Dr. Jazavita: Participants of January 13th Teach Us How to Be United

“January 13th can be called a victory day – we managed to achieve our goals and did it at a relatively modest cost. There could have been thousands of dead. Of course, there were casualties, but far fewer than we see now in Ukraine or in the conflicts that took place at the end of the last century, for instance, during the breakup of Yugoslavia. Today we can learn truly a lot from those who defended freedom on January 13 – but the most important thing is that the nation united at a crucial time,” says historian, graduate of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), and museum curator at the Kaunas City Museum Dr. Simonas Jazavita.

In January 1991, the Soviet Union attempted to restore the power of the USSR in Lithuania by using its armed forces. It was expected that a large part of the country’s people will accept the occupiers without resistance, and even support them – for example, Russian-speakers. However, similarly to the case of Russia’s war in Ukraine, these hopes were dashed: thousands of Lithuanians gathered to defend their legitimate, sovereign country.

According to Dr. Jazavita, when the participants of January 13th look back on those times, they sometimes argue, and various grievances arise, but this only shows that despite differences of opinion, people managed to unite during that difficult time.

“It’s so heartwarming to listen to the witnesses, how different people with different visions of Lithuania’s future realised that the first thing to do was to get past this stage, to break away from the Soviet Union, the evil empire, to build their own state and to find its future path. Some saw it as more explicitly national, while others saw it as more integrated into the federation of European nations. However, although these development patterns diverged, people looked in the same direction. This is an important lesson,” says the historian.

Weapons in exchange for vodka from Russian soldiers

According to the museum curator, he had the opportunity to hear a number of curious stories and learn interesting details from the witnesses of those days. For example, Lithuanian soldiers at the time even travelled to the Königsberg region and bought weapons from Russian soldiers… in exchange for bottles of vodka.

“Back then, such ingenuity was necessary. Hardened personalities were also important. For example, the late Algirdas Patackas can be mentioned. He was a signatory of the Act on the Reestablishment of the Independent State of Lithuania, whose role on January 13th was very important in directing the security work in order to protect state structures and to select battle-hardened young men. Many had dissident experiences or came from relatives who suffered during the guerrilla warfare and later engaged in dissident activities. These are people who were not afraid of the system, who had faced the brutality of the KGB. Many of them are no longer with us – but they are the close link between January 13th and the entire resistance drama of the 20th century Lithuanian history,” says VMU graduate Dr. Jazavita.

Pursuing goals not only with weapons, but also in spiritual ways

Simonas Jazavita reviewed the book Singing Revolution at the Barricades of Vilnius by journalist and historian Juozas Girdvainis, dedicated to the events of January 1991 in Lithuania. The historian participated in a number of events dedicated to this book, and visited libraries and schools in various parts of Lithuania. In this book, Girdvainis collected short but authentic and vivid memories of how during those days Lithuanians pursued their goals, sometimes not by armed but by spiritual means, how they did not succumb to fear at a critical moment, and how they remained coolheaded.

“These are very important lessons both for today’s and future generations, who are becoming more actively involved in the life of the state and will become more involved in the future, from the people who took action during a difficult and tense time, when the future of Lithuania depended on their decisions,” he notes.

The book Singing Revolution at the Barricades of Vilnius is full of positive examples illustrating the unity of the participants of January 13th. “For example, how the barricades themselves came into being, with the active involvement of the whole society. Not only journalists, politicians, people of culture, but also the heads of various institutions and other ordinary people joined in, bringing their own equipment, putting up barricades, volunteering, lending equipment. During that cold period, women served sandwiches and hot tea, which warmed those who were about to shoulder the blows of the soldiers’ maces, and prepared them morally,” Kaunas City Museum curator notes.

Schoolchild killed in Latvia

Dr. Jazavita points out that similar events took place in other countries as well. For instance, in neighbouring Latvia, just a week later, on 20 January, people also took to the streets, started building barricades, gathering outside the Parliament, the government, and other important places.

“We can rejoice that our painful experience helped Latvians to prepare for what was to come and perhaps avoid a higher number of casualties – 7 people died on our neighbours’ soil, but there could have been many more,” Jazavita said. The clashes between Soviet forces and the Latvian police took the lives not only of police officers, but also of several cameramen and a 17-year-old schoolboy. As in Lithuania, these events became an example of how a country defended its independence peacefully, without the use of weapons.

“A little earlier, on 9 April 1989, peaceful rallies against the USSR were brutally repressed in Sakartvelo – 21 people were killed and hundreds more were injured during the “Night of Sapper Spades.” “It is no coincidence that the Kartvelians declared independence two years later – there was a lot of symbolism in this action. After all, this event led to the resignation of the collaborationist communist government in Sakartvelo, and 40 days of mourning began, with television from Moscow constantly announcing that ‘extremists’ and ‘counter-revolutionaries’ were rebelling. Meanwhile, Mikhail Gorbachev, unwilling to take responsibility, blamed it on excesses of the army,” Jazavita reminds.

Independence of the “little ones” is a misunderstanding in the eyes of Russia

Even more violent events took place in Azerbaijan on 19-20 January 1990, where there was also no shortage of anti-communist, pro-independence voices. The brutality of the USSR soldiers here was extraordinary, and as many as 147 people were killed, who are commemorated in golden letters on a monument in Baku, the capital of independent Azerbaijan.

“These people were killed in brutal ways – many died of multiple gunshot wounds, others were shot in cars, on balconies or crushed by armoured vehicles. We witnessed similar things in Vilnius on 13 January, but, fortunately, on a smaller scale. In the other so-called “satellite” states – Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary – the struggle for independence was easier,” the historian mentions recalling the situation in Europe at the end of the 20th century.

The museum curator believes that this may have something to do with the fact that the Russian empire did not consider the “satellite” countries to be part of it in any form, only a zone of influence. “It was harder for us than it was for them, because our independence, like that of Latvians or Estonians, the ‘little ones’, is a misunderstanding in the eyes of Russia. However, due to the closer ties with these Central Eastern European countries, and through them with the Western European countries, we were geopolitically more firmly integrated into the Western European civilisation. With all its pluses and sometimes faults, we were part of this civilisation.”

Ukraine – in the eastern watchtower of European civilisation

“Russia did not want to let go of the countries in the Caucasus, just as it does not want to let go of Ukraine now. However, Ukraine stands in the eastern watchtower of European civilisation and is successfully fighting for its independence. Still, Russia, which has never renounced its imperial and colonial intentions, is in no way willing to join the club of civilised states and nations, a club which, more or less easily, has apologised for its past conquests and has moved on to a different dialogue with neighbours. That is why, unfortunately, we are witnessing the atrocities in Ukraine that were characteristic of the Soviet Union, which was, not surprisingly, described as an “evil empire,” says Dr. Simonas Jazavita.

According to the historian, Lithuania was able to triumph over the USSR in 1991 thanks to favourable geopolitical circumstances and a great determination and courage to take advantage of them. “This courage was often inspired by the generation that could still remember the so-called “Smetonian Lithuania”, the post-war partisan struggles, the tears of the exiles, and the dissidents who protected free speech and free thought. January 13th is a symbolic date that binds our generation to those brave people who never gave up on the idea of an independent Lithuania,” Jazavita concludes.