Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas

President of the Struggling Lithuania The last statement by Jonas Žemaitis in Court: “I, as well as the followers of mine, think that the Soviet Union with the armed forces invaded our country. I consider this behavior of the Soviet government unauthorized... All underground activities against the Soviet Government a participant of which I was I consider right and not illegal. I just want to stress that as much as I commanded the Lithuanian Movement for Freedom I made every effort to keep to principles of humanism. I didn‘t allow any brutal activities. I know what the sentence of the court will be. I still believe that the struggle I have led for nine years will bring its results”. (Gaškaite-Žemaitienė N., The President of Those Who Perished, Vilnius, 2007, p. 405–406.) Date and Place of Birth March 15, 1909, in a civil servants family in Palanga Family Married Elena Valionytė in 1940, son Jonas Laimutis Professional Qualifications 1926–1929 Officer studies at Kaunas War School 1936–1938 Advanced training at French Artillery School in Fontainebleau. The rank of Captain, commissioned upon the completion of courses Political and Professional Engagement 1938–1940 Officer of the Lithuanian Army 1944 and later Actively engaged in the activities of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force created in the Nazi-occupied Lithuania; later, during the second Soviet occupation, got actively involved in the anti-Soviet resistance movement April 23, 1945 Took the oath of a partisan and became the commander of Žebenkštis Unit Headquarters May 1947 Became Chief of Kęstutis District 1948 and later In command of the entire Western Lithuania Partisan District. Chose a code name of Vytautas. Actively engaged in combining the efforts of all the guerilla resistance movement squads which in 1949 united into a single organization – the Movement of the Struggle for Lithuanian Freedom February 16, 1949 Signed the Declaration adopted by the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Lithuanian Freedom. The Declaration stipulated that the supreme authority in Lithuania was the command of the partisans which aimed at the restoration of the independent Parliamentarian Republic of Lithuania. Jonas Žemaitis was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Lithuanian Freedom and was granted the authority of the supreme commander of the political and military forces in the country. He was awarded the rank of a general of partisans freedom fighter In Presidential Office February 16, 1949 – November 26, 1954 May 30, 1953 Betrayed and arrested, later transported to Moscow. Under interrogation abode by the oath given to the State of  Lithuanian November 26, 1954 Executed in Butyrka prison in Moscow On March 12, 2009 the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania recognized Jonas Žemaitis as the head of the state of Lithuania struggling against the Soviet occupation, who de facto served as the acting President of the country.