Seimas commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Vesna mass deportation of Lithuanian residents

Press release, 22 May 2018

The Seimas commemorated the 70th anniversary of the mass deportations of residents of Lithuania under the code name Vesna. As pointed out by Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, this was the largest wave of deportations of the mid-20th century. ‘The main and reserve lists of the deportees, compiled since 1948, first of all included the families of partisans, their supporters, farmers who shunned joining collective farms, and people otherwise circumventing the orders of the Soviet authorities. The aim of deportations was to eliminate armed resistance to the Soviet rule, do away with obstacles to collectivisation in the agricultural sector, intimidate the population, and make people come to terms with Sovietisation and the loss of independence,’ the Speaker of the Seimas said.

Alvydas Semaška, member of the Riflemen’s Union deported in 1948, and son of Col. Semaška-Liepa, partisan commander of the Samogitian Legion, shared the painful memories from the life of his family and reminded the audience of the rough realities of the life in exile: ‘You know what tastes best? I promised myself that, should I ever be rich, I would buy myself some white bread, cover it profusely with butter, put some fat on top and eat it with milk. This was a hungry child’s dream.’

Simonas Jazavita, a PhD student in history studying at the Vytautas Magnus University, employee of the Kaunas City Museum, and a former participant in Mission Siberia, also referred to the objectives of the mass deportation under the code name Vesna: ‘Apart from supporters and family members of partisans, the deportees also included people who could be simply termed the middle class. They both financially and also, in some cases, morally supported the spirit of resistance and tried to preserve their traditions and values in an effort to resist the externally enforced traditions and values. These were the target group. This is why it is so important to commemorate the deportation of 1948.’

In the words of Mr Jazavita, the stalinist communist regime failed to foresee that repression would lead to an increased wave of resistance and anger, which was bound to come out. ‘A person can be silenced for some time; however, the suspended energy is bound to burst out in due course.’

On 22–23 May 1948, over 40,000 residents of Lithuania, including over 12,000 children, were deported to Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia ASSR. Over 5,000 of them died in exile. The total number of deportees in the period between 1941 and 1953 stood at 132,000.

Eglė Saulė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department,

tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: [email protected]