Lietuvos Laisvės Kovos Sąjūdžio štabo bunkerio archeologiniai radiniai – unikalus kultūros paveldas
LTKiekvienas muziejus turi eksponatų, susijusių su pasipriešinimu sovietiniam režimui. Raseinių krašto istorijos muziejus iki 2010 m. sukaupė apie 300 tos temos eksponatų. Ypač vertinome 1996 m. muziejui perduotus 10 radinių iš Lietuvos laisvės kovos sąjūdžio (toliau – LLKS) tarybos prezidiumo pirmininko, generolo Jono Žemaičio paskutinės slėptuvės Šimkaičių miške, Jurbarko rajone. 2010–2012 m. muziejaus rinkinį papildė dar 1 059 eksponatai. Tai unikalūs archeologiniai radiniai iš LLKS tarybos prezidiumo nario Leono Grigonio-Užpalio štabo bunkerio Daugėliškių miške, Raseinių rajone. Straipsnio tikslas – pateikti šių unikalių radinių skirtingas istorijas ir įrodyti, kad jos kaip argumentai yra svarbios kompleksiškai tiriant (archyvai, prisiminimai, archeologiniai radiniai) pokario rezistencijos objektus. Iki 2010 m. archeologinis metodas nebuvo taikomas tiriant pokario istoriją. Tirdami šį laikotarpį, istorikai rėmėsi archyvų istorine medžiaga, liudininkų prisiminimais [p. 48].
ENRaseiniai Area History Museum preserves 10 artefacts from the last command post of general Jonas Žemaitis, the Presidium Chairman of LLKS (Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters). During 2010–2012, the Museum’s collection was expanded with another 1059 unique archaeological items from the bunker that served as headquaters for the member of LLKS Presidium Council – Leonas Grigonis. By presenting two different stories about these unique finds, this paper aims to demonstrate necessity for an integrated research (including archives, memoirs, archaeology) of the postwar resistance. Until 2010, archaeology has been never employed to explore the postwar history. The partisan commander J. Žemaitis lived in bunker located in Šimkaičiai forest (Jurbarkas county). It was from November 1951 until his arrest in May 30, 1953. The bunker sheltered four people – J. Žemaitis, J. Palubeckas who maintained contacts with the world outside, his sister Elena, carrying the burden of housemaid, and a nurse M. Žiliūtė who looked after general since he had a stroke. The bunker was taken without fighting. Inhabitants of the shelter were intoxicated with gas, pulled out and brought to Vilnius. The document written on May 30, 1953, names the items taken from the command post: guns, ammunition, documents. Of course, there were items that remained in bunker as they were of no interest to the agents. The bunker was discovered in 1992. Decision was made to reconstruct it. While cleaning it, people have found quite a few artefacts, but only the larger ones were collected. Ten of these were given to the Raseiniai Area History Museum, while Jurbarkas Area History Museum received fifteen. Some of the items were taken by people. The findings of J. Žemaitis command post were not systematic, their location and position were not registered, the collection was scattered. There is some doubt about the unique illustrative value of these items.However, the chance to reexamine with the fresh researcher’s eye has been lost forever. In 2010, the community of Ariogala gymnasium initiated the reconstruction of LLKS headquarters bunker in Daugėliškės forest (not far away from Ariogala). Although this command post is not included into the Cultural Heritage Register, the group of archaeologists organized an expedition on their own. Parallely with excavations, that took 34 days, they also worked with archives, contacted witness K. Bersėnas. It was known that in the morning of July 22, 1950, during the tchekist operation there were killed the commander L. Grigonis and partisans of Maironis corpus: A. Meškauskas, V. Kuzmickas, J. Tomkus and a partisan Banga, whose real name remains unknown. Only J. Zinius survived. He was arrested. The team of archaeologists and their consultant sergeant Ernestas Kuckailis were surprised to see that even after 60 years it was possible to find not just the artefacts of daily life, but also guns. The wooden wall construction of the bunker was visibly rotten. Archaeologists meticulously registered location of even the smallest item. They carefully described measurements and the state of each of them. After all, there will be no other hands and eyes that could explore these objects again. A hundred items that demanded an immediate restoration were taken to the P. Gudynas Restoration Center. At the end of 2011, these items were brought to the new life shown in the exhibition. During the period of 2010–2012, 1059 archaeological artefacts from the headquarters bunker, along with an extensive research report were given to the Museum. This research has challenged the traditional view of humanities that rigorously separates contemporary history from archaeology. It is a piece of innovative, integrated research that incorporated scientific methods of archaeology, history and even the military.
