Kovos Keliu Žengiant

This anthology represents a foundational act of cultural recovery: poetry composed by Lithuanian anti-Soviet partisans in the forests and bunkers of western Lithuania between 1945 and 1953, circulated only in clandestine mimeographed and handwritten periodicals during the Soviet decades, here published for the first time in print in Vilnius in 1991—the year of restored independence. The 'Neskelbta' (never previously published) notation in the colophon, the explicit identification of source periodicals such as PRR and KKZ, and the editor's note explaining imperfections due to partisan conditions all attest to the documentary authenticity and precarious transmission of this material.

The volume belongs to the broader corpus of Lithuanian partisan literature (dainos ir eilėraščiai) that constitutes both a historical record of armed resistance and a distinct literary tradition shaped by extreme conditions: clandestinity, imminent death, displacement to Siberia, and the necessity of writing without professional resources. Its 1991 Vilnius publication marks the transition of this tradition from suppressed underground memory to publicly acknowledged national heritage, making it a significant artifact for the study of Lithuanian cultural resistance, the recovery of Soviet-era suppressed literature, and the literary dimensions of the Lithuanian partisan movement.

Clandestine partisan publishing (mimeographed and handwritten underground periodicals during Soviet occupation, 1945–1953); subsequent recovery and first public print publication in restored-independence Lithuania (1991).