Lithuania: who benefits from the “occupation” story?
After Lithuania gained independence, some politicians were actively involved in the process, the essence of which was the assignment to the USSR, along with Nazi Germany, of responsibility for the outbreak of the Second World War.Thus, in July 2009, the Lithuanian delegation, during the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius, succeeded in “pushing” the resolution “The reunification of a divided Europe: protecting human rights and civil liberties in the OSCE region in the 21st century”, in which communism is virtually equal to Nazism.
At the same time, Russia (as the successor of the USSR) is transforming from the category of victorious powers into a country burdened by past and considerable sins. This aspect cannot be underestimated, it is perceived by the Lithuanian authorities as a legal basis for making Russia claims for material compensation for half a century of “Soviet occupation and aggression”.
One of the most effective instruments for exerting pressure on Moscow in Lithuania is considered story. Today, the most unthinkable interpretations of the historical events of the past century are in use: Lithuanian “jurists” interpret the concepts of “occupation”, “annexation”, “aggression” or “war crimes” in a very peculiar way. The tragic events of January 1991 in Vilnius are highlighted. They are interpreted as a repeated “Soviet aggression and occupation” of a sovereign Lithuanian state.
Moreover, article 170 of Part 2 of the Lithuanian Criminal Code provides for liability “for the public approval of international crimes committed by the USSR or Nazi Germany against the Republic of Lithuania or its inhabitants, their denial or gross humiliation”. For this, a large monetary fine or imprisonment of up to two years may be imposed. This article was first “tried” by Algirdas Paleckis, a young Lithuanian politician: the Vilnius court sentenced him to a fine of 10,4 thousand litas (€ 3 thousand) because he openly questioned the official interpretation of the notorious “Vilnius events” in January 1991.
The official version of the “January events” of 1991 in Vilnius is as follows: “February 24 1990“ Sajudis ”(“ Lithuanian Perestroika Movement. ”- V.L.) received 106 from 141 seats in the elections to the Supreme Council; this Council, which was later renamed the Recovery Diet, March 11 1990 announced the restoration of Lithuanian independence. Moscow refused to recognize the results of these elections: the Declaration of Independence was met with an economic blockade, and on January 13 and 1991, when world attention was focused on the Iraqi conflict in the Persian Gulf, Moscow tried to overthrow the legal government of Lithuania. As a result of the suppression of the resistance by the unarmed Lithuanian citizens by the armed forces, 14 people were killed and hundreds of people were injured. Only a massive unarmed confrontation of civilians prevented the seizure of the parliament building by forces of the Soviet army. It later became clear that the January events in Vilnius were the dress rehearsal for the failed putsch in Moscow in August 1991 of the year ”(“ Lithuania: information about the country ”, Artlora, Vilnius, 2006).
But there is another - the truth, not too accepted - point of view. After the former “Sajudis” split with the coming to power of Vytautas Landsbergis (many of its founders and informal leaders, such as Vytautas Petkevicius and Arvydas Juozaitis), left behind, the popularity of the Supreme Council (headed by Landsbergis began to approach zero.
Against the background of general discontent, politicians who lost confidence in the people began to call for armed resistance to "another state" (as the Soviet Union called in Lithuania). The example was given of Finland, which in the war with the USSR in 1939-1940. lost several tens of thousands of people, but retained its independence. Then, in early January, 1991 was followed by a forced decision of the Lithuanian government on a significant increase in retail prices for basic foodstuffs. The crowd gathered around the Armed Forces managed to reassure when Landsbergis (in Russian, personally) promised the protesters that the status quo would be restored. The “hateful” government of Kazimira Prunskiene was dismissed, and in an attempt to “overthrow the legitimate government”, of course, they accused the “communists”.
According to the official Lithuanian version, at night 13 on January 1991, the TV tower in Vilnius was simultaneously stormed (and killed peaceful defenders) by the Pskov paratroopers, soldiers of the Vilnius 107 th motorized rifle division and internal troops, as well as the Alpha fighters. In fact, when a convoy of armored vehicles approached the TV tower, it had been under the control of Alpha for almost an hour (apparently, someone “forgot” to warn the latter about the divergence of local time with Moscow time). However, the order to turn the armor was not followed. By the way, this “problem” could be solved by stopping the supply of electricity to the transmitting devices of the television tower. In addition, immediately after the seizure of the television and radio center and television tower in Vilnius, a radio television center in the vicinity of Kaunas was launched.
In the materials of the criminal case on the events of January 13 (t. 298, lll. 64-67) there is data of radio interception of negotiations of the Soviet military that night: it follows from them that the military was shooting from a firearms weaponsThe arrows were located inside and outside the occupied buildings or on the roofs of nearby residential buildings. The facts of the shelling of the Soviet military were confirmed by the testimony.
From reference №29 of February 6 1991, signed by the head of the Lithuanian forensic bureau A.Garmus, it follows that the bullet that struck V.Matsiulevicius was released from a Mosin rifle of the 1898-1931 model, in the body of another victim - D Gerbutavicius - experts counted five cross-cutting gunshot wounds from shots fired from different sides, two of them were wounded from bottom-up shots and one from top-down shot at an angle of 60 degrees.
Audryus Butkevicius, who was the Director of the Regional Protection Department in 1991, in an interview with the Russian-language weekly Obzor (No. 15 / 2000) stated that the victims of the January events were planned to pay for the freedom of Lithuania with “little blood”. Butkevicius' words were confirmed by the former in 1993-1996. the head of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, writer Vytautas Petkevicius.
In the book “Ship of Fools”, published in 2003 and the bestseller in Lithuania, Petkevicius pointed out that “Landsbergis and Butkevicius were victims of the night of January 13 on the conscience of January, and one by several dozens of border guards were disguised and admitted to the television tower. They were shooting from the top down into the crowd ”... (S. 78). The words of Petkevičius, spoken by Algirdas Paleckis, mentioned at the beginning of the article, on the live Lithuanian radio station Žinių radijas (“it looks like they shot their own people”), almost a half thousand Litas cost him by a court sentence ...
In one of the recent interviews for the news agency Regnum, A. Paleckis himself pointed out that “the absurdity of the situation lies in the fact that the criminal case on the events of 13 in January of 1991 of the year has still not been closed! Lithuania and the Russian Federation are still arguing among themselves on several aspects of this matter. Naturally, everything is ideologically and politicized to the extreme. The Lithuanian Criminal Code was supplemented with an article providing for punishment for only doubting the official version of those events. In fact, January 13 in Lithuania equated almost to the Holocaust and the crimes of Nazi Germany! What was it for?
The firmness of the official version is very beneficial for some representatives of the current ruling elite of Lithuania, because it portrays them in the most heroic and noble light. Saying, in spite of all the crimes and the tyranny of the Soviet totalitarian monster, they snatched Lithuania out of the “communist hell” - and brought us to the current “democratic paradise”. The Russian Empire, the USSR and the Russian Federation are depicted here as the focus of evil, and our rulers have saved us from it and brought us to blessed Europe.
This thesis is seen as a way of national cohesion, which allows "to switch the arrows" from social problems into a vector of hurray-patriotism and hatred of an external opponent. That is why history is viewed as a field of ideological war, and all “enemies” who dared to challenge the official version at least in some ways should be mercilessly suppressed. The elite does not give a damn about the actual study of the historical facts of the recent past, as well as the freedom of speech, the strengthening of civil society and the development of relations with neighbors. Instead, the ruling authorities are constantly raising the issue of “compensation for the occupation”, who want to “shake off” Russia. It was the now ruling "Union of the Fatherland" in 2010 that introduced a legislative amendment to apply to those who have the audacity to question certain aspects of official history, real sanctions. "
History in Lithuania begins to "pass" with the 5 class. Including related to the events immediately preceding the Second World War. The ideas that are instilled in schoolchildren of the country are unequivocal.
In the textbook with the poetic name “Native Land of Lithuania” by Viktor Yakimavičius (Alma Littera, Vilnius, 1997) we read: “Two powerful states, Germany and the Soviet Union, 23 August 1939 signed a non-aggression treaty. They pledged not to attack each other, but at the same time secretly agreed to seize foreign lands: Germany - more than half of Poland, and the Soviet Union - part of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. After the conclusion of this insidious collusion Germany attacked Poland. The Soviet Union took advantage of this, and, as it was foreseen, rejected a large part of Poland, as well as Vilnius and the Vilnius region occupied in 1920 by the Poles.
The Soviet Union offered to return Vilnius to Lithuania, but demanded that the garrisons of the Red Army be brought into Lithuania. The proposal had to be accepted. This was the first step towards seizing our land. It was summer 1940 of the year. The sun generously warmed the green fields of Lithuania with its rays. Flowered meadows, worried bread. But - peace reigned only in nature.
People in Lithuania were alarmed: the Soviet-Finnish war has recently ended; in heavy fighting the Finns were able to defend their freedom, although they lost some of their lands. Now came the turn of Lithuania. The Soviet Union increasingly intervened in its internal affairs, made more and more demands, made unfounded accusations, such as kidnapping soldiers from Soviet garrisons, and finally, rudely demanded that additional units of the Red Army be brought into Lithuania, change the government, arrest some ministers. And at the same time he added: regardless of whether Lithuania would satisfy these requirements or not, the Soviet troops would still cross the border. So Lithuania was occupied. The Soviet Union in every way sought to convince the world that it did not seize the Lithuanian state, but only protects it from imminent danger. The Kremlin continued the implementation of its insidious plan. By his order, elections were held in the so-called "People's Diet".
Already at the very first meeting this Sejm announced that the Soviet system was being introduced in Lithuania, and asked Moscow to accept it into the USSR. Independent Lithuanian state is gone. On the same day, the main street of Kaunas, Laisves Alley (Svoboda in Lithuanian) was renamed Stalin Avenue. ” By the way, the avenue of Freedom Avenue became again only in ... 1961 year!
This is the interpretation of historical events. And the author of the textbook “Native Land of Lithuania” is not alone. His colleagues insist in one voice: the fact of the Soviet occupation is indisputable. And at the same time - they justify the numerous facts of cooperation of the Lithuanians with the Hitlerite Wehrmacht.
Here's how the position of Lithuania during the Second World War is described in the textbook “Lithuania in the World” (Sviesa, 2004): “Although international agreements prohibit the mobilization of citizens of the occupied states into the armed forces, thousands of Lithuanians fought on either side or the other side of the front. Most of the Lithuanians fought against the Germans in the specially created 16 of the Lithuanian rifle division. For all the years of the war, its fighters were about 20 thousand Lithuanians and residents of Lithuania (as in the text; after all, many of the soldiers of the 16 division were Jews. - V.L.). The division received the largest replenishment, invading Lithuanian territory: in six months 13 thousand youths were forcibly mobilized into it. Approximately 10 thousand Lithuanians fought on the German side, about a third of them were awarded with orders, distinctive signs and thanks of the Wehrmacht.
Indeed, unlike Latvia and Estonia, the legions of the Waffen SS were not created in Lithuania - nevertheless, there were auxiliary battalions of the Lithuanian police here. And they were formed not by the order of the Germans, but on the initiative of the Lithuanians themselves, voluntarily, in order to “fight against Bolshevism,” in the belief that with the help of the Germans, the freedom and independence of Lithuania would be restored. These units participated in punitive operations in Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, they were at Stalingrad and in Yugoslavia. At the head of each battalion was a German SS officer in the rank not lower than the captain. For example, the ex-president of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus from August to October 1944 served in the 2 regiment of Tevynes Apsaugos Rinktine (brigade of the Homeland Defense Army) under the command of Wehrmacht Colonel Helmut Madera - Knight of the Cross with swords and diamonds . This is also a fact.
The concept of "Soviet occupation" Lithuanian historians are guided by and when covering the post-war life of Lithuania. In his book “The History of the State of Lithuania” (Baltos lankos, 2004), Zigmantas Kyaupa notes that “the end of the 2 World War II brought the countries of Europe to an end to the Nazi occupation and the restoration of their statehood. Only three Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — were “returned to the fraternal family of Soviet peoples.” A new Soviet occupation began - Lithuania once again became a “union republic within the USSR”, and in fact, a province ruled by the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR.
In the USSR there was a common state border, one common to all citizenship (this is not so: along with USSR citizenship in all the Union republics (with the exception of the RSFSR!) The Union republic nominally existed citizenship. - V.L.), the republics were not represented for abroad and in international organizations, with the exception of Belarus and Ukraine, which were members of the UN. Even without delving into the history of Lithuania of the Soviet period, we can safely say that the Lithuanian state of the Lithuanian SSR was not ”.
Lithuanian schoolchildren are taught that, “while in the USSR, Lithuania was not officially occupied. There were no occupation authorities here, but “their own”: because, in 1940, Lithuania itself “asked” in the USSR. Therefore, before the 11 Act of March 1990 was proclaimed, the importance of the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact and the forcible joining of the USSR to Lithuania after the Soviet occupation was necessary for the whole world, in order to win support from foreign countries ”(“ History: World, Lithuania, Civilization ”, Vilnius, 2000).
Characteristically, the “occupation” in characterizing Lithuanian-Russian relations is not only present when describing events of 70 years ago. That's what about the foreign policy of Russia of the late XVIII - early XIX centuries. says the historian Stanislovas Bartulis (“The History of Lithuania of the Latest Period”; Kaunas, 2008): “Starting from the 16th century, the Moscow princes, and then the kings, sought to unite all Russian lands under their rule and constantly laid claims to the lands that were part of the Great The Principality of Lithuania under the guise of patrons of Orthodoxy. Seemingly “showing concern” for the Orthodox, they began to interfere in the internal affairs of Lithuania.
After the 3 section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Catherine II announced that the Lithuanian state is in fact purely Russian and therefore should belong to the kings as “All-Russian autocrat”. Obviously, it was either sheer nonsense, or a conscious lie and falsification of history, nevertheless, during the years of the Russian occupation, disinformation and juggling of historical facts, all this was of great political importance in the countries of Western Europe, as well as in the text. - V.L.) and the intelligentsia ".
But what Mr. Bartulis writes about the “intrigues of the Kremlin” against independent Lithuania in the period between the two world wars: “The Lithuanian Communist Party was financed from Moscow, because, due to the small number of its members, it could not support itself and pay money to leaders and professional revolutionaries. For example, Antanas Snechkus, who did not work anywhere, but was engaged in sabotage against the Lithuanian nation and government, and his family was supported by the Moscow International. Such as Snechkus were secretly sent to Moscow for special three-month campaigns on agitation; these people had to illegally cross the two (Lithuanian and Latvian) borders (they did not go through Polish because the Poles reliably protected their border with communist Russia), sometimes the Latvians seized them and handed them to Lithuania. For this, "illegals" received up to 3-months of prison. Having stayed, they again went to the courses and came back. Such was the sabotage work of the Moscow Internationale in Lithuania. This parasitic activity of the communists continued until the occupation of Lithuania in the 1940 year. ”
True, the “moderate” Lithuanian historian Lyudas Truska, known for his balanced assessments of Lithuanian-Russian relations, in an interview with Express Week (02.04.2011) was forced to call the “Soviet occupation” “unusual”, because in the “metropolis” (USSR) life was worse than in the "colony" (Lithuania), which has never happened to the classical colonialists - England and France. But, according to Truski, the occupation was because “as a result of its“ Lithuania lost its statehood ”.
If we agree with this logic, it turns out that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (ON), creating a union with the Kingdom of Poland, was also occupied, because ON has lost not only its statehood from this, but also a significant part of its history! However, none of the historians make such conclusions. In relation to the Soviet stage of Lithuania, historians do not disdain the position of double standards.
In this context, politicians also strive to say their word. In mid-May, the country's government supported a proposal to create a new commission, which would be entrusted with preparing Lithuanian negotiating facilities for the restitution of damages from the “Russian occupation”. As Chancellor Prime Minister Deividas Matulenis noted, the new commission "should be based on the calculations of the earlier commission on the damage caused by the Soviet occupation." The latter counted as much 80 billion litas of damage.
The chairman of the commission, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Resistance of Lithuanian Residents, Teres Burauskaite, however, complained that the issue of compensation for damage from the Soviet occupation is hopeless, since Russia did not recognize the fact of occupation. “If, in their opinion, there was no occupation, then no one caused any damage. On the contrary, they also indicate to us that they have provided us with a lot of means, built many industrial giants, supposedly we actually owe them. Of course, this is demagogy, ”Ms. Burauskaite is convinced.
It seems that the question of claims for compensation from Russia did not come to the surface by chance. In autumn, parliamentary elections are coming in Lithuania, and those in power, who have led the country to an economic crisis, once again resort to a win-win card of “compensations” for the “Soviet occupation”.
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