A bunker-hideout used by Antanas Kraujelis-Siaubūnas, Lithuania's last anti-Soviet partisan to die during fighting, has been located by the country's state-funded Genocide and Resistance Research Centre.
The bunker, built in 1960, was found at a homestead owned by Antanas Pinkevičius who was married to a sister of Kraujelis’ wife, according to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (LGGRTC).
Different from the other partisan hideouts, the bunker was built first, followed by a bread-making furnace and a house on top that helped conceal it.
The KGB located the bunker on March 17, 1965 and surrounded Kraujelis. He fought back, injuring several Soviet officers, before committing suicide. He became the last Lithuanian partisan to die during armed fighting.
Kraujelis' bunker was unique and was subsequently used by the KGB in Moscow as an example when training new officers.
Read more: Lithuania launches website with list of anti-Soviet partisans
Read more: Women partisans among Lithuania’s Forest Brothers: from lovers to fighters
Lithuania’s armed anti-Soviet resistance movement lasted from 1944 until 1953. Individual fighters remained underground for longer.
Kraujelis, nom de guerre Siaubūnas (which loosely translates as the ‘the feared'), joined the resistance in 1948.
After archeologists spent several decades looking for his remains, Kraujelis' unmarked grave was found at the Orphans' Cemetery in Vilnius in June 2019. He was reburied at the Antakalnis Cemetery in the Lithuanian capital in October 2019.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
