doctor, no I would have experienced enclaves, torture, famine, Siberian prisons. ” … Dad was a very talented student, after graduating from four chapters for a good education, he received thanks from the then Minister of Education for good learning … “. But in the United States, he still stayed for that. It is true who, after many years, visited his daughter Angela in 2018. There he was invited as a special guest to the Partisan Tribute and during which many memorable events and meetings took place. Juozas Jakavonis met with Nijole Bražėnaitė-Lukšienė, the widow of the Juozas Lukša-Daumantas supporter, during which exceptional personalities shared memories of freedom struggles, talked about perpetuating the memory of the fighters.
J. Jakavonis had to give an interview to “Voice of America” and visit the White House. “It was a very exciting moment when we arrived at the grave of the baptismal mother, Aunt Elizabeth, her husband Miko, and their two sons Joseph and Walter. Aunt and Walter had come to Lithuania and they really wanted me to go to America and be a priest when I was eighteen years old. Unfortunately, the war started and I became a partisan and then I was imprisoned in Russian prisons. Joseph was a famous doctor. Walter was a pharmacist. It’s a shame that they followed me after the jails, but all the connections with the relatives were cut. There are only a few photos left that my grandmother brought from the United States in 1938. ”
J. Jakavonis ‘words in dignified and respectful words about Lithuania’s aspiration for independence, about post-war freedom struggles, guerrilla leaders and their ideals, about the guerrillas’ holy oath not to surrender completely, about friends and youth neighbors, to whom the Dzūkija forest lives history And a respectful memory of those who died honorably before the independence of Lithuania. Albertas Belevičius, the son, poet and sculptor of the partisan who died in the forests of Dzūkija, has gone into eternity: “Love us, Lithuania! There is still heavy rain in the dust, still a storm in those days. We are alive here, we will not turn to dust. There is no death for those who have died for their freedom … “.
J. Jakavonis demonstrated by his painful life experience that he is a true example of a patriot of his country, his Homeland and a virtuous, sacrificial and infinite sacrifice person and other spiritual values. It is a great authority for all of us who continue the work of fighting for the independence of our nation and continue to build an independent Lithuania.
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