| Leninist Young Communist League of Lithuania Lithuanian Komsomol Lithuanian:Lietuvos Lenino komunistinė jaunimo sąjunga | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 29 January 1919 |
| Dissolved | 3 June 1989 |
| Succeeded by | Young Communist League of Lithuania |
| Headquarters | Vilnius,Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Ideology | |
| Mother party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| State party | Communist Party of Lithuania |
| National affiliation | Komsomol |
| International affiliation | World Federation of Democratic Youth |
| Newspaper | Komjaunimo tiesa |
TheLeninist Young Communist League of Lithuania (Lithuanian:Lietuvos Lenino komunistinė jaunimo sąjunga or LLKJS) orLithuanian Komsomol (Lithuanian:Komjaunimas) was theLithuanian branch of theSovietKomsomol that served as the youth organ of theCommunist Party of Lithuania. The organization was for youth ages 14 to 28. Younger children were organized intoPioneers (ages 10 to 14) andLittle Octobrists (Lithuanian:spaliukai; ages 7 to 9).[1] Since Komsomol was the only legal youth organization in the Soviet Union, it had significant impact and influence on the youth.[2]
The Lithuanian Komsomol was established in January 1919 during theLithuanian–Soviet War. During the interwar, the Lithuanian Komsomol was outlawed in Lithuania and its members were frequently arrested by the Lithuanian police. The organization grew rapidly after theSoviet occupation of Lithuania and its members actively participated in Lithuania'ssovietization. In the 1970s and 1980s, it became such a massive organization that non-members were viewed as anti-Soviet.[2] On 3 June 1989, the Lithuanian Komsomol voted to break away from the All-Union Komsomol and form an independent organization, which became theYoung Communist League of Lithuania.[3][4]
The Lithuanian Komsomol was founded in the context of theLithuanian–Soviet War. Soviet Russia began itswestward offensive in late 1918 pushing intoLithuania and declaring the establishment of theLithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.Vilnius was captured on 5 January 1919. On 29 January 1919, a provisional Central Bureau of the Lithuanian Komsomol was elected in Vilnius.[1] In 1919–1920, the Lithuanian Komsomol was briefly merged with the Belarusian Komsomol into theYoung Communist League of Lithuania and Belorussia as the two Soviet republics were merged into theSocialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia.[1]
When Lithuania secured its independence, the Lithuanian government outlawed both theCommunist Party of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Komsomol, but both continued to exist and function in the underground. The government frequently arrested and imprisoned communist activists.Rapolas Čarnas [lt], a member of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Komsomol, was executed in the aftermath of the1926 Lithuanian coup d'état.[1] During the interwar years, the Lithuanian Komsomol agitated for communist ideas and attempted to work with or through various other organizations. To advance its program ofMarxism–Leninism, the Lithuanian Komsomol published some 80 one-time and periodical publications in 1919–1940.[1]
| Year | Members | Year | Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 440 | 1940 | 1,000 |
| 1920 | 200 | 1941 | 6,190 |
| 1921 | 550 | 1945 | 9,450 |
| 1923 | 260 | 1950 | 66,790 |
| 1926 | 400 | 1960 | 144,670 |
| 1928 | 380 | 1970 | 281,850 |
| 1932 | 450 | 1980 | 441,760 |
| 1935 | 770 | 1986 | 518,119 |
| 1937 | 1,130 |
After theSoviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Lithuanian Komsomol was legalized and its members took an active role in Lithuania'ssovietization. More than 570 members of the Lithuanian Komsomol worked in various Soviet institutions or headed nationalized enterprises.[2] WhenGermany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, some 2,200 members of the Lithuanian Komsomol were evacuated to Russia where many of them joined the16th Rifle Division.[1]
In March 1944, former member of the Lithuanian KomsomolMarytė Melnikaitė became the first and only Lithuanian woman awarded theHeroes of the Soviet Union.[6] In July 1958, on the 40th anniversary of the Komsomol, three members of the Lithuanian Komsomol were posthumously recognized as the Heroes of the Soviet Union[7] –Juozas Aleksonis [lt],Hubertas Borisa [lt], andAlfonsas Čeponis [ru], aSoviet partisan killed by theGestapo, who participated in the murder ofElena Spirgevičiūtė, a Lithuanian student later recognized as aServant of God.[7]
After theSoviet re-occupation of Lithuania in 1944, the Komsomol returned to Lithuania and began growing rapidly. Its members participated in various Soviet repressions: joined thedestruction battalions to fightLithuanian partisans, facilitatedSoviet deportations from Lithuania, agitated forcollective farming, and helped organizingkolkhozes andsovkhozes.[2][1] Later, members of the Lithuanian Komsomol participated in variousshock construction projects andstudent construction brigades. Lithuanian Komsomol built 26 small hydroelectric plants in rural areas and 46 large husbandry farms.[5]
Since Lithuanian Komsomol was the only other legal organization (after the Communist Party) that could participate in elections, its members were elected to theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Union,Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR and various local soviets. The Lithuanian Komsomol was also active in cultural life organizing youth festivals, establishing new traditions (such as harvest festival or civil baptism), gathering memoirs of participants inWorld War II, organizing additional political education.[1] The Lithuanian Komsomol organized "days of friendship" with youth of Finland (1979), Madagascar (1981), Poland (1982), and theGerman Democratic Republic (1983).[1]
Major periodicals of the Lithuanian Komsomol were journalsJaunimo gretos ("Youth Ranks"; 1944–1989) andNemunas ("Neman River"; 1967–1990) as well as newspapersKomjaunimo tiesa ("Truth of Komsomol"; 1940–1989) andLietuvos pionierius ("Lithuanian Pioneer"; 1946–1989).[2]
Secretaries of the Lithuanian Komsomol were:[5]