Draudžiama lietuviška spauda Vilkijos miestelyje ir jo apylinkėse
LTStraipsnyje apžvelgiamas lietuviškos spaudos platinimo procesas Vilkijoje ir šio miestelio apylinkėse jos draudimo metais. (1864–1904), aptariami draudžiamos spaudos platinimo keliai, centrai ir slaptos organizacijos, susiformavusios šiuo laikotarpiu. Straipsnyje daug dėmesio skiriama draudžiamos lietuviškos spaudos organizaciniams tinklams Vilkijos krašte atskleisti, lietuviško spausdinto žodžio populiarinimui krašte (A. Juška), pristatomos ryškiausios knygnešių asmenybės, jų gyvenimas ir knygnešystės veikla, siekiant pasipriešinti lietuviškos spaudos draudimui.
ENVilkija region has long been famous for its educational traditions. There was already a parish school in the town in the 16th century, which had students with some breaks until the middle of the 19th century. The Lithuanian uprising of 1863–1864 had a significant impact on the lives of the people of the region: many locals who became participants in the uprising suffered brutal repression or were killed; the population was oppressed by the ban on the Lithuanian press. From 1864, an active movement against the tsarist press ban began in the town of Vilkija and its environs. There were secret Lithuanian schools in the town, to whom book smugglers supplied books. The illegal Lithuanian press was constantly transported on the Nemunas River, mainly by a rafter from Vilkija Andrius Čižas, who was assisted by the Petraičiai brothers from Vilkija environs. Lithuanian newspapers and books supplied by them from Lithuania Minor were very secretly distributed in Vilkija, Padauguva, Kriemala, Antalkiai and Batniava, where book smugglers belonging to the same Sidabražolė organization lived and worked. The most prominent of them were Antanas Palubenskas, his daughters Elžbieta and Magdalena Palubenskaitė, Regina Antanavičienė and Kazys Liutkus. Priest Antanas Juška deserved a lot by awakening the national self-consciousness of the people of this region, writing down thousands of Lithuanian national songs and publishing their collections. Jonas Kumetis and Pranas Virakas, book smugglers and secret teachers, were also active in Vilkija-Seredžius-Veliuona area. Jonas Kumetis’ musical choral activities had a great influence on the linguistic and patriotic education of the people of this region.
