The Road to Freedom

The exhibition focuses on Lithuania’s freedom aspirations and struggle for independence. In addition to covering local events, the exhibition showcases events leading to knocking down the communist regimes in Eastern and Central Europe and highlights the role of the anti-Soviet resistance movements throughout the continent, bringing their interconnectivity and mutual impacts to the fore. The exhibition spans the period from the loss of Lithuania’s independence in 1940, when the Soviet occupation began, to 1991, when Lithuania declared its independence and successfully defended the independent state. In order to accentuate the key moments in the fight against the totalitarian Soviet regime, the exhibition focuses on the following events: the armed resistance and partisan war in 1944–1953; the resistance to the Soviet regime in labour camps and in exile; and the unarmed resistance, including the Lithuanian Helsinki Group, the underground press, the Lithuanian Freedom League, the Baltic Appeal (memorandum of 45 Baltic nationals), the Anti-Soviet demonstrations, the fight of the Lithuanian Catholic Church for the rights of the Church and the believers, and the aspirations for freedom of the local inhabitants. The exhibition is also vocal on the role of the Lithuanian diplomats in emigration in maintaining the continuity of the state and sustaining international support. The bulk of the exhibition is dedicated to the Lithuanian National Revival Movement, including the early signs of publicity, the emergence of the Lithuanian Reform Movement Sąjūdis, the rallies with thousands of participants, the campaigns, the Reform Movement press, and the commemoration of the Baltic Way. The exhibition covers the restoration and defence of the Independent State, including the declaration of the Act of 11 March 1990, the defence against the Soviet aggressive actions in 1991, and the preservation of freedom and statehood of Lithuania. The final part of the exhibition deals with the consolidation of the state on the international scene and the country’s accession to international organisations.

Arranged by the Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, the exhibition draws on archival materials from the Lithuanian National Museum, the Museum of Occupation and Freedom Fights under the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre, the Lithuanian Radio and Television Museum, the Lithuanian Seimas Archive, the Lithuanian Central State Archives, the Lithuanian Special Archives, and personal archives of individuals.

The exhibition idea was conceived by Assoc. Prof. Algirdas Jakubčionis, a historian.

Exhibition consultants: Angonita Rupšytė, Office of the Seimas; Birutė Kulnytė, Lithuanian National Museum; Eugenijus Peikštenis and Vilma Juozevičiūtė, Museum of Occupation and Freedom Fights; and Džiuginta Kasiulaitienė and Ramutė Vaikšnoraitė, Lithuanian Central State Archives.

Graphic designer Skirmantė Vaitkevičiūtė, UAB Exposure Systems.

Photos of the Office of the Seimas