Vilniaus tvirtovė - sukilėlių kalinimo, tardymo ir palaikų slėpimo vieta

LTImperijos laikų Vilniaus tvirtovė, kitaip dar vadinama citadele, kaip politinių kalinių prievartinio sulaikymo, kalinimo ir tardymo institucija nebuvo tyrinėta. Pabandykime šią 1863-1864 m. sukilimo tyrimų spragą užpildyti, remdamiesi kartografiniais duomenimis iš Rusijos valstybinio karo istorijos archyvo, rankraštiniais dokumentais iš Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvo ir publikuota medžiaga apie įtariamiems sukilimo dalyviams pritaikytas bausmes. [Iš straipsnio, p. 116]

ENThe fortress built in 1831 consisted of three separate parts: fortifications on the tallest Hill of Three Crosses, the fortified Castle (Gedimino) Hill with ramparts, arsenal buildings at the foot of the hill surrounded by batteries, and a jagged redan on the other side of the Neris River that served for cutting off Green Bridge and firing the Šnipiškės suburb. To build the fortress, excavation works were performed, high ramparts were built, and barbettes as well as artillery and military equipment were installed. In 1836, a residential house of the manager of the Vilnius stretch of the Saint Petersburg-Warsaw optical telegraph line was built on the plateau of Gedimino Hill, and the 14th post of the line was installed on the tower. Surrounded by high ramparts, the plateau of the hill, like the other fortress buildings, became inaccessible. An old brick manor at the mouth of the Vilnia, which once belonged to fan Chodasiewicz, was first converted into barracks, and in 1838, it began to be adapted for a prison for political prisoners (it was also called a hauptwache and a lock-up, and was later named as building no. 14). Under the northern wing of the building situated along T. Kosciuškos street, special underground rooms were dug out; they are marked as casemates in the cartographic documentation of the fortress. In 1850, 33 cells, 9 punishment cells, and rooms for wardens and guards were set up in the building. The former arsenal (today, the administration wing of the National Museum of Lithuania) housed the permanent residence of the Vilnius city commandant and the Ordinance House on the ground floor, where court martials of the rebels took place. In 1863-1864, the majority of the rebels were held in the lock-up, but there were prisons in Zaikowski's barracks, and the New Arsenal contained a hauptwache and punishment cells.In the years of the uprising, the entire city had become a prison for political prisoners, and many monasteries were converted into lock-ups and prisons in 1837-1864. In 1854, when the optical telegraph was abolished and the manager's house was pulled down, the empty but strictly guarded plateau of Gedimino Hill became a convenient place to hide the bodies of the victims of executions in Lukiškių Square. The only surviving registry book of persons held in lock-up no. 14 and other auxiliary documents (cover letters of the arrestees transferred to the temporary military hospital, political prison rules, memoirs) allow us to see how many participants of the uprising were held in this institution also known as casemates and in what conditions. From April 1862 to October 1864, 1,078 persons, both men and women, were registered in the book. Some of them were only detained for one or several days, while others were imprisoned for months, or were brought several times from the military hospital or other prisons after interrogations or punishment cells. The lock-up lists include not only those who directly participated in the uprising, but also traitors who provided information about their associates. The social class or title of the arrestees is indicated; sometimes, their age and father's name are written in pencil above the name. The last column contained inscriptions about the further course of the arrest - from the lockup room prisoners would be transferred to the court martial commission at the Ordinance House; the Dominican monastery at the Church of the Holy Spirit, the monastery of the Lateran Canons at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, or the temporary military hospital; the former Sluszkow Palace called Zaikowski's barracks; the Franciscan monastery converted into a prison; the Vincentian monastery at the Church of the Ascension of the Lord closed in 1844, or the Carmelite convent at the Church of St Joseph the Betrothed.There are quite many inscriptions in Indian ink and pencil, indicating that the arrestee was taken to the police, to the Interrogation Commission for Political Cases, or to a court martial for trial, along with the date. The conditions of forceful isolation of political prisoners are reflected in the instructions for the wardens of political prisons signed by the Vilnius commandant, and some random references found in documents of that time. Newly arriving prisoners were stripped of their clothes, their personal belongings and money were confiscated, and special care was taken to confiscate their handkerchiefs or suspenders. The beard was shaved and the hair was cut very short. Meetings with relatives, smoking, reading and going for a walk could only be allowed by the Interrogation Commission. Any conversations among prisoners were forbidden. There is no way of knowing how many arrestees were held in building no. 14 as political prisoners. The main military hauptwache, which was under the jurisdiction of the Vilnius commandant, remained in building no. 14 until 1914. The analysis of the identity of the imprisoned persons mentioned in the lists and their relation to the victims of the uprising found on Gedimino Hill shows that this prison, like the one in the Dominican monastery, was meant for more important political prisoners. The records of persons imprisoned in 1862-1864 reveal that besides more than 1,000 participants of the uprising, it was a place of confinement for eight rebels who were later shot down or hanged in Lukiškių Square and buried in the plateau of Gedimino Hill: Mieczysław Dormanowski, Józef Jabłoński, Bolesław Kołyszko, Albert Laskowicz, Henryk Makowiecki, Aleksander and Józef Rewkowski, and Rajmund Ziemacki. [From the publication p. 209-210]