A town in Kaliningrad removed a memorial plaque to the Lithuanian philosopher Vydūnas following a spat between Vilnius and Moscow over sanctions on transit to the Russian exclave.
The memorial plaque with a bas-relief of Wilhelm Storost-Vydūnas in Sovetsk (Tilsit) was taken down on the afternoon of June 27.
This was announced by Yevgeny Makarov, head of the Sovetsk City District Administration, via a video posted on the social network Vkontakte.
“Friends have asked for a plaque for Denis Davydov instead of Vydūnas,” Makarov posted.
Vydūnas (1868-1953) was a Prussian-Lithuanian author, poet, philosopher and teacher associated with the Lithuanian national movement in East Prussia.
He spent 20 years teaching at a gymnasium in Tilsit. The memorial plaque used to hand on a house where he lived for many years.
Denis Davydov was a Russian soldier-poet who led guerrilla warfare during Napoleon’s Russian campaign in 1812.
Commenting on the removal of the plaque, Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys suggested that this could be a retaliation for Lithuania’s decision to remove a number of World War Two memorials to Red Army soldiers.
“Our famous author, philosopher, humanist, who was persecuted by the Nazis, has now been denazified,” Kairys commented. “With this action, Russia is trying to put him in the same category with the ‘armed’ sculptures of the Great Patriotic War.”
Kaliningrad has been at the centre of a recent escalation of tensions between Russia and the EU. Earlier this month, Lithuania introduced restrictions on some goods transiting its territory from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad exclave. Vilnius said it was implementing EU sanctions, while Moscow has accused Lithuania of breaking international agreements and threatened with retaliation.
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