Vladas Petronaitis
Vladas Petronaitis (November 2, 1888 – June 25, 1941) was a Lithuanian military officer. He was tortured and executed in the infamous Rainiai massacre by members of the NKVD.
Early life and education
Petronaitis was born on November 2, 1888, to a family of Petras Petronaitis, a well-to-do farmer, in Plauciškiai village, Rozalimas
The family's circumstances were good and, after the graduation from the
After graduating in 1913, he remained in Saint Petersburg and, at the outbreak of
Army service and lawyer career
Following the
Following the Polish seizure of the Vilnius region, he was appointed Commandant in Kretinga. He married Bronislava Kentraite in a ceremony at Palanga in 1922. Bronislava's father, Jonas Kentra, was a public notary in Palanga. In 1923, Petronaitis was discharged to the army reserve and settled down in Kretinga working as a lawyer and advocate and supporting various Lithuanian patriotic activities. Like many other Lithuanians, he received the Independence Medal.
Arrest and murder
Lithuania was
prison. In spite of his imprisonment, and long interrogation over many months, he protested his innocence and denied any wrongdoing.On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany began its invasion of the Soviet Union. With the Soviet troops in a rout, the NKVD began executing its political prisoners as they retreated. On the night of 24/25 June 1941, Petronaitis was taken to a forest near Rainiai and, together with 77 other political prisoners, was tortured, murdered, and buried in a mass grave. On exhumation three days later, his body was difficult to identify as it had been disfigured by the tortures applied to it.[2]
A memorial is built on the place with graphic photographs of the exhumation and the exhumed body of Petronaitis.
References
- ^ http://www.lka.lt/en/disp.php/en_about/en_history/en_history_1
- ^ Lituanus Data Bank at www.lituanus.org
- (in English)KARO ARCHYVAS (Lithuanian)
- (in English)Kretinga Library Reference
- (in English)Ziemgala (Lithuanian]
- (in English)Koncius, Joseph B. HISTORY OF LITHUANIA: Chicago: Lith. Amer. Community, 1965
- (in English)Ancestry Boards
- (in English)Terror Unearthed in the Heart of Vilnius
- (in English)Lithuanian Judges Convict Soviet secret police officer guilty of participating in a massacre
- (in English)Encyclopedia of Baltic History
- (in English)"Telšiai Region. History and Cultural Heritage" - Adomas Butrimas.
- (in Lithuanian)"Telšių ir Kretingos kontrrevoliucionieriai fašistai ir jų siekimai" - A testimony of the events by Domas Rocius, a Lithuanian communist.
- (in Lithuanian)"Rainių kankiniai".
- (in Lithuanian)"Rainių tragedija" - Arvydas Anušauskas, Birutė Burauskaitė.