Nepalūžusi ir nepraradusi tikėjimo... Izabelė Skliutaitė-Navarackienė

ENIzabelė Skliutaitė-Navarackienė was born on March 9, 1925, in Dvarčėnai village, Daugai parish. 7 out of 12 children grew up in the family of Skliutai. Izabelė was the fifth child. Her two uncles were Lithuanian Independence volunteers from 1918 to 1920, father Adomas Skliutas and his eldest son Vincas, Izabelė’s brother, belonged to the Iron Wolf team and participated in the Uprising of Nation on June 23, 1941 in Daugai. His father was exiled, and two of Izabelė’s brothers were imprisoned in Siberian camps. Izabelė Skliutaitė studied in Rimėnai, Daugai primary schools, Alytus gymnasium, Alytus Teachers’ Seminary. Since 1942 she was a member of the Futurists (Ateitininkai) and LFA (Lithuanian Freedom Army). She was partisan liaison Ramunė, later Jūratė, and a member of the partisan Secret (Slapukai) group. She received and handed over medicines, weapons, and distributed underground press to the partisans. On June 23, 1946 Skliutaitė was arrested in a rented flat at Birutės Str., Alytus. During the perquisition of the flat, ready to be distributed medicines, 120 cartridges, patriotic poems of her own and the underground press were found. She was interrogated, brutally tortured, and on October 19, 1946 she was sentenced to 10 years of strict regime imprisonment with the following 5 years of restricted rights by the Baltic military tribunal. Izabelė Skliutaitė was imprisoned in Siberian and Kazakh camps: Karabas, Aktas, Spaske and others. On June 1, 1955 she was released, she settled in Druskininkai, worked as a seasonal worker in the sanatorium canteen, later as a kindergarten teacher. In 1959 she married a former political prisoner Adolfas Navarackas, and in 1960 daughter Gintvilė was born.In 1964 she passed the state exams at Marijampolė Pedagogical School as an external student, in 1971 she entered Šiauliai Pedagogical Institute and received a diploma of a higher education teacher. She joined the dissident movement in Lithuania, sent parcels to political prisoners. She participated in Sąjūdis events, rallies, the Baltic Chain, etc. She was injured on January 13 at the TV Tower, was awarded the January 13 medal. In 1991 she participated in an expedition to Siberia to manage the graves of Lithuanian patriots killed and tortured in the camps. For a long time she was a member of the Druskininkai Council of Political Prisoners and Deportees, led the Druskininkai Exile Choir. She is listed in the International Handbook of the World’s Most Famous Women. In 1998 Izabelė Skliutaitė-Navarackienė was recognized as a World Woman by the American Institute of Biographers and was awarded a diploma and a gold medal in 2000. In the same year Izabelė and her husband Adolfas (after death) were issued the certificates of freedom fighters. In 2002 The Cambridge University Centre awarded her a diploma and a silver medal for her contribution to the fight for freedom and justice. In 2006 – she was awarded Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Vytis Cross by the President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus. She has published 4 books: memories, poems, etc., a leaflet Gerdašiai. In 2015 Izabelė Skliutaitė-Navarackienė was awarded the Diploma of the Patron of Honour. (Tėviškė Cognitive Support Foundation, Gimtinė Publishing House.).