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Vilnius: Knights, Russians…And Frank Zappa

November 29, 2021 /

Tuesday’s snow melts away quickly as a rise in the mercury brings heavy grey skies and occasional drizzle, the ice patches on the uneven pavements are once again just harmless puddles. A 17-mile train ride out of the capital brings us to Trakai, a lakeside town which in summer is a popular destination for city dwellers and tourists alike.

Trakai Island Castle

Trakai is a town surrounded by water, built on both lakeside flatlands and grassy peninsulas, and is a ramshackle mix of timber clad houses and characterless rectangular apartment blocks, but its popularity is down not just to its watery location but also to its stunning castle structures. One of the castles sits majestically on an island in the lake reached by two lengthy footbridges, the other faces it from a narrow peninsula jutting out into the water.

  • Trakai
  • Trakai

Originally built in the 14th century as a base for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania then rebuilt in more robust form by Vytautus The Great, the castles enabled the Duchy to ward off successive crusades by the Teutonic Knights and thus retain the Duchy’s autonomy, displaying characteristic resilience (that word again!) in the process.

Trakai Island Castle
Trakai Island Castle

The famous island castle fell into disrepair in the 19th century as villagers looted building materials for their own ends, until a major restoration project starting in 1902 saw rebuilding which replicates the original design. The result is a beautifully picturesque lakeside structure which looks as much like a fairy tale castle as a piece of ancient history. 

Footbridge to the islsnd

With 200 lakes in the region, one of which, Galve, is large enough to sport 21 islands, as well as the castles, it isn’t surprising that Trakai is such a popular excursion from the capital. All the clues are here: tour boats are moored and shrouded for winter, large restaurants with extensive verandas sit in darkness waiting for Spring. It’s impressive even in today’s gloom; it must be beautiful in summer.

In some less than prominent corners of Vilnius you will find some inspired, offbeat statuary, some with deep meaning, some just plain random. “First Swallows” sits between a school and a shopping mall north of the River Neris, the first swallows of summer being a metaphor for the rebirth of the Lithuanian nation. Others are less obvious: the angel of Uzupis standing on an egg, a small boy clasping a shoe to his chest, and, most incongruous of all, Frank Zappa.

  • First Swallows
  • Uzupis Angel

Zappa’s connection with Vilnius is…..absolutely nothing. When Lithuania had pulled down its part of the Iron Curtain, the desire to align with Western culture and shake off Moscow triggered thoughts of just how its capital could celebrate its new found freedom. When a local youth group suggested a Frank Zappa statue, even they were surprised when their idea was accepted by the authorities: but accepted it was, and a stony Zappa now stares out across a quiet square.

  • Frank Zappa
  • Boy with shoe

Celebration of freedom is one thing, remembering the darkest days of Russification is quite another, and to conclude our time in Vilnius we head to the place where the brutal truths of that period are laid bare: The Museum Of Occupations And Freedom Fights. This museum, housed inside the former KGB prison, takes the visitor into a world of unimaginable brutality.

We previously visited a similar museum in Estonia, and can honestly say that these two places must be, together with Auschwitz, amongst the most chilling places on Earth. These stories need to be told, and not forgotten: surely we should never forget the level of pain and brutality humanity can inflict on itself, the level of depravity our race can reach when brainwashed by authority.

KGB Prison

The Baltic region’s 20th century story is a long one, too long to recount here, but the common theme is of being let down and exposed by the World, and of the resilience of the oppressed people. The story starts with the Molatov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret agreement between the opposing Nazis and Russians regarding which territories they would mutually invade. 

But the main story here in this museum is of the ensuing years of oppression by Moscow. Hundreds of thousands of Russians forcibly relocated to the Baltic to impose Soviet lifestyles; similar numbers of indigenous peoples shipped the opposite way, so changing the demographic of the Baltic states in order to make it easier to impose control.

Many didn’t make it as far as exile. One word against authority and the treatment was brutal, from death by firing squad to solitary confinement to Siberian prisons; from being forced to stand naked in freezing water in a solitary confinement cell for hours on end to the bodies of slaughtered teenagers being left in Vilnius market square as a warning to those considering dissidence. These acts were not committed in wartime, but in the period of Soviet rule through the decades from the 1950s right up to the late 1980s.

  • Cell for 2 prisoners
  • Padded cell

Resistance movements existed in all three Baltic states, putting their lives at risk in order to defend their heritage, though understandably their numbers declined over the decades. The so called “Forest Brothers” was a loose amalgam of such resistance movements across the three states, the nickname coming from their hiding places out in the harsh remote terrain, men who fought for freedom and sovereignty in defiance of oppression. 

Brutality aside, the Soviets succeeded in inflicting change on Lithuania. Autocracy won, communism won, oppression won, and generations of Lithuanians grew up under Soviet rule, living a life alien to free spirit, but learning from parents and grandparents of Lithuania’s proud history. And always dreaming that one day, freedom will return.

Return it did, eventually, of course. But this museum tells the whole story of brutality, of stolen identity, of oppression and of resentment. And, of course, of resilience. 

No wonder the feeling of liberation is so strong, over 30 years later. 

Resilience is but part of the story.

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