Knygnešiai ir knygnešystė Pakaunės krašte

LTXIX amžiaus Pakaunė – kraštas, kuriame stipriai priešintasi carinės administracijos paskelbtam spaudos lotyniškais rašmenimis draudimui. Šiame regione ne tik aktyviai veikė slaptosios daraktorių mokyklos, kuriose vaikai mokyti lietuviško rašto, bet ir itin uoliai platinta draudžiama lietuviška spauda, leista Prūsijoje, skleistos lietuviškos knygos ir laikraščiai, kuriuos po įvairias vietoves nešiojo knygnešiai. Autorė šiame leidinyje plačiai analizuoja knygnešystę kaip fenomenalų pasaulyje reiškinį ir aprašo Babtų, Raudondvario, Kulautuvos, Vilkijos, Padauguvos, Čekiškės, Zapyškio, Garliavos ir kitų Pakaunės apylinkėse gyvenusių ir veikusių knygnešių asmenybes, jų gyvenimo kelią, pristato platų draudžiamos spaudos platinimo aplinkybių ir situacijų regione vaizdą. Pakaunėje gyvenę ir veikę draudžiamos lietuviškos spaudos platintojai - Motiejus Eimaitis, Jurgis Žitinevičius, Kazimieras Aglinskas, Povilas Paršaitis, Juozas Paršaitis, Mykolas Račkus, Jurgis Keruckas ir daug kitų garbingų asmenybių, apie kurių veiklą ir gyvenimo kelią turi žinoti Lietuvos žmonės, o ypač jaunoji karta. Tegul šis leidinys bus paminklas žmonėms, kovojusiems už lietuvių kalbos teises ir gynusiems tautinį orumą, tiems, kurie pasiaukojamai veikė tautos labui, kurie buvo persekiojami, o ne vienam jų teko kentėti ir net žūti Sibiro platybėse. [Iš Įvado]

ENIn the reconstruction of the history of the Pakaunė region, book smugglers and book smuggling are one of the most important topics. During the period of the Lithuanian press ban, great cultural resistance broke out in this region: the number of Lithuanian newspaper and book authors, editors, publishing sponsors and distributors secretly carrying books across the Prussian border testified to the Lithuanian nation's great efforts to protect and nurture their mother tongue and the Lithuanian culture, to pursue education. In Pakaunė, as in other parts of Lithuania, banned books and newspapers in Latin characters strengthened the ethnic self-awareness, helped to form a modern nation, withstand great Russification pressure and achieve the most important goal: to regain the press in Lithuanian characters in 1904 and later implement the idea of Lithuanian statehood raised and updated in this press. The agrarian reform project by Alexander II, according to which Lithuanian farmers were released from serfdom, did not achieve the expected results. In 1863, dissatisfaction in a strong wave of uprising broke out, in which the inhabitants of Užnemunė and Kaunas province took part. This area was distinguished by the number of rebel units and their activity in the fighting. The tsarist Russian administration deployed enormous forces to quell the uprising. In 1863, Count Nikolai Muravyov, who became the Governor General of Vilnius, was sent to suppress the resistance in Lithuania.Dr. Jonas Basanavičius in his article "The Press Ban of 1864, Its Consequences and Significance" clearly identified the essence of the activities of this tsarist representative in Lithuania: severe repression against the people involved in the uprising, introduction of the compulsory Russian language in schools, persecution of the Catholic religion, increase in Russian colonization and the ban on the Latin characters. Basanavičius called these ideas of Muravyov a barbaric plan, which was not known in the history of all nations of the world. The Governor General of Vilnius was assisted by Stanislaw Mikucki, Associate Professor of Comparative Languages at the University of Warsaw, who lived in Lomza Province and had a good command of the Lithuanian language, and Alexander Hilferding, a German linguist and zealous Russophile. They stated that the Russian Cyrillic letters were suitable for the Lithuanian language. These persons held the view that the three books that made up Lithuanian literature were a prayer book, a primer and a calendar, without which the Lithuanian people would not be able to do without. Thus, if it was forbidden to print them in "Polish" letters and instead the same three books were printed in Russian letters, then the Lithuanian people would have to accept them, because the old ones were nowhere to be found. So, in 1864, there was immediately published in Vilnius such a book for primary schools Abėcėlė žemaitiškai-lietuviška, išdotapar isakima Jo Milestas viriausiojo Redotoja šiaurės-vakarų šalies (Alphabet in Samogitian-Lithuanian). According to Jonas Basanavičius, it was intended not so much for spreading light as for Russification purposes.After the tsarist administration banned printing in Latin characters and wanted to introduce Lithuanian script in Russian alphabet, Cyrillic, Motiejus Valančius (1801-1875), Bishop of the Samogitian Diocese, actively opposed this ban, as well as the degrading authority of the Catholic Church, and organized book publishing in Tilsit. In 1867, he set up a fund for the publication of books, to which he devoted most of his money. In Lithuania Minor, Valančius published many Lithuanian religious publications (hymn books, prayer books, sacred stories) for Greater Lithuania, as well as significant political brochures calling for opposition to the Orthodox religion, boycott of schools, and teaching children at home and in secret schools. In his book The Hardships of the Catholic Church in Lithuania and Samogi-tia (1869), he was the first to publicly condemn the ban on the Lithuanian press. Sudargas priest Martynas Sederevičius and Jurbarkas dean Kazimieras Marcinkevičius responded to Motiejus Valančius' call to oppose the press ban. They became the most important members of Valančius secret press distribution organization. Sederevičius and Marcinkevičius were probably the most important people who brought together book smugglers, organized their well-coordinated and purposeful groups, fully supported the distribution of books in Pakaunė, and it can be said that they directly paved the way for Lithuanian book readers. Books and newspapers carried across the border by members of Valančius secret press distribution organization were transported and distributed in various towns and villages of Pakaunė. [From the publication]