Forest Brothers: The Account of an Anti-Soviet Lithuanian Freedom Fighter 1944-1948 by Juozas Lukša -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover

Introduction

Part I The Decision to Stay on Our Native Land July 1944-July 1945

BETWEEN HOME AND KAUNAS The Occupiers Change We Go into Hiding Vosily's Warning Burning Personal Files in the Crematorium Our Friendship with the Red Army Soldiers The Red Army Ransacks the Villages Forced Labor Digging Ditches and Building Airports Recruitment for the Front Travel Documents First News of the Partisans In the Student Dorms The Fate of Property Left Behind Feeding and Heating the University The Student Council Student Arrests Begin Lithuanian Soldiers are Deported to Siberia My Brother's Turn Came Mardi Gras Hours and Days Spent Outside the Kaunas Jail Looting the Middle Class Families of Prisoners My Brother is Released: His Friends are Deported to Siberia THE ARMED RESISTANCE Organizational Concerns The Partisan Movement Collaborators Partisans of Foreign Extraction The Iron Wolf Regiment Accounts of a Few Partisan Battles The Northeastern Partisan Units The Samogitian Partisans The Partisans of Central Lithuania The Partisans Act Against Bolshevik Plans Provocation Units in Suvalkija

Part II Choosing the Fate of a Partisan July 1945-January 1946

THERE WAS NO OTHER CHOICE Our First Days Spent With the Partisans The Atomic Bomb Setting Up the Tauras Military District Bartašiūnas's Amnesty The Church Choir The Tragedy on October Eighteenth In the Iron Wolf Regiment The Thieves of Vainatrakis The Interrogator Varnas The Battle at the Laukas Family Farm Dealing with Thieves in Paprienis The Grain Collectors Celebrating Christmas Eve with the Partisans A Partisan Christmas My Brother and I Finally Set Out

Part III On the Partisan Road January 1946-May 1947

TAKING MY FIRST STEPS AS A PARTISAN Recon The Trip to Dainava Visiting With a Former American The Bolshevik and the Partisan Press Under Astra's Supervision In the Forest Camp The Journey by Sledge The Approaching Elections The Pre-Election Campaign Election Day The Election Results Searching the Forests and Villages The Fate of the Proletariat From the Gymnasium to the Forest The Ford and Studebaker Bonfire The Deportations Guarding Deserted Farmsteads The Fighter Nastė Blood for the Press A Prohibition on Home Brew Desecrating Fallen Partisans Uniting the Partisans Evaluating Our Activities Building the Bunker Again on Unification Two Visitors from the West The Trip Through the Cleansing Operation The Partisans Ambush the Bolsheviks In the Market Square Mykolas Jonas is Killed We Lose Vabalas and Gegužis More Manhunts TAKING ON A POSITION OF LEADERSHIP For Bravery and Courage Requisitioning Food for the Partisans Taking Measures Against the Stribai Žvainys is Arrested and Interrogated The Journey by Train Visiting the Vytautas District Christmas Eve 1946 Retreating from Vilnius Setting Up the Birutė Regiment The "Black Cat" of Kaunas The Partisan Provocateurs New Assignments The Massive Interrogations Mažvydas and Pušelė's "Engagement" Party The Aftermath More Bolshevik Killings

Part IV Breaking Through the Iron Curtain to the West June 1947-December 1947

THE FIRST JOURNEY Approaching the Border We Break Through the Iron Curtain On the Polish Side of the Border THE WEST RECOMMENDS WE RETURN AND WAIT A Stormy Return Visiting with a Freedom Fighter from Lithuania's First Fight for Independence Thieves Informing for the NKVD Bolshevik Legs over Our Heads We are Persecuted, but We Continue to Sing The Report from the West The Deputy at the Demonstration The Fighters Varnas and Vaidilutė Partisan Martyrs A Meeting With the District Leader My Dream Becomes Reality The Dainava Headquarters Are Surrounded In the City of Lean-Tos Not Everyone Arrived Safely Who were Those People who Went to Fight in the Forest The Liaison Man Artūras Two Women Wander Into Camp A Punishment for Unnecessary Brashness A Sudden Attack The Heroes of Raišupis The Tragedy at the Bunker of the Birutė Unit Headquarters Implementig a Plan With Percentages A Trap in Kaunas Again Tragedy Strikes in the Birutė Unit Fighting Against the Collectivization of Farms ONCE MORE TO THE WEST Preparing for the March The Travelling Through East Prussia Russian Collective Farm Workers A Bloody Trip Across the Rominta River On Polish Soil A Christmas Miracle in the Manger

Afterword

Sources

Appendix