LVŽS leaders calls for naming Ramanauskas-Vanagas de facto head of Lithuanian state

At Karbauskis’ initiative, members of the LVŽS political group in the Seimas have drafted a declaration to recognize Ramanauskas-Vanagas as Lithuania’s head of state, and will submit it to the parliament for consideration, according to a press release.

In 1949, the leadership of Lithuanian partisans waging a guerrilla war against the Soviet Union named Ramanauskas-Vanagas as deputy to Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas, chairman of the Presidium of the Council of the Union of the Lithuanian Freedom Fighters, and appointed him as commander-in-chief of the defense forces.

Zemaitis-Vytautas, who was executed at Moscow’s Butyrka prison in 1954, was officially recognized as Lithuania’s head of state in 2009.

“The state must assess the actual status of Ramanauskas-Vanagas after Zemaitis-Vytautas, the head of state of Lithuania fighting against occupation and the de facto president of the republic, died in captivity,” Karbauskis said.

After several years in hiding, Ramanauskas-Vanagas was arrested by Soviet authorities in 1956. After brutal torture, he was executed in 1957.

Some law experts say Ramanauskas-Vanagas could be given the status of de facto head of state only if there is evidence that he served as chairman of the presidium after Žemaitis-Vytautas’ death.