Karinis miestelis Nr. 1

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Kareivinės; Šauktiniai; Antrasis pasaulinis karas, 1939-1945 (World War II); Karinis miestelis; Kultūrų kaita; Barracks; Cantonment; World War II; Change of cultures.

ENWhen at the end of January of 1945 Klaipėda was occupied by the Soviet Army, some time later, the 3rd Guard Rifle Division was stationed in the city; in 1957, it was restructured into a Guard Motor Rifle Division. The unit was formed in 1940 and had taken part in a number of significant military operations in the East Front during WWII, including the Battle of Stalingrad and East Prussian Offensive in 1944-1945. In 1945, military units in Lithuania were distributed in accordance with the war time strategies; therefore, it was only natural that an ice-free Klaipėda port that appeared so close to the western border of the USSR became a significance site for situating land and marine military units. The units of the Division were accommodated in different places in Klaipėda, including the old barracks, entitled the “red” barracks by Soviet soldiers after the war; officially it was called a Cantonment No. 1. The soldiers from the 9th Rifle Regiment and 22nd Artillery Regiment, as well as from other units of the Division, were accommodated there. Ironically, the former Sergies barracks that had been turned into an asylum in 1908 again became a military object - the headquarters of the above mentioned Division - after WWII. Formally, the “red” barracks and many other objects were transferred to the disposal of the USSR People's Defence Commissariat (Ministry) on 1 August 1945 on the decision of the Executive Committee of the City of Klaipėda. Of course, the territory of the old barracks in the after-war years was significantly expanded. In the 50s, before Nikita Khrushchev’s reform of the reduction of armed forces was launched, new fuel and ammunition depots and garages were built there, and a Stalinist-style kitchen-dining room was put up, as well as a new two-storey red brick barracks building.Before the mid-70s, soldiers who were to serve in the German Democratic Republic were accommodated and trained there. In the 50s, military equipment in the barracks kept increasing. As at that time all heavy weaponry, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns started to be mounted on armoured vehicles, a new car park appeared in the former parade ground, and garages for tanks were built. From that place, tanks moved in the summer of 1968 to reach Czechoslovakia and to crush the Prague Spring in the “Operation Danube”. Another stage of construction hit the military town in the 60s, when new garages for military vehicles, guardhouses, storehouses for equipment and food, workshops, petrol stations, a new educational building, and other objects appeared. In subsequent years, the military town did not change much. A sports complex with a swimming pool was put up, the storehouses, garages, and repair shops were extended and renovated, and petrol stations were built. Altogether, in special cases, around 2,500 military personnel and up to 300 units of military equipment could be deployed there, however, the actual figures were lower, and specifically in the years of the Soviet War in Afghanistan (1979-1989), when, in accordance with recollections, merely around 300 soldiers and 50 officers were stationed. It was only at the end of the 80s that the armed forces in Klaipėda were again reinforced. That is partly related to the fact that on 1 December 1989 the 3rd Guard Motor Rifle Division was converted into the 3rd Coast Guard Division and thus went over from the subordination to the Baltic Military District of the USSR Ground Forces (with the headquarters in Riga) to that to the Baltic Fleet (with the headquarters in Kaliningrad).The permanent problem in the relations between the USSR army garrison and the City of Klaipėda was a shortage of housing for in service and retired officers. Due to the abundance of Russian-speaking population, the prevalence of the Russian language, and relatively high living standards, Klaipėda was popular with the military personnel transferred to the reserve. However, the rapid growth of Lithuanian cities aggravated the housing shortage crisis even more. Since most of the military personnel were not Lithuanians, but rather Russians, Ukrainians, or Belarussians, their arrival in Klaipėda could cause social and ethnic tensions: the Russian speaking people would allegedly get flats immediately after their arrival, while Lithuanians had to stay in the waiting line for years on end. In the first post-war years, the army would resolve the urgent housing issue by using their power and authority, and later, by means of institutional pressure. In 1950, the decision was taken to transfer 10% of the newly built housing in Lithuania to the Ministry of Armed Forces of the USSR. In 1961, the Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR resolved that no less than 4% of the newly built housing in Klaipėda was to go to military personnel transferred to the reserve. However, in the long run, the local administration seems to have limited the army provision: in 1978, Klaipėda was the only city that did not fulfil the plan of military personnel housing. [...]. [From the publication]