Partizaninis karas istorikų ir laisvės kovotojų akimis

LTŠis straipsnis galėjo būti pavadintas „Partizanai prieš istorikus“. Nes partizanai į nueitą kovos kelią žvelgė kitaip negu šiuolaikiniai istorikai. Tačiau partizanai žuvo kovodami už laisvę, ir jų tekstus skaito, karo eigos vertinimų ieško tarpininko vaidmenį užėmęs partizaninio karo tyrinėtojas – būtent tokia šio tyrimo prieiga. Todėl straipsnyje pristatoma istoriografija, o vėliau, remiantis partizanų šaltiniais ir kitais duomenimis, pateikiamas pačių laisvės kovotojų požiūris į partizaninio karo eigą ir siūloma nauja karo periodizacijos schema. Pasitelkiant daug iki šiol mažai žinomų arba dar neskelbtų istorinių faktų, sprendžiami ir partizaninio karo pradžios, laisvės kovotojų organizuoto veikimo pabaigos klausimai. Į šiuos duomenis turėtų atsižvelgti šalies istorijos politikos kūrėjai, visi, kas rūpinasi laisvės kovotojų atminimo įamžinimu. Reikšminiai žodžiai: 1944–1953 m. partizaninis karas, istoriografija, gen. Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas, periodizacija.

ENEighty years have passed since the start of the second Soviet occupation and the beginning of the partisan war in Lithuania. Since the partisans viewed their struggle differently than later historians did, this article aims to present historiography and then, based on partisan sources and other data, to provide the perspective of the freedom fighters themselves on the course of the partisan war. This will also be used to propose a new periodisation scheme. The confrontation between historians’ works and partisan texts reveals opposing views on how the partisan war unfolded and how it should be evaluated. When depicted with curves, the curve representing the military activity of the partisans (as analysed by historians) would decline from 1944 to 1946, while the curve representing the significance of political and military organisation, emphasized by the partisans, would rise from 1947 to 1948. The extended periodisation of the partisan war, based on the assessments of the freedom fighters themselves, comprised five main stages: 1. The period of multiple anti-Soviet underground and armed resistance organisations from 15 July 1944 (considered by the partisans of the Eastern Lithuania region as the start of the fight for freedom) to January 1947 (when the BDPS Presidium and VGPŠ were established). 2. The BDPS period, which lasted from January 1947 to June 1948 (when the last active member of the BDPS Presidium, Dr Alfonsas Vabalas-Gediminas, was killed). 3. The period of the reestablished BDPS Presidium and VGPŠ, which began in June 1948 and continued until February 1949, when the fighters, gathered at the meeting of all Lithuanian partisan leaders, founded the LLKS (En. Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters), and the Council of this organisation began a session lasting almost two weeks.4. The LLKS period, covering the interval from February 1949 to September 1953 (when the last acting member of the LLKS Council, Jonas Vilčinskas-Algirdas, was killed). 5. The period of independently operating organisational units and individual freedom fighters, which continued until the death of the last armed Lithuanian partisan, Kostas Liuberskis-Budageidys, on 2 October 1969. This is how the freedom fighters, including General Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas, Chair of the Presidium of the LLKS Council, viewed the struggle for freedom from the start of the partisan war until May 1953 from an organisational perspective. Their effort to create a unified partisan organisation for all of Lithuania was equivalent to the effort to restore legitimate governance in the occupied country. This context helps to better understand and explain the joy with which the partisans greeted the establishment of the LLKS. It should be noted that the greatest victory of the Lithuanian partisans —the 16 February 1949 declaration by the LLKS Council — was also achieved not through armed combat, but through organisational efforts.