What happened here
At the end of January 1946, in the village of Ricieliai, Kazimieraitis met Zigmas Drunga-Mykolas Jonas, commander of the Tauras District. It was agreed to form the Southern Lithuania Partisans (PLP), with Kazimieraitis as commander and Mykolas Jonas as deputy. On the way back, a shoot-out broke out near the Panara school; Kazimieraitis escaped by hiding in a shed.
The unification was completed on 23 April 1946 in Punia: at Ąžuolis’s, the declaration of the congress of Lithuanian partisan commanders, drafted by Kazimieraitis, was signed. Mykolas Jonas was killed on 7 June that year. The declaration was published in “Laisvės varpas” on 5 May 1946, and its principles were repeated in the LLKS Council Declaration of 16 February 1949.
“1. The system of the Lithuanian state will be free and democratic. 2. Power in an independent Lithuania will belong to the nation…”
Declaration, 23 April 1946 (surviving translation from Russian)
What you will see
- The village of Ricieliai. Memorial sign – [to be confirmed].
The place of his death, a wayside shrine at the forest edge.
11 · 1946 07 / 2022 10 20Leipalingis, Dzūkų g. 15The yard of the “stribynas”, where his remains were found in 2022.
08 · 1946 01–03KasčiūnaiVanagas’s hideout at Tigras’s farmstead, “Laisvės varpas”.
Sources (in Lithuanian): V. Vitkus, “Pulkininkas Kazimieraitis”, 2nd ed., Kaunas, 2017, pp. 93–98. Virtual exhibition “J. Vitkus-Kazimieraitis” (virtualios-parodos.lt). The map is schematic; we will confirm exact coordinates and routes with the museum.