Lithuanians take pride in 20 years of restored independence

Mar 9, 2010, 8:27 GMT

   Vilnius - March 7 saw the streets of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius full of visitors for the annual St Kasimir's fair. Thousands strolled the Old Town streets sipping hot honey beer, eating freshly baked cakes and buying elaborate floral arrangements to mark the arrival of spring.

   Almost hidden by a line of market stalls winding through the cobbled streets lies a small stone pyramid bearing witness to less care-free times: 'Here on August 23, 1987, the first public protest demonstration during the Soviet occupation was held.'

   Remarkably, less than three years later that protest bore fruit on March 11, 1990, when Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to re-declare independence it had lost in 1940, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union.

   To many in the West, the most prominent figure in the independence drive was Vytautas Landsbergis. A founder member of the Sajudis movement that pushed for independence, the bespectacled former music teacher headed the parliamentary session during which the declaration was made. He subsequently became the first head of a restored Lithuanian state.

   Now a member of the European Parliament, Landsbergis told the German Press Agency dpa that his main memory of the day was of 'intensive work for 16 or 17 hours.'

   'We were not spectators awaiting surprises, we worked to have progress faster,' he said.

Rumour has it that the Soviet authorities had prepared a special prison cell in the notorious Vilnius KGB headquarters for Landsbergis, though he maintains that he was never afraid.

   The pleasant-looking classical building that was the home of the Soviet secret police overshadows the line of St Kasimir's day stalls. The names of hundreds of victims of the Communist regime are carved into the stone of the building's facade.

   Inside, an Occupation Museum tells the story of some of the people routinely humiliated and tortured there. Prison cells have been preserved, including a ghastly execution chamber that often reduces the mainly Western visitors to tears, according to 26-year-old Rima, a guide who remembers the declaration of independence.

   'I was young, but my parents were excited, and we were all watching the television. I could sense that atmosphere,' she told dpa.

   'People younger than me don't remember anything, so it's important they know about their history,' she said. 'But some young people who visit - particularly Russians - don't believe what they see here. And even some people in Lithuania like to say that the occupation was rather good because we all had jobs. It's very sad.'

   Manning a St Kasimir's day stall outside, 31-year old Ridas Damkevicius sells beautiful black-and-white photographs, including landscapes of his travels in the United States. He's acutely aware of his history and recognizes that such pictures would have been impossible to take during the Soviet period.

   'I was in a town about 150 kilometres from Vilnius, so I didn't experience what was happening here directly, but as a young boy I knew we were entering something unknown,' he told dpa.

   'I lived in Texas for 10 years but moved back here two years ago because I was really homesick. I left part of me here,' he said, explaining the strength of feeling Lithuanians have for their homeland. 'The decision was already made because I was born here. No matter how far you go, you're going to come back.'

   His sense of optimism and pride 20 years on is shared by current Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.

   'That spring-like day of March 11, 1990, is and will continue to be indelibly imprinted in my memory forever,' he told dpa.

   'It was a turning point in the history of Lithuania - we restored its independence and it seemed to me in those days, living through an intense feeling of general euphoria, that the whole world was gazing at my country in admiration for our courage, our unity. Lithuania was ahead of teaching other nations how to muster courage in the face of adversity.'

   'A long period of Soviet occupied failed to break the backbone of Lithuanians, to crush the spirit of resistance and freedom aspirations by various means. And that day finally dawned,' he said.