- KNYGNEŠYS (pl. knygnešiai), a
name given to a book-carrier (knyga = book, nešti – to
carry) who smuggled books and newspapers across the border during the
years (1864-1904) of the Russian ban on Lithuanian publications. This
forty-year period, unique in world history for its character and
significance, was marked by a heroic struggle for human rights and
liberties. The book-carriers or book-smugglers frequently lost their
freedom or their lives. This article reviews their activities in
distributing Lithuanian literature, while a separate article (Press Ban)
deals with the background, purpose, and consequences of the Russian
prohibition on Lithuanian publications printed in Latin characters.
Printed in East Prussia or, less frequently, in the United States, the
prohibited publications were smuggled across the heavily guarded
Russian-German border into Lithuania. Three cordons of soldiers were
provided by the Russian administration to patrol the border areas. In
the first line, stationed right along the border, the soldiers were
filed so densely that they could see each 'other. Two kilometers away
from the border a second line was made up of men posted at greater
intervals. The third line, 5-7 km from the border, consisted of
gendarmes on horseback who patrolled farms and villages. Informants were
recruited to report any activity along the border as well as any
suspicious-looking persons. These security measures were directed
against contraband in general, including the illegal publications.
Captured book-carriers were deported to Siberia for 3-5 years or
imprisoned locally for 1-5 years. Anyone crossing the border in
violation of orders to stop was immediately shot. Not only were
distributors of smuggled books punished, but even those caught with a
single copy in their possession. The confiscated literature was
destroyed.
The initial stimulus for engaging in this dangerous activity was
religious in nature, i.e., the desire to possess and use Lithuanian
prayerbooks in the usual Latin alphabet. Catholics rejected prayerbooks
printed in Cyrillic characters and regarded use of such literature as a
renunciation of their faith. During 1866-82, mostly prayer-books and
other religious booklets were brought into the country. Later, with the
rise of national consciousness, the desire for education in tone's
native language and the wish for national independence merged with the
religious motives. Consequently periodicals directed towards this
purpose were printed in East Prussia; these included Aušra (The
Dawn, 1883-86), Varpas (The Bell, 1889-1905), Apžvalga
(The Review, 1890-96), Tėvynės Sargas (Guardian of the
Fatherland, 1896-1904). The greatest number of newspapers and books was
distributed in the border districts ol southern and western Lithuania.
- Motiejus Valancius, Bishop of
Samogitia (1850-75), was the first to undertake the printing of
Lithuanian publications abroad and their secret distribution, enlisting
a great many priests in this activity. In 1870-71 eleven of his
collaborators were arrested and tried. This first trial of
book-smugglers resulted in exile to Siberia for two laymen (S. Raciukas,
S. Kulakauskis) and five priests (Antanas Brundza, Pranas Butkevičius,
Kazimieras Eitutis, Motiejus Kaziliauskas and Vincas Norvaiša). Antanas
Brundza, who had been betrayed by the Germans, died in Arkhangelsk, near
the White Sea. However, these repressive measures imposed by the
Russians did not deter the book-smugglers. Jurgis Bielinis, known as
"the king of the book-smugglers," who had served as Bishop
Valancius' contact with East Prussia, organized a book-distributing
center in Gargviai, county of Panevėžys, to supply publications to
northern Lithuania and the Lithuanians living in Latvia. Another
Important center was organized by Rev. Martynas Sidaravičius in
Sudargas, county of Šakiai. His rectory was located at the
Russian-German border, across which was Tilžė (Germ. Tilsit) and the
printing shop of Otto von Mauderode where most of the Lithuanian books
and newspapers were printed. Sidaravičius concerned himself with
writing, printing, and distribution of books. He was zealously assisted
by Juozas Angrabaitis, Juozas Antanavičius, Antanas Baltrušaitis,
Domas Miklius, and Serafinas Kuseliauskas, a landlord who bequeathed
2,000 Russian rubles to this cause. Working independently, Juozas
Kancleris transported a great many books and distributed them in
southern Lithuania (in Sūduva). In Samogitia the main centers were
organized by Rev. M. Jurgutis and the physician Liudas Vaineikis in
Kretinga (the Franciscan Monastery) and in Palanga respectively.
Vaineikis was arrested in 1900, incarcerated for two years, and with 24
of his associates exiled to Siberia.
- The publications, once they had been
transported across the border, were distributed by a varied group of
people: traveling salesmen who dealt in small items or devotional
articles; sacristans and organists; devout women, poor widows, beggars;
farmers, students, physicians and their patients. These people were
subsequently brought together into book-distributing societies. The
society Atgaja (The Recovery) operated in the districts of
Joniškis, Gruzdžiai, and Šakyna from 1885 until 1895, when its
director Motiejus Slančiauskas was arrested. In Marijampolė and its
surroundings the society Sietynas (The Constellation) operated
from 1892-97; this society united over a hundred book and newspaper
distributors, one of whom was Kazys Grinius, later president of
Lithuania. The group was suppressed when forty of its members received
court sentences. The harshest sentence (15 years imprisonment) was
imposed on a mail carrier of Marijampole, Jurgis Lietuvninkas, and his
wife Petronele. Artojų Draugija (The Plowmen's Society), with
its headquarters also in Marijampolė, encompassed southern Lithuania;
one 'of its members was Pijus Grigaitis, later long-term editor of the
daily Naujienos (The News) in Chicago, Illinois. The members not
only circulated books, they secretly staged plays and organized
clandestine meetings. In 1903 twenty persons were arrested, but
proceedings against them were dropped when the prohibition of Lithuanian
publications was repealed in 1904.
- There are no accurate statistics on the
number of Lithuanian publications transported across the border. In
1891-1901 customs officials seized 173,259 books and periodicals. During
the last years of the prohibition from 30,000 to 40,000 copies were
being smuggled annually into the country, which was double the amount of
the previous ten years. For example, in 1891-93 officials withheld
31,718 copies and in 1900-02 the number reached 56,182 copies. This,
however, did not mean greater diligence on the part of the border
guards; it was due to the fact that more books were printed abroad and
more were carried across the border. In Tilžė the book-smugglers were
provided with Lithuanian publications by Petras Mikolainis and
subsequently by Morta Zauniūtė. In Bitėnai this was done by Martynas
Jankus, who also owned a small printing shop.
- It is not known how many persons were
penalized for this patriotic activity. The Lithuanian bibliographer
Vaclovas Biržiška, who researched the period of the press ban, noted
that this struggle with the Russians "claimed many victims who
found their rest not only in their native soil but also in distant
Siberia and elsewhere in Russia. The determination of this fight was so
universal that no sacrifice deterred a single soldier of the
"Litnuanian book army.' On the contrary new generations, joining
the ranks of the fighters, followed the example of those that had left
the ranks, continuously broadening the goals of the battle until it was
not just a struggle for a national culture but for the future of the
country." Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the freedom of the
press, the Lithuanian philosopher Stasys Šalkauskis used these words in
describing the book-smugglers: "This was a long road of martyrdom
on which many persons known and unknown to us today had to pay moral and
physical penalties for what is man's inborn holy right, the freedom of
cultural self-determination. During that historic martyrology knygnešys,
that unpretentious and unknown carrier of the cultural flame, attained
the limits of Promethean heroism. To mark this proud page of our
history, the Lithuanian nation would only have to erect a monument to Nežinomas
Knygnešys (The Unknown Book-Smuggler) who, holding a torch in one
hand and carrying a bundle of books in the other, would symbolize to the
Lithuanians the same ideals as the Arch of Triumph or the Statue of
Liberty."
-
- Bibl.: P. Ruseckas, Knygnesys,
Kaunas, 1925-28: A. Slikas, Kaip lietuvis knygnešys kovojo su
caro galybe, Kaunas, 1931; K. Grinius, Atsiminimai, I,
Tubingen, 1947; V. Bagdanavičius, ed., Kovos metai del savosios
spaudos, Chicago, 1957; J. Stukas, Awakening Lithuania,
Madison, New Jersey, 1966; V. Birfiska, Pabiros, Brooklyn, 1960;
St. Salkauskis, "Spaudos atgavimo minėjimo proga," Židinys,
No. 4, 1929 (Kaunas).
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Text from the ENCYCLOPEDIA
LITUANICA I-VI. Boston, 1970-1978
