A monument to Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas, a Lithuanian armed anti-Soviet resistance commander, has been unveiled at Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius on Tuesday.
"This monument to Ramanauskas-Vanagas is a monument to all his comrades. [...] Today, we can express eternal gratitude and pay respect to the partisan commander," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said during the solemn ceremony.
Read more: Why does Lithuanian post-war partisan leader remain a global controversy?
The monument was created by a group of authors, including Algirdas Kuzma and company Arches, after it won a competition held by the Government Chancellery. It told BNS the monument cost 59.300 euros.
Ramanauskas-Vanagas was buried at Atkalanis Cemetery in 2018 after his remains were discovered at the Orphans' Cemetery in Vilnius later that year.
Ramanauskas-Vanagas, the commander of the Dzūkija region in southern Lithuania, was among the partisan leaders who signed the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters' Declaration in 1949.
Read more: Lithuania's independence act signed by partisans located in Vilnius
Partisan groups began to form in Lithuania in 1944 in response to Soviet repressions and deportations and forced conscription in the Red Army. The organised armed resistance against the Soviet occupation ended in 1953.
Ramanauskas-Vanagas was arrested by the Soviets in 1956 and was executed a year later.
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