The monument to Petras Cvirka, a prominent Soviet-era author and political activist, that was removed from a square in central Vilnius almost two years ago, has been transported to Grūtas Park, a privately-owned museum of Soviet-era sculptures in southern Lithuania.
The sculpture, which had stood in the centre of Vilnius for more than 60 years, was taken down in November 2021 after experts removed it from the register of cultural valuables in the summer of that year.
The monument was then moved to Grinda, a municipal enterprise, for temporary storage pending the authorities’ decision on its future.
The initial plan was to hand the sculpture over to the National Museum of Lithuania, along with the Soviet-era sculptures taken down from the Green Bridge in Vilnius back in 2015.
However, the museum declined to accept the Cvirka monument, and a deal was reached to transfer it to Grūtas Park.
A special commission of experts has stated that Cvirka was a member of the Lithuanian Communist Party and an active participant in “the electoral farce” organised by the occupation authorities. He served as secretary of the presidium of the People’s Seimas, a puppet parliament installed to legitimise the country’s occupation by the Soviet Union.
From the first Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940 onwards, Cvirka supported and glorified the Soviet government, its army, and its leader Joseph Stalin. He remained a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union until his death in 1947.
In addition to his political duties, Cvirka served as chairman of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union between 1945 and 1947.
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