At the beginning of the 20th century, the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery was established in Šiauliai Township (Šiauliai County) outside the village of Ginkūnai.
In the front part of the cemetery, there is a hollow where, from the start of the second Soviet occupation, the Šiauliai Municipal Utilities Department buried the remains of abandoned infants and of people without family.
It is highly likely that, between 1945 and 1950, these grounds were also used for the secret burial of detainees who had been killed or had died as a result of unbearable detention conditions in the Šiauliai County (or Šiauliai District as of 20 June 1950) branch of the NKVD–MVD–MGB,[1] and in Internal Prison No 5 of the Šiauliai County/District branch of the LSSR NKVD–MVD.
It cannot be ruled out that the remains of partisans of the Joint Kęstutis Military District (or Kęstutis and Prisikėlimas Military Districts as of 1 April 1948) and the Žemaičiai Military District who were killed in the rural district of Šiauliai may have been buried there as well.
In June 1992, the former cemetery caretaker recalled that the bodies of people who had been killed in Šiauliai Prison were buried in this part of the cemetery. The remains were always brought in by the same middle‑aged man and woman – apparently a married couple. They, like the caretaker herself, were employees of the Šiauliai Municipal Utilities Department; she received burial permits from the department and was ‘supervised’ by employees of the Soviet repressive apparatus.
According to the witness, the remains were brought by horse in a box made specifically for this purpose. They were simply tipped out and buried. And not only in the hollow, but along the fence line as well. Many bodies were buried here, and over a number of years.
Most of those interred were detainees held in the Šiauliai County branch of the NKVD–MVD–MGB or in Internal Prison No 5, but there may have also been victims of the postwar armed resistance in Lithuania.
In the summer of 1992, this area was overgrown, but on inspection, distinct mounds marking burial or interment sites were still visible. Three of them were being looked after, and it was clear that further work was planned; one had already been marked with a headstone.
In 1994, the Šiauliai City Commission for the Repatriation and Commemoration of the Remains of Members of the Resistance and Other Persons Killed under the Occupation Regimes decided to locate the remains of the resistance fighter Antanas Morkis, who had died of suicide in Internal Prison No 5. His sisters, Stasė Morkytė and Liucija Vileikienė, were informed that since his remains had not been claimed, Morkis had been buried in the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery under a permit issued on 13 November 1947 by A. Šukys, head of the Šiauliai Municipal Maintenance Office. The gravediggers gave the approximate location and reported that he had been buried in a rough-sawn casket.
On 7 June 1994, excavations uncovered the remains of one individual and partial remains of two others. Forensic examination established that they were not the remains of Antanas Morkis; they were therefore returned to the same location already marked on the site.
On 10 April 1995, the excavations continued with additional archaeological evaluation aimed at gathering as much information as possible about burials in the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery. The research was led by Audronė Šapaitė, senior specialist at the Archaeology Department of the Aušra Museum, assisted by Arūnas Barkus, a doctoral student at the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology. Former Vytis Military District partisan Stasys Plienius (code name: Jurginas), a member of the Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and the initiator of these excavations, also contributed to the work.
Excavations were carried out in the hollow located in the southern part of the Ginkūnai Freethinkers’ Cemetery, in the area of the former gravel pits. Four test pits were opened, a 20 m² area was investigated, and the remains of seven individuals were found: a young woman aged 20–25, an adolescent of about 16, two young men, and three older men aged between 40 and 55.
Four sets of remains were found in a single pit, two of which were placed together in one wooden box. Two individuals had been buried in separate pits, while one set of remains had been thrown face‑down into a pit without a casket.
No traces of violence were found on the skeletons. Very few material artefacts were recovered. The investigation established that the remains had been buried in rows, at varying distances from one another. Burials also extended beyond the limits of the hollow. Within the hollow itself, some areas contained no graves, but most of it had been used for burials. The burials followed a row‑based arrangement.
The fact that most of those buried were men and that they had been interred in a disorderly, hurried manner (in a single pit) serves as indirect confirmation of historical data indicating that the deceased may have been involved in the armed resistance.
On 22 July 1995, all the remains recovered were reburied in Šiauliai’s Ginkūnai Cemetery, beside the memorial to Lithuanian partisans, political prisoners and exiles. A Lithuanian soldier’s cross was erected on the grave.
Visual material:
1. Plan of the Ginkūnai Freethinkers’ Cemetery showing the locations of the test pits. Audronė Šapaitė. 1995. Šiauliai Aušra Museum Archives
2. Test pit No 2. Audronė Šapaitė. 1995. Šiauliai Aušra Museum Archives
3. Test pit No 3. Audronė Šapaitė. 1995. Šiauliai Aušra Museum Archives
4. Test pit No 4. Audronė Šapaitė. 1995. Šiauliai Aušra Museum Archives
In 2021, archival research was carried out on surviving buildings in the city of Šiauliai that had housed the Soviet repressive apparatus between 1944 and 1990. The study uncovered information about detainees who had died or been killed in Internal Prison No 5 of the Šiauliai County branch of the LSSR NKVD–MVD:
LEŠKAUSKAS, JONAS. Born 15 May 1872 in the village of Treigiai (Joniškis Township, Šiauliai County) to Kazimieras and Elena (née Daniliūtė) Leškauskas. Lived in the village of Tausėnai. Began aiding the partisans in 1944. Arrested on 18 December 1946 after a shootout in the village between partisans and the NKVD. Initially held in Joniškis. Transferred on 2 January 1947 to Šiauliai Prison, where he died on 12 February during interrogation. Posthumously granted the status of a participant in the freedom fights on 13 April 1999.
On 26 October 1951, three partisans from the Prisikėlimas Military District’s Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit were sentenced to death in Radviliškis and hanged the same day in Šiauliai:
RAZGAITIS, PRANCIŠKUS (code name: Sauleika). Born 30 May 1912 in the town of Šeduva (Rozalimas Township, Šiauliai County) to Jurgis and Eleonora (née Krikščiūnaitė) Razgaitis. Mobilised into the Red Army in 1944, during the second Soviet occupation; subsequently escaped and went into hiding. Joined the Aras partisan squad in July 1945. Later moved to the squad under the command of Stepas Rimaitis (code name: Strazdas). Appointed commander of the Nevėžis partisan squad in 1949.
RIMAITIS, JONAS (code name: Garnys). Born 16 December 1909 in the village of Raginėnai (Smilgiai Township, Panevėžys County) to Juozas and Antanina (née Krivickaitė) Rimaitis. Commander of a partisan squad in the Žalioji Territorial Military Unit operating in Rozalimas Township (Panevėžys County).
ŽEMAITIS, ANDRIUS (code names: Radvila, Kariūnas), son of Jonas. Born 15 April 1929 in the village of Teodoras (Saločiai Township, Biržai County). Later lived in the village of Šlapeliai (Joniškis Township, Šiauliai County). Began working as a primary school teacher in the village of Višeikiai (Pašvitinys Township, Joniškis County) in March 1947. Joined the Klevas partisan squad of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit in the Prisikėlimas Military District after his family was deported on 22 May 1948. Appointed commander of the territorial military unit’s Juozapavičius Administrative Territorial Unit on 19 August 1950. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 17 August 1999 and awarded the rank of lieutenant by a 30 August 1999 order of the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania.
Photograph 5: Arrest photo of Pranciškus Razgaitis (booked as Pranas Rozgaitis; code name: Sauleika), 1951. Lithuanian Special Archives, f. K-1, ap. 58, b. 23685/3.
Photograph 6: Arrest photo of Jonas Rimaitis (code name: Garnys), 1951. Lithuanian Special Archives, f. K-1, ap. 58, b. 23685/3.
Photograph 7: Arrest photo of Andrius Žemaitis (code names: Radvila, Kariūnas), 1951. Lithuanian Special Archives, f. K-1, ap. 58, b. 23685/3.
In 2025, additional archival research identified further detainees whose place of death was recorded as Internal Prison No 5 of the Šiauliai County branch of the LSSR MVD (hereinafter – Šiauliai Prison) or Šiauliai City Hospital:
BAČKIS, ANTANAS, son of Antanas. Born in 1923. Lived in the village of Mažaičiai (Kruopiai Township, Šiauliai County). A peasant who became a partisan. Wounded during his capture on 30 January 1945. Died of his injuries on 6 March in Šiauliai City Hospital.
BALTRŪNAS, ANICETAS. Born 18 April 1901 in the village of Titoniai (Maldučioniai Township, Šiauliai County) to Kazimieras and Agota (née Zinkevičiūtė) Baltrūnas. Never left. A peasant. Arrested on 21 September 1944 as a partisan. Held in the detention cell at the Šiauliai County branch of the NKVD. Fell ill on 12 October and was transferred to Šiauliai City Hospital, where he died on 22 October. Diagnosis: stomach cancer.
BRUŽAS, VIKTORAS (code name: Ąžuolas). Born 25 May 1917 in the village of Jonelaičiai (Kurtuvėnai Township, Šiauliai County) to Jonas and Stanislava (née Stankevičiūtė) Bružas. Officer of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Lived in the village of Biručiai. Joined the partisans in 1945. Vilkas squad group commander. Severely wounded during a military operation on 15 July 1947. Died in Šiauliai City Hospital on 7 August, without regaining consciousness. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 14 May 2003 and awarded the rank of junior non-commissioned officer by a 27 May 2003 order of the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania.
GEDOMINSKAS, KLEMAS, son of Jokūbas. Born in 1909. Lived in the village of Šventupiai (Akmenė Township, Mažeikiai County). A partisan. Arrested on 24 May 1945. Died in Šiauliai Prison on 12 October.
KYBARTAS, JUOZAS (code name: Vengras). Born 21 May 1907 in the village of Gintalai (Telšiai Township, Telšiai County) to Jonas and Aleksandra (née Puščiūtė) Kybartas. Arrested in December 1944. Sent to a labour camp (exile?). Returned to Lithuania in 1946. Joined the partisans in 1948. Served in the Žemaičiai Military District’s Vytenis Territorial Military Unit in the Venta District. Arrested while wounded on 28 February 1949. Died in Šiauliai Prison on 1 September. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 13 April 1999.
LUKOŠIŪNAS, ALBERTAS, son of Kazys. Born in 1923 in the town of Lygumai (Šiauliai County). A partisan. Wounded during his capture on 14 September 1945. Died of gunshot wounds on 17 September in Šiauliai City Hospital.
MORKIS (MORKYS), ANTANAS (code name: Kerpė). Born 21 September 1914 in the village of Stelmokai (Šiaulėnai Township, Šiauliai County) to Jonas and Marta (née Vaičiulytė) Morkis. Member of an underground organisation. Arrested on 24 October 1947. Severely injured while attempting to escape. Died by suicide on 27 October in Šiauliai Prison.
RADAVIČIUS, VYTAUTAS, son of Juozas. Born in 1918. A partisan. Wounded during a military operation on 12 December 1944. Died in Šiauliai City Hospital in 1945.
RANDOMANSKAS, FELIKSAS (code name: Skirgaila), son of Mykolas. Born in 1914. A partisan. Died on 23 February 1947 in the Šiauliai Prison hospital. Diagnosis: tuberculosis.
RIMKŪNAS, ANTANAS, son of Vincentas. Born 1 May 1928 in the town of Klovainiai (Šiauliai County) to Vincentas and Ona (née Tamošiūnaitė) Rimkūnas. Never left. A peasant who became a partisan liaison. Arrested on 27 August 1946. Died on 17 September in the Šiauliai Prison hospital. Diagnoses: appendicitis, peritonitis, bronchopneumonia.
ŠOPYS, PRANCIŠKUS, son of Kazys. Born in 1897 in the village of Aleknaičiai (Lygumai Township, Šiauliai County). Lived in the village of Jankūnai (Radviliškis Township, Šiauliai County). Participant in the June Uprising of 1941. A partisan liaison. Arrested on 13 November 1946. Died in Šiauliai Prison on 5 January 1947. Posthumously granted the status of a participant in the freedom fights on 1 December 1999.
ZATORSKIS, KAZYS (code name: Giria). Born 27 April 1930 in the town of Gruzdžiai (Šiauliai County) to Kazys and Stanislava (née Masaitytė) Zatorskis. A partisan liaison. Died by suicide on 14 July 1949 at the Šiauliai City branch of the MGB.
According to relatives, the following person may have also been buried at this site:
BALČIENĖ, KAZIMIERA. Lived in the village of Širvučiai (Padubysys Township, Šiauliai County). Aided the partisan squad under the command of Dominykas Kraujelis (code name: Nemunas) that was part of the Vytautas Territorial Military Unit in the Joint Kęstutis Military District. Killed on 26 January 1946 at her homestead during a shootout between partisans and employees of the Soviet repressive apparatus. According to the testimony of the captured partisan Liudas Šikšnius (code name: Klebonas), her remains were left in a corridor of Šiauliai Prison.
It is highly likely that all the above‑listed victims of Soviet genocide are buried on the grounds of the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery, even though the surviving archival documents contain no information on the place or circumstances of interment for any of them. There is also no information on the exact place of execution or interment of the three previously mentioned partisans from the Prisikėlimas Military District’s Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit who were hanged in Šiauliai.
Photograph 8: Anicetas Baltrūnas. Lithuanian Special Archives, f. K-1, ap. 58, b. 6821/3.
Photograph 9: Juozas Kybartas. Lithuanian Special Archives, f. K-1, ap. 58, b. b. 39316/3.
Photograph 10: Pranciškus Šopys. Lithuanian Special Archives, f. K-1, ap. 58, b. 29200/3.
Archival research carried out in 2021 and later found information about the bodies of fallen partisans that had been brought to the city of Šiauliai.
The bodies of partisans killed on 22 September 1952 were desecrated outside of the building that housed the Šiauliai Township branch of the NKVD–MVD–MGB and the destruction battalion headquarters from 1944 to 1954. The victims had been killed in a shootout with a military group of the Cheka in a bunker set up at the homestead of Mykolas Glinskis in the village of Dargiai (Joniškis District). They were partisans of the Audra squad of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit in the Prisikėlimas Military District:
PADIRVINSKAS, ALFONSAS (code names: Šarkis, Žilvitis). Born 25 October 1927 in the village of Sereikiai (Lygumai Township, Šiauliai County) to Alfonsas and Teklė (née Šulmaitė) Padirvinskas. Never left. Joined the Audra partisan squad of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit in the Prisikėlimas Military District in May 1948. Appointed head of the Public Sector of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit headquarters in 1950. In his final period, he also acted as commander of the Audra squad. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 22 December 2005 and awarded the rank of senior lieutenant by a 18 January 2006 order of the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania.
DARAŠKA, VLADAS (code name: Kikilis). Born 2 September 1923 in the village of Dakčiai (Lygumai Township, Šiauliai County) to Jonas and Veronika (née Libanskytė) Daraška. Subunit commander of the Audra squad of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit in the Prisikėlimas Military District.
PADERVINSKIS, JUOZAPAS (code names: Šermukšnis, Dobilas). Born 24 January 1929 in the village of Sereikiai (Lygumai Township, Šiauliai County) to Alfonsas and Teklė (née Šulmaitė) Padervinskis. Never left. Joined the Audra partisan squad of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit in the Prisikėlimas Military District in May 1948. Brother of Audra squad commander Alfonsas Padirvinskas. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 22 December 2005.
The bodies of partisans killed on the night of 29 August 1950 in the village of Verbūnai, (Šiauliai District) were desecrated on Šiauliai’s Hill of Rebels. They were members of the Audra squad of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit in the Prisikėlimas Military District:
BRAZIULIS, IGNACAS PRANCIŠKUS (code name: Žirnis). Born 30 November 1927 in the village of Lūpaičiai (Meškuičiai Township, Šiauliai County) to Izidorius and Liucija (née Guntytė) Braziulis. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 28 March 2000.
KUKANSKAS, VIKTORAS (code name: Garsas), son of Jonas. Born in 1929. Lived in the village of Smilgiai (Smilgiai Township, Panevėžys District).
VAITKUS, VINCENTAS (code name: Žandaras). Born 22 January 1924 in the village of Biržiai (Gruzdžiai Township, Šiauliai County) to Rokas and Amelija (née Žvironytė) Vaitkus. Never left.
On 19 March 1952, the bodies of partisans killed in a bunker in Gulbinas Forest (Šiauliai District) during a shootout with 15 soldiers of an MGB internal security detachment were brought to Šiauliai. They were members of the staff of the Prisikėlimas Military District’s Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit:
KRIŠČIŪNAS, BOLYS (code name: Puntukas). Born 10 January 1926 in the village of Žačiai (Meškuičiai Township, Šiauliai County) to Julius, a Lithuanian volunteer and farmer, and Veronika (née Norvilaitė) Kriščiūnas. Joined the partisans in 1944. Commander of the Prisikėlimas Military District’s Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 10 February 1999; awarded the rank of major by a an 8 November 1999 order of the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania, and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis by a 12 May 2003 decree of the President of the Republic of Lithuania.
MIŠKŪNAS, IZIDORIUS (code name: Barzda). Born 9 May 1904 in the village of Sereikiai (Lygumai Township, Šiauliai County) to Kazimieras and Uršulė (née Jakubaitytė) Miškūnas. Joined the partisans in 1944. Chief of staff of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit. Posthumously granted the status of a military volunteer on 17 February 1999 and awarded the rank of captain by a 29 March 1999 order of the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania.
ŠEPKUS, STASYS (code name: Šernas), son of Ipolitas. Born in 1913. Lived in the village of Luponiai (Šiauliai Township, Šiauliai County). Head of the Intelligence Sector of the Kunigaikštis Žvelgaitis Territorial Military Unit headquarters.
Employees of the Soviet repressive apparatus meticulously concealed the interment sites of fallen partisans so that no evidence or trace of their existence would remain.
There is no firm evidence that fallen partisans were buried in this area of the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery, especially since witnesses, in addition to the interment site in the rural district of Šiauliai already mentioned, also refer to another location in the settlement of Aleksandrija (Šiauliai Eldership), near the Šiauliai–Panevėžys road. In Aleksandrija, witnesses have pointed to several places where the bodies of fallen partisans were buried. Unfortunately, these sites were severely defiled, as they were used for motocross during the Soviet period.
Nevertheless, at the initiative of the aforementioned Šiauliai Commission for the Repatriation and Commemoration of the Remains of Members of the Resistance and Other Persons Killed under the Occupation Regimes, archaeological evaluations were carried out from 23 September to 2 October 1992. The work was directed by Birutė Salatkienė, head of the Archaeology Department of the Šiauliai Aušra Museum.
During the investigations, the remains of one individual were found. The research report states that the deceased may have been a serviceman in the Lithuanian Armed Forces who later became a partisan, as indicated by the remnants of a jacket collar. The nails found in his pocket suggested that he had not been imprisoned, but had most likely been taken from a bunker. It is possible that the man had wanted to blow himself up – this is indicated by the injuries to his feet. No uniform or jacket buttons were found, and the trouser belt was unfastened, which suggests that the deceased may have been dumped in a city or town square. Finally, the deceased was brought to Aleksandrija, thrown head‑first into a pit, and covered with brickyard waste and rubbish.
In 1993, the work was continued under the direction of Audronė Šapaitė. During the investigations, the remains of four more men were found. For three of them, the cause of death was gunshot wounds.
All the remains discovered were buried in May 1993 and on 16 October 1993 in Šiauliai’s Ginkūnai Cemetery, beside the memorial to Lithuanian partisans, political prisoners and exiles. Their graves are marked by Lithuanian soldier’s crosses erected in 1995.
Which of the two locations mentioned above – the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery or Aleksandrija – may have been used to bury the remains of all the fallen partisans and victims of Soviet genocide listed in this study can only be determined in the future through detailed archaeological and anthropological investigations of both sites.
A monument in memory of Antanas Morkis, mentioned above, was erected in this part of the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery in the 1980s. In 1996, this section of the cemetery was restored through the efforts of the Šiauliai branch of the Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees: on 14 August, a tall concrete cross and eight compositions of Lithuanian soldier’s crosses were put up, and a memorial plaque was installed.
On 18 November 2021, this site was entered in the Register of Cultural Property as the interment site and graves of Lithuanian partisans and political prisoners within the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery complex, and assigned the unique object No 37585. It forms part of the Šiauliai Freethinkers’ Cemetery complex (unique object No 37508).
[1] The Šiauliai County branch of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) - LSSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) – Ministry of State Security (MGB).
