Represijos vietoj laurų

ENOn March 30-31, 1957, the first LVKD congress was held in Punskas which was attended by 83 Lithuanian delegates from all over Poland. It was organized under the communist regime with the support of the Polish communist government. Several «security vehicles» came from Bialystok for «security». Some of the village delegates were standing in the street but did not dare to go inside the cinema hall. They were afraid of being arrested. After World War II, the situation in Poland was complicated. According to Polish historian Andrzej Paczkowski, Polish society then underwent various stages and forms of terror: espionage, «stripping» (išbuožinimas), the fight against religion and national minorities, the «big sweep», the filling of camps with unpaid labour force, the «sweeping» of border regions. Local authorities were threatening to force the repatriation of nonPolish people. The Lithuanians living in the Suvalkai region, fearing to be included in the lists of people to be deported, declared themselves to be Polish, and joined the Polish Workers› Party. The attempts of the Poles to evict Lithuanians caused resistance and distrust of the latter. Party activists started repressions in attempt to break them down. Unable to dispose of ethnic minorities, they had to try to activate them for ideological work, to involve their representatives in party organizations, or to allow them to form cultural societies under government control. There were hardly any members of the Polish United Workers› Party (LJDP/PUWP) among Lithuanians, and the positions of the party were weak in Lithuanian villages. One way to change the situation was to allow the formation of a society through which they could control and ideologically shape the Polish-Lithuanian community (as well as other national minorities). It happened differently than communist rule and security expected.Only one member of the board of the Society Centre was party, and none of the key members of the board - the board. No security credible, ideologically «advanced» or security worker! The party government tried to attract the Chairman of the LVKD Juozas Maksimavičius and other members of the Society. When they failed, they started repressions against them. There were slanderous articles and threats against J. Maksimavičius, searches began in his home, and he was eventually arrested. The communist government forced Juozas Maksimavičius to resign. The second congress of the LVKD was organized under the communist rule. Only securityapproved delegates could attended. People appointed and trusted by the party authorities were elected to the authority of the Society. The headquarters of the LVKD was moved from Punskas to Seinai to be closer to party government structures. The archive of the Society has no documents of the 1st Congress. They disappeared immediately after Juozas Maksimavičius was removed from office (forced to resign). The congressional documents significantly compromised the communist authorities and security figures responsible for the Congress, and showed their negligence. No wonder these papers have disappeared.