George Matulaitis Journal

The fighting lasted from the l9th to the 21st. 1 In the end, the Poles took the city. As they retreated, the Bolsheviks took some Lithuanian hostages 2 with them—the priests Vailokaitis, Reinys, 3 and Dogelis and also Mr. Sta inskas, Mrs. Bortkevi ius, and Mr. Gira as well as more than a dozen Poles. The Poles fought courageously. The Bolsheviks, the real Party people, also defended themselves fiercely. However, the Red Army soldiers did not really want to fight. They either surrendered or ran away. The city looked dead. Many windows had been smashed by bullets. A number of roofs were destroyed and much damage inflicted. Street fighting is a terrible thing. Nine window panes were broken in my own house. Several bullets flew inside, and some were embedded in the walls and windows. The Catholic population of the city opposed the Bolsheviks, while the Jews were sympathetic toward them. On April 21st the seminarians could already come to my chapel for ordination. I ordained several priests and a few subdeacons. Í witalski, 4 the adjutant to General Í mig = y-Rydz, 5 called on me and greeted me in the General’s name. In the evening he came again to ask if the General himself could come to visit me at nine the next morning. I consented. In the afternoon some ladies, members of the League of Patriotic Women, came to see me demanding that I bury the fallen soldiers. If possible, they wanted me to accompany the bodies as they were transferred from the hospital to the Cathedral in the evening, to offer Mass the next morning, and to go to the cemetery afterward. I asked them how many had been killed. They answered that there were about sixty. Seeing that they were greatly excited and difficult to talk to, I told them that I would decide what to do after consulting with the Cathedral Chapter. Father Kuleszo, a great Polish nationalist and activist, had sent them. 251 1 This was Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Monday. 2 Eventually, all the hostages were released in exchange for Bolshevik prisoners given up by the Lithuanian government. 3 Fr. Reinys, the most famous of these prisoners, returned to work in Vilnius until 1922, when he was expelled by the Polish authorities. He went to Kaunas, where he was professor of psychology at the University, and continued to play a leading role in Lithuanian religious, cultural, and political life. Matulaitis consecrat- ed him bishop in 1926. 4 Kazimierz Í witalski, an admirer and supporter of Pi=sudski , at this time was staff officer and aide to General Í m ig=y -Rydz. 5 Edward Í mig = y-Rydz (1886-1941): was a close associate of Pi=sudski and eventually his successor. He helped organize the Polish Army and from 1919 to 1920 was in command of a special force sent in to fight the Bolsheviks.