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Dubingiai massacre

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Civilian Lithuanians killed by Armia Krajowa on 23 June, 1944 in Molėtai district.

Dubingiai massacre was a mass murder of up to 27 Lithuanians in the town of Dubingiai (Dubinki) during on 23 June 1944 (during World War II) by Polish resistance unit of Armia Krajowa. It was a reprisal action for the Glinciszki (Glitiškės) massacre.

Background

Polish-Lithuanian relations during World War II were problematic due to the conflicts between Lithuanias and Poles due to both sides claiming the Vilnius region, and due to conflicts between Lithuanian pro-Nazi administration and military units and the anti-Nazi Polish resistance. On 20 June 1944 Polish resistance killed 4 and wounded several other members of the Lithuanian police in the village of Glitiškės (Glinciszki); in retaliation the Lithuanian police murdered 36 mostly Polish villagers (the Glinciszki massacre). After receiving this report, as well as information about intensified pacification actions by the Lithuanian forces in other areas, Armia Krajowa command for the Vilnius region (under Aleksander Krzyżanowski "Wilk") decided that it represented a beginning of a new, large anti-Polish operation and only a demonstration of a Polish force in the region could stop the pacifications and protect the Polish civilians. Leaflets were distributed through the region that AK is planning to execute members of the Lithuanian units guilty of the Glinciszki massacre, and a raid on the pre-war Lithuanian territories (the Kaunas Lithuania) was planned. It should be noted that the AK command did not plan, and actually strictly forbid, any reprisals against innocent civilians.

In the meantime, elements of the 5th AK Brigade AK under command of Zygmunt Szendzielarz aka "Łupaszko" learned that some of the responsible individuals and their families were stationed in the police station in Dubingai. An AK unit - a company of the 5th Brigade under Jan Wiktor Wiącek "Rakoczy" - decided to destroy the police station in the village as well as to execute several Nazi-Lithuanian informants in the village. It should be noted that there is a confusion over who led the raid on Dubingiai; as most sources attribute it to the commander of the 5th Brigade, Szelendziarz - although Henryk Piaskunowicz, Polish historian an expert on Armia Krajowa operations in Vilna region, specifically pointed out to Wiącek.

AK headquarters having learned of that initiative, and afraid that the soldiers of the 5th Brigade who have freshly witnessed the aftermath of Glinciszki may not follow the orders forbidding actions against civilians, sent a courier from AK headquaters in Vilnius ordering the 5th Brigade to stay put, the courier however did not reach the local commanders in time.

Events in Dubingai

The village was warned about the coming of the Polish forces, and in fact many individuals - including the policeman who participated in the Glinciszki massacre - escaped before the Polish forces secured the village. On 23 June 1944, the local Armia Krajowa unit commanded by entered the town and murdered a number of Lithuanians, mostly civilians, in a retaliation for an earlier massacre of Polish villagers in Glitiškės Glinciszki done by Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian police. Polish partisans were selective in targeting their victims (as they had a list of collaborators); they also did not kill Lithuanian men married to Polish women - although at least one Polish women was killed, too. The number of Lithuanian victims in Dubingiai is estimated at 20 to 27.

Aftermath

The reprisal actions of AK in Dubingiai, even if premature and unplanned by AK command, marked the begining of a wider AK operation, in which units other than only the 5th Brigade were involved. From 25 to 27 June various Polish units entered a pre-war Lithuanian territory and carried out a series of actions against Lithuanian police forces and known sympathizers of the Nazi regime. Bridges and telecommunication lines were destroyed. Polish sources note that a number of civilian casualties, both Lithuanian and Polish, occurred as a result of the reprisal actions during that period (particularly when several buildings caught fire). According to Lithuanian sources between 70-100 Lithuanians, including civilians, were killed in total by the end of June 1944, not only in Dubingiai but also in the neighbouring villages of Joniškis, Inturkė, Bijutiškis, and Giedraičiai.

The reprisal action of 23-27 June has succeeded in cowing the Lithuanian authorities, as it demonstrated that AK will react to further persecution of Polish civilians and answer with deadly force; no further large scale atrocities against Polish civilians (on a scale of the Glinciszki massacre which initiated the AK reprisal actions) were committed by the Lithuanian forces. The action of 23-27 June was the only reprisal action ever carried out by Armia Krajowa; nonetheless it has still managed to stain the reputation of AK in Lithuania.

Zygmunt Szendzielarz, commander of the 5th Brigade, would be executed by the Polish communist authorities in 1951.

Notes

  1. Template:Lt icon Rimantas Zizas in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 14-39.
  2. ^ Template:Pl icon Henryk Piaskunowicz, Działalnośc zbrojna Armi Krajowej na Wileńszczyśnie w latach 1942-1944 in Zygmunt Boradyn (1997). Tomasz Strzembosz (ed.). Armia Krajowa na Nowogródczyźnie i Wileńszczyźnie (1941-1945). Warsaw: Institute of Political Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences. pp. p. 40-45. ISBN 8390716803. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: checksum (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ R. Korab-Żebryk, 'Biała księga w obronie Armii Krajowej na Wileńszczyźnie, Wydawnictwo Lubelskie 1991, p. 135-139
  4. ^ Template:Lt icon Tadas Galinis. Dubingių skerdynės (Dubingiai massacre) in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 76-80. Cite error: The named reference "Galinis" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Piotrowski, p.168, p.169
  6. ^ Template:Pl icon Andrzej Solak, Bohater ze skazą. Retrieved on 25 MArch 2008.
  7. ^ Template:Pl icon Stanisław M. Jankowski, Strzały na Wileńszczyźnie. Retrieved on 25 March 2008.
  8. Template:Pl icon Gazeta Wyborcza, 2001-02-14, Litewska prokuratura przesłuchuje weteranów AK (Lithuanian prosecutor questioning AK veterans), last accessed on 7 June 2006
  9. Kozłowski, p. 66
  10. Patryk Kozłowski confirms that 12 Lithuanians were killed in the area of Joniškis (Janiszki) by the squad commanded by "Maks" ("Jeden z wyklętych ...", p. 64)
  11. Template:Lt icon Rimantas Zizas in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 14-39. Vykdydama atsakomasias keršto akcijas, AK 5-oji brigada Molėtų raj, Dubingių, Bijutiškio, Joniškio, Inturkės ir kitose apylinkėse nužudė apie 100 lietuvių. Translation=During retaliation actions AK 5-th brigade killed around 100 Lithuanians in the vicinity of Molėtai region towns Dubingiai, Bijutiškis, Joniškis, Inturkė and others.
  12. ^ Template:Lt icon Arūnas Bubnys in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 6-13. Ypač žiauriai išžudytė Dubingių gyventojus 1944 birželio pabaigoje. Negalutiniais duomenimis lenkų partizanai čia išžudė 70 taikių lietuvių, tarp jų daug senelių ir mažamečių vaikų. | Translation=Especially brutally were murdered Dubingiai inhabitants on the end of June 1944. According to a non final data Polish partisants did kill here around 70 peaceful people, including old men and underage kids.
  13. Arūnas Bubnys as cited in Template:Pl icon Gazeta Wyborcza, 2001-02-14, Litewska prokuratura przesłuchuje weteranów AK (Lithuanian prosecutor questioning AK veterans), last accessed on 7 June 2006]

References

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