1941 m. birželio 23-24 d. sukilėliai Alytuje sušaudyti ... per klaidą

LTĮžengus į Lietuvą Vokietijos kariuomenei, vyriausiojo vokiečių armijos vado atsišaukime į lietuvius paskelbta apie karinės valdžios įvedimą. Atsišaukime Vokietijos kariai pristatyti kaip „draugai ir gelbėtojai nuo bolševikų jungo“, nešą laisvę ir grąžiną „žmogiškas gyvenimo sąlygas“. Tačiau griežtai pareikalauta atiduoti ginklus, pranešti apie pasislėpusius sovietų karininkus, kareivius, bolševikų komisarus. Grasinta sušaudyti tuos, kas slėps sovietų karius, ginklus, amuniciją ir kitokią Raudonosios armijos ir SSRS nuosavybę arba ją pasisavins, kas pasipriešins arba bandys susisiekti su priešu. Vis dėlto vokiečiai kai kur elgėsi ne kaip laukti „išvaduotojai“, o kaip žiaurūs ir brutalūs okupantai, per ne visą savaitę trukusius karo veiksmus prieš nekaltus civilius gyventojus jie įvykdė žiaurių masinių smurto akcijų. Okupuodami Lietuvą vokiečiai ją traktavo kaip sudedamąją Sovietų Sąjungos teritorijos dalį, todėl, nepaisant draugiškų politinių pareiškimų, ir elgtis turėjo kaip priešo teritorijoje. Civiliai asmenys dėl bet kokių priešiškų veiksmų prieš kariuomenę, jos atstovus ir aptarnaujantįjį personalą turėjo būti baudžiami griežčiausiomis priemonėmis vietoje, netgi sunaikinti užpuolėją. Vietovėse, kuriose kariuomenė būdavo klastingai užpulta, jei aplinkybės neleido greitai išsiaiškinti atskirų kaltininkų, bataliono vadas arba vyresnysis karininkas turėjo teisę tučtuojau imtis kolektyvinių prievartos priemonių. [Iš straipsnio, p. 228]

ENOn June 22, 1941 the German-Soviet war broke out early in the morning. Alytus was heavily bombed from the air because the 5th Tank Division of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the Red Army, at least a regiment of fighter aviation, an anti-aircraft artillery division to cover the aerodrome and other objects from were deployed here. There were about 20000 soldiers in Alytus. The Soviet crew headquarters were located in the centre - the Riflemen’s House. On the morning of June 23, Leonas Prapuolenis, a representative of the Lithuanian Activists Front (LAF), announced on Kaunas radio the uprising of the Nation, read the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence, and announced the formation of the Lithuanian Provisional Government and the list of its members. Police officers and officials were invited to return to their former jobs before June 15, 1940 to restore the former Lithuanian institutions, to maintain public order. The mobilization of the shooters was announced - the shooters were obliged to arrive immediately at the former headquarters of their platoon and to contribute to the maintenance of public order. On the same day of June 23, the local Lithuanian meeting convened on the initiative of Mykolas Babilius, a teacher of Alytus Gymnasium, elected a Committee to maintain public order. The Committee appointed Captain Stepas Maliauskas to the position of County Governor. Although the partisans of Alytus wore white ties on their sleeves under the order of underground, and the guards of the temporary police were provided with testimonies in German, but on June 23 the Germans arrested the rebels, took them to the banks of the Nemunas and shot everyone. Only one man survived - Antanas Merkelis, who was a good swimmer.The first to learn about the massacre was Lt. Vladas Šimoliūnas. His friends were lucky enough to find out with the Germans and, therefore, they were not arrested, but only disarmed. V. Šimoliūnas ran to the barracks, tried to solve the problem. However, he was told that those commanders who had ordered the rebels to be arrested had marched forward without worrying that the order would be changed. It is believed that on June 22-23, 1941 the rebels of the platoon led by Lt. Benjaminas Meškelis in Alytus, at the entrance to the Kaniūkai Bridge, got between two warring enemies: the attacking unit of the German Army and the units of the Red Army retreating from Alytus (and through Alytus) towards Varėna. This is evidenced by archival documents and memoirs. The spontaneous uprising was directed against the retreating Red Army, and at the same time against the interests of the Germans, as the restoration of independence and the formation of the Provisional Government were declared. The rebels captured and isolated armed Red Army soldiers, Soviet activists; collected discarded weapons, maintained public order and ensured seriousness in society as the police had not yet recovered everywhere; set up various committees in the counties, formed local self-government bodies to take over power as former Soviet government officials fled or went into hiding. According to Dr. Arūnas Bubnys, the main goal of the rebels was to eliminate the Soviet occupation and restore the independent state of Lithuania, and the Holocaust was the goal of the Third Reich, Nazi policy and the policy pursued in all Nazi-occupied countries. The historian said that the rebels were fighting both the retreating units.of the Red Army and the Soviet activists who were retreating from Lithuania to Russia. Among the returnees fired by the rebels were often Jewish individuals, both former Soviet officials and despised civilians, who simply feared the Nazis coming and tried to leave for Russia to save their lives. of the Red Army and the Soviet activists who were retreating from Lithuania to Russia. Among the returnees fired by the rebels were often Jewish individuals, both former Soviet officials and despised civilians, who simply feared the Nazis coming and tried to leave for Russia to save their lives. [From the publication]