Kapčiamiesčio "lenkų" sukilimas 1919 m. rugpjūčio 22-23 d

LT1918 m. vasario 16 d. Lietuva, pasiskelbusi nepriklausoma valstybe, susidūrė su grobikiškomis kaimyninėmis šalimis – Sovietų Rusija, Vokietija ir Lenkija. Ypač pavojinga buvo pastaroji, siekusi atkurti savo valstybę pagal 1772 m. sienas. Lenkija, siekdama prisijungti lietuvių, gudų, ukrainiečių žemes, priklausiusias Abiejų Tautų Respublikai, dar iki Lietuvos nepriklausomos valstybės paskelbimo sudarė šių tikslų įgyvendinimo planus. Juose numatė įvairių būdų ir priemonių Lietuvai prisijungti: vieni lenkai siūlė karine jėga prijungti Lietuvą kaip sudedamąją Lenkijos teritorijos dalį, kiti – sudaryti su Lietuva federacinę valstybę savanoriško Lietuvos gyventojų apsisprendimo būdu. Lietuvos lenkai turėjo tvirtas pozicijas žemės ūkyje. Lenkijos istoriko Piotro Losovskio (Piotr Łossowski) duomenimis, 1918 m. daugiau kaip 80 proc. dvarų, o Lietuvos statistikos duomenimis – 53 proc. dvarų, priklausė lenkams. Nemažai lenkų dvarininkų buvo aktyvūs lenkiškumo puoselėtojai, nenorėję suprasti lietuvių tautinio atgimimo, jaunos valstybės kūrimosi interesų. Jiems atrodė, kad Lietuva yra neatskiriama Lenkijos dalis, nepripažino lietuvių kaip tautos, su panieka žiūrėjo į lietuvių kalbą. 1918 m. rugsėjo 22 d. Varšuvoje įvyko Lietuvos, Baltarusijos ir Ukrainos dvarininkų atstovų susirinkimas, kuriame J. Senkovskis (J. Sienkowski) pareiškė: „Esu lenkas iš Lietuvos. Ir tų žemių, tos mano artimiausios tėvynės vardu pareiškiu: turime prisijungti prie Lenkijos valstybės, turime sudaryti vieną vienetą su Lenkija.“. [Iš straipsnio, p. 220]

ENAfter declaring itself an independent state on February 16, 1918, Lithuania faced the predatory aspirations of neighbouring countries, i.e., Soviet Russia, Germany, and Poland. Particularly dangerous was Poland, which sought to have its own state with the borders of 1772. In order to join the Lithuanian, Gudian and Ukrainian lands, which were part of the Republic of the Two Nations, Poland drew up plans for the implementation of these goals before the proclamation of the independent state of Lithuania. They provided various ways and means for Lithuania to join: some Poles proposed to join Lithuania by military force as an integral part of Polish territory, others - to form a federal state with Lithuania by voluntary self-determination of the Lithuanian population. As the Poles started to organize earlier than the Lithuanians, they managed to strengthen, so their agitators, invited by the landlords, appeared in the Seinai region quite early. The majority of the population, persuaded and intimidated by the Polish agents, hesitated: „which government will be better.” As early as October 1918, before the Lithuanians started organizing parish committees, the Poles established their own post office in the house of Aleksandras Mockevičius in Kapčiamiestis, the head of which was Aleksandras Kiaulevičius (resident of Veisiejai parish, Rūda village). He persuaded the locals to say that „Poland will remain here forever”. A. Kiaulevičius organized the printing of postage stamps „40 groszy” in Grodno. That post office existed until the Lithuanians organized their own parish committee. In 1918, in Kapčiamiestis, in addition to the Lithuanian committee, a Polish committee was established, which was not recognized by the Lithuanians.After the Polish committee was expelled from Kapčiamiestis, its members moved to the southern edge of the county, Varviškė village, where they later established At the beginning of 1919, the Poles began to intensify their activities in South Suvalkija. Supported by wealthy local landowners and the Warsaw authorities, they acquired weapons and other military ammunition. In the first half of the year, in January 1919, the Chief Commandant of the Polish POW A. Koc appointed an officer A. Rudnicki as the head of the POW Suvalkai and Kaunas districts. A. Koc provided A. Rudnicki with funds, instructions, secret publications, and instructors. After working for a month and a half, A. Rudnicki boasted that he organized 1200 partisans in Suvalkai district. A. Rudnicki declared not only Lazdijai, Kalvarija, Seirijai, but also Simnas districts as Polish. POW Suvalkai County leadership, in accordance with the Declaration of the Congress of Suvalkai Landlords of August 12, 1919, decided on the night of August 22 to 23 to revolt against the Lithuanians, to push them beyond the line of demarcation, and then to occupy the area all the way to Simnas town in Alytus County. The rebels had to be helped with weapons and ammunition by the regular Polish army. During the first night it was planned to occupy Seirijai, Lazdijai, Didžiuliai, the lake line between Gibai and Želva, Kapčiamiestis, Šadžiūnai, and at dawn of August 24, Seinai and Krasnapolis. The rebel partisan corps consisted of almost turned into the Poles, nationally undecided, Polish-instigated manor workers and small farmers who could not make a living from their land and worked in the manors. The real Poles were only landlords and part of the priests. The rebels were led by the officers from the regular Polish army. All Polish soldiers were disguised in civilian clothes, only wearing an eagle on their hats.When the Seinai County commandant’s troops were withdrawing from Seinai, about 7 a.m. in the morning, about 9 km from Lazdijai, the soldiers of the Seinai County Commandant’s Office arrested Povilas Grubavičius, an armed Polish partisan, who hurried to inform the Seinai that Lazdijai was also occupied by the Poles. The Polish partisan Juozas Albavičius, who rode the other way, managed to do it. It was learned from the people that about 11 p.m. on August 22 Lazdijai was occupied by the peoviakai (the rebels), the Lithuanian militia was disarmed (4 militiamen), and important officials and public figures were arrested. Jurgis Vaičiulionis had assembled a platoon of over 50 armed peoviakai (Lazdijai, Simnas, and Seirijai) in Lazdijai, which met the arriving Lithuanians with a partial fire. The clash took place here about 12 p.m. on August 23. The soldiers, led by S. Asevičius and supported by the Lithuanian partisans, attacked the „rebels” of Lazdijai and after 2 hours of shooting and dispersed the rebels as well as drove them out of Lazdijai. 2 peoviakai were killed and several were injured. The commandant of POW Kapčiamiestis parish with several local peoviakai briefly occupied Kapčiamiestis and guarded the territory from the southeast side from the Lithuanian attack. There were 3 Lithuanian militiamen there, who left and carried away the telephones with them. There were attempts by the peoviakai to occupy Veisiejai and Seirijai. Dozens of members of the POW Simnas district troop also took part in the „uprising” in Lazdijai. A Polish „uprising” took place in Seinai, and the Seinai region was annexed to Poland. However, in Lazdijai and Kapčiamiestis, the Polish-bound people hurried, without waiting for the Polish army to arrive from Seinai, occupied these towns themselves, disarmed the local militia, and occupied the post office and other institutions. [...]. [From the publication]