2281) "The Lithuanian Resistance/Partisans", Lithuania: Lietuvos Pastas (Lithuanian Post) has issued a set of two stamps of 0.70 Euro each depicting heroes of the Lithuanian Resistance: Stamp Set issue Date: 21.03.2022:
At the end of World War II, the Soviet Red Army pushed the Eastern Front towards Lithuania.
The Soviets invaded and occupied Lithuania by the end of 1944.
As forced conscription into Red Army and Stalinist repressions intensified, thousands of Lithuanians used forests in the countryside as a natural refuge.
These spontaneous groups became more organized and centralized culminating in the establishment of the "Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters" in February 1948.
In their documents, the partisans emphasized that their ultimate goal is re-creation of independent Lithuania.
Lithuanian partisans:
The Lithuanian partisans (Lithuanian: "Lietuvos partizanai") were partisans who waged a guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953.
Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as "Forest Brothers" and "Cursed Soldiers", fought against Soviet rule in Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Galicia.
It is estimated that a total of 30,000 Lithuanian partisans and their supporters were killed.
The Lithuanian partisan war lasted almost for a decade, thus being one of the longest partisan wars in Europe.
As the partisan war continued, it became clear that the West would not come to the support of Eastern Europe (the by now perfected Western betrayal - as we are witnessing in the Ukraine-Russia War) and that the partisans had no chance of success against the far stronger opponent.
Eventually, the partisans made an explicit and conscious decision not to accept any new members.
The leadership of the partisans was destroyed in 1953, some by execution, torture, or killed in combat or by being deported, thus effectively ending the partisan war, though individual fighters held out until the 1960s.
The Stamps:
Romas Kalanta (22.02.1953 – 14.05.1972) was a 19-year-old Lithuanian high school student known for his public self-immolation protesting Soviet regime in Lithuania. Kalanta's death provoked the largest post-war riots in Lithuania and inspired similar self-immolations.
In 1972, 13 more people committed suicide by self-immolation.
Kalanta became a symbol of the Lithuanian resistance throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
In 2000, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis.
A Sheetlet of four stamps of each variant.
Technical details:
Issue Date: 21.03.2022
Designer: E. Špetas
Printer: Baltijas Banknote, SA, Latvia
Process: Offset
Size: 30.00 mm x 37.50 mm
Values: €0.70 (x 2 Stamps)
Rajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very relevant information in current scenario 👍"
The West cannot be taken at face value, as Ukraine is learning to its peril.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very interesting and informative post. Thanks for sharing."
Thank you Khanna sahab.
Delete