Press release, 15 November 2012
On 22 November 2012 at 14.30, the exhibition Poles Interned in Lithuania in 1939–1940 will open in the exhibition gallery of Building II of the Seimas. The exposition will be launched by Arvydas Anušauskas, MP, Rasa Juknevičienė, Minister of National Defence, Janusz Skolimowski, Polish Ambassador to Lithuania, Dr Arūnas Bubnys, Director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Department of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, and Agnieszka Rudzińska, Deputy President of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance.
This year the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Centre and Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas, in cooperation with the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, have arranged the traveling exhibition Poles Interned in Lithuania in 1939–1940. The exposition comprises the material from Polish, Lithuanian, German and British research institutes, archives, museums and private collections.
Twenty exhibition stands show, in chronological order, photos, publications, documents, maps, charts and items reflecting the tragic political situation of the Polish state after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939, Poland's defence in September 1939, military and civilian withdrawal to Lithuania, Lithuania’s standpoint towards Poland in September 1939, internment camp system under development and camp locations in 1939–1940, daily life in internment camps, internees’ underground and creative activities, biographies of administrative staff of internment camps, assistance provided by Lithuanian Poles to internees and war refugees, as well as fates of internees and staff following Lithuania’s occupation in June 1940.
Poland was attacked by the Nazi Germany on 1 September 1939 and by the Soviet Union on 17 September 1939. It was impossible to withstand two belligerent states without the Allies’ help. Following the failure to defend Poland, militaries and civilians fled in masses from the occupied country. At the end of September 1939, about 15,000 Poles crossed the Lithuanian border. The vast majority of them were soldiers and policemen who were interned under the international military law. First internment camps were immediately established in the deserted resorts of Birštonas, Kulautuva and Palanga, as well as in Alytus, Kuršėnai and Rokiškis. Later the internees were moved to four large camps in Kalvarija, Ukmergė, Vilkaviškis and Kaunas. In accordance with international treaties, the Lithuanian government took charge of the internees while the Lithuanian Red Cross, with the assistance of the International Red Cross, took care of civilian refugees. The Lithuanian government and various organisations urged the Lithuanian people to help and support war refugees from the neighbouring country. The response was wide-ranging. With particular enthusiasm, Poles and Jews living in Lithuania cared for civilian refugees and sent food and clothing packages to internees.
The daily routine of internees went on according to a strict schedule based on military discipline. Camp residents had to work and engage culturally. Camps solemnly marked national holidays, organised choral performances and operated self-education clubs and libraries. A particular achievement was the publication and theatre launched by the internment camp in Kalvarija. Despite all the above-mentioned camp administration efforts to create normal living conditions for internees, the majority of them felt depressed after forced separation from their close ones and saddened over the loss of their state with no sign of improvement in the political situation. These and other reasons encouraged camp residents to seek solutions. The first one was underground organisations founded during the first few weeks of internment and mainly focused on supporting internees’ psychological well-being and patriotism. The second one was escape from internment camps and flight to the West. Though the Lithuanian government tried to reduce the number of internees by regularly releasing persons who had been declared unfit for military service or who had adopted the Lithuanian citizenship, escapes continued. From 1939 to 1940, the number of internees decreased from 15,000 to 4,372. As the Soviets occupied Lithuania in 1940, the latter fell into the hands of the Soviet authorities and were initially deported to forced labour camps in Kozelsk and Yukhnov, Kaluga Region and later above the Arctic Circle. Internment camp staff were also subjected to repression. Most of them were sent to concentration camps, and only few managed to escape to the West.
The exhibition arranged in the Polish language was first presented to the public in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in 2011. Now it begins its journey around Lithuania. Building II of the Seimas will house the exhibition until 3 December 2012; admission is free, please feel free to visit.
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