The government commission decided that the remains of the rebels of 1863-1864 discovered on Gediminas Hill in the capital city should be buried in Vilnius Rasu cemetery next year.
Deputy Chancellor of the Government Deividas Matulionis informed journalists about this on Monday.
"Out of two alternatives, one was chosen - it is the chapel of the Rasa cemetery (...). A corresponding project will be prepared, for now we cannot say how it will look exactly, but it will be a kind of pantheon of the commanders of the 1863 uprising," he said.
According to the vice-chancellor, the other considered burial place was St. the Church of the Apostles Philip and Jacob near Lukiški Square, where the rebels were shot or hanged.
According to D. Matulionis, the remains will be buried during religious rites.
"We also talked to Bishop G. Gruš about the burial, he had no comments," he said.
Most likely, the burial should take place in July or August 2019, it is planned to be organized together with Poland.
"We should hold a joint event with Poland, because for Poland it is no less important, and perhaps historically even more important event than for us," said the representative of the Government.
He said that Belarus could also contribute to this event, although so far it does not show much interest in these historical finds.
The remains of the rebels were found last year in Gediminas Hill during archaeological research. It is believed that among them are the remains of the commanders of the uprising, Zigmantas Sierakauskas and Konstantinas Kalinauskas. Regarding the exact identification of the latter's remains, it is still being considered to send the genetic material to Belarus, because there are no burials of his relatives in Lithuania.
According to historians, the 21st participant of the uprising that took place more than a century and a half ago is buried on Gediminas Hill.
Currently, scientists have found 17 remains.
"Among them are the majority of commanders, that is, those who really led the uprising," said D. Matulionis.
The rebels of 1863-1864, who fought against the rule of the Russian tsar, sought to restore the former state of Poland and Lithuania, which was annexed in 1795. The beginning of the uprising on the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania was announced on February 1863, 1, in Polish and Lithuanian languages.
The former captain of the General Staff of the Russian Army, Z. Sierakauskas, was appointed the chief commander of the Lithuanian rebel war in the spring. At the beginning of May, his army was defeated near Biržai, the commander himself was wounded and captured and soon publicly hanged in Vilnius.
At the end of 1863, other leaders of the rebels - Antanas Mackevičius and K. Kalinauskas - fell into the hands of the suppressors of the uprising, and they were both hanged in public. Altogether Lukiškiai square 21 participants of the uprising were executed by hanging or shooting.
During the uprising, more than 6 thousand people died in the territory of the LDK, which was in the battles. rebels, 25 thousand were sent to hard labor and exile. people. After the uprising, the Russian Empire started a policy of Russification in Lithuania - Lithuanian schools were closed, Lithuanian books and the press in Latin characters were banned.
Author: Donata Majauskienė
