Monument in Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania

Right about in the middle of Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania, there is a monument beside the road, erected in 1999 in memory of the inhabitants of Gikoniai in 1945, many of whom were exiled to Siberia by the Soviets.  There is a wood sculpture of Mary, Mother of God, resting on a cube with inscriptions on all four sides. The base has 32 stones on its exterior, many of which are inscribed with names of residents. According to my third cousin Osvaldas Guokas, the monument is called "Stone Wreaths."

Above:  Monument in Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania, photo by Osvaldas Guokas, 2 June 2017.

Below:  Gikonys- Paminklas 32 kaimo šeimoms - Monument with the names of 32 families in Gikoniai village - by Silvestras Gaižiūnas, 28 September 2010.

The front of the cube has this inscription in Lithuanian:
"Gikonių kaimo/ gyventojų / atminimui/ 1945 m./ Kaime buvo 32 sodybos"

which roughly translates to:
"In memory of the inhabitants of the village of Gikoniai in 1945. There were 32 homesteads in the village"

This side also includes a drawing of the Savickas windmill and a double cross.

The next side (visible in the photo and in the link just above) reads as follows in Lithuanian:
"Gikoniai/ poeto/ Henriko / Radausko / tėviškė/ 1910-1970 /O žmonės gimė, sėjo, pjovė, / juos kirto laikas H.R."

which roughly translates to:

"Gikoniai/ poet/ Henrikas/ Radauskas/ fatherland/ 1910-1970 / And people were born, sowed, reaped, / they were cut time H.R.''
The last two lines are apparently from a poem from the famous Lithuanian poet Henrikas Radauskas, who was from Gikoniai.

The third side of the cube (pictured below) says this in Lithuanian:
"1948.05.22. Sibiran/ ištremtos 4 šeimos/ (Penkiolika žmonių)/ Tremtyje mirė/ Pranas Jasilionis"

which translates roughly to:

"1948.05.22 4 families (15 persons) were exiled to Siberia.  Pranas Jasilionis died in exile."

There's also an image of a broken tree, which may be a symbol for Pranas' death.

I have been able to count 15 people from the Pakruojos region who were exiled to Siberia between 1945 and 1949, with the Jasilionis, Urlakis, and Guokas surnames.  Twelve of them were from the Jasilionis family (Osvaldas' great-grandmother was a Jasilionis, as was my Guokas great-grandfather's first wife).  Fulgentas Jasilionis (1892-AFT 1948), who I wrote about in an earlier post, also died in exile.

Above and below:  photos of two of the sides of the monument in Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania, by Osvaldas Guokas, 2 June 2017.

The last side of the cube (pictured above) reads in Lithuanian:
"Viešpatie laimink/ jų palikuonis / 1999"

which roughly translates to:

"Lord bless their descendants 1999"
There's a stylized cross on this side.  The monument was built in 1999.

The sculptor of the statue of Mary is Elvyra Radauskaitė (1923-2020), who was born in Gikoniai.  In a memoir, she says, "In the village cemetery, there were two very beautiful chapel pillars by Jonas Danauskas, a folk craftsman from Rozalimas. I really liked them. Saint Martin rode a white horse, cutting a piece of his red cloak with his sword to wrap around the frozen beggar's shoulders. Holy Mary, standing on the serpent and the Moon. I also dreamed of making such sculptures. Although ungirly, this was my dream. When I was maybe 12 years old, I carved a similar Mary from a small piece of birch and painted it with watercolor paints. After 63 years, I restored the statue, building a monument in memory of the people of Gikoniai village."

Osvaldas said, "This monument is a mix of Lithuanian pagan and Catholic symbols. We can see the Moon near Marija's feet.  The Moon is the god of night light, a warrior in Lithuanian pagan religion.  The Moon is responsible for the growing of plants. We can see a grass-snake near her feet. It is a holy animal in Lithuanian pagan religion.

A žaltys (literally: grass snake) is a household spirit in the Lithuanian mythology. As a sacred animal of the sun goddess Saulė (the Sun), it is a guardian of the home and a symbol of fertility. People used to keep it as a pet by the stove or other special area of the house, believing that it would bring good harvest and wealth. Killing a žaltys was said to bring great misfortunes upon the household. If a žaltys was found in the field, people gave it milk attempting to befriend the creature and make it a sacred household pet.

We can see the Savickas windmill, and a double cross (Lithuanian-style cross). There was a big wooden Lithuanian double cross in the old Gikoniai cemetery. [On the base,] we can see stones with all families that lived here in those times."

The photos below correspond with the sides of the statue's base described above.

Some of the names on the first side (photo below) - I can't read them all:

-Juozas ir Ona Savickai - this may be Juozapas Savickas (born c1900), my fourth cousin twice removed, and his wife Ona Krikštanavičiūtė Savickienė (born c1895), my second cousin twice removed.

-Tremteniai Fulgentas ir Felagėja Jasilioniai - Exiles Fulgentas (1892-AFT 1948) and his wife Felagėja Ramanauskaitė Jasilionienė who were sent to Krasnojarsko (Krasnoyarsk) krai in Siberia in the Soviet Union in 1948.  Fulgentas died in exile; Felagėja and three of their children who were exiled with them returned in 1958.  Fulgentas operated the milk collection point I wrote about earlier.  

-Justo Radausko seima - Justinas Radauskas family.

-Razgaičiai Stanislovas Elena ? ? ? - Stanislovas Razgaitis and his wife Elena Giedrikaitė Razgaitienė (born 1911), who is my third cousin twice removed.  The other three names that I can't read are probably their children.

-Uržos Jonas-Paulina - Jonas and Paulina Urža.

Above:  close-up of one side of the base of the monument in Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania, cropped from a photo by Osvaldas Guokas, 2 June 2017.

Below:  close-up of one side of the base of the Gikoniai monument, cropped from a photo by Silvestras Gaižiūnas, 28 September 2010.

On the second side (photo above):

-Igno Radausko šeima - Ignas (nickname for Ignacijus) Radauskas family - this probably refers to the Ignacijus Radauskas (born 1894) who was my first cousin twice removed.

-Urlakiai Apolinara Valerija Aldona Valerija, Petras - Urlakis family - Apolinaras (born 1889), probably his wife Valerija, and probably their children Aldona, Valerija, and Petras.

-Ušinskai - Ušinskas family.

-Jasilioniai - Jasilionis family. 

On the third side (photo below):

-Bronislava ir Jonas Razgaičiai - Bronislova Vilkūnaitė Razgaitienė (born 1912), and her husband Jonas Razgaitis, my fifth cousin once removed.

-(the next one is hard to read, but I think it says) Radauskai Justas Salomeja (can't read the rest) - Justinas and Salomeja Radauskas.

Above and below:  close-ups of the last two sides of the base of the monument in Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania, cropped from photos by Osvaldas Guokas, 2 June 2017.

And finally, on the fourth side (photo above):

-Ona, Stanislovas Razgaičiai - Ona Ivanauskaitė Razgaitienė and her husband, my fifth cousin once removed Stanislovas Razgaitis (born 1902).

-Keturakis Vladas - Vladas Keturakis.

-Vinco Radausko šeima - Vincas (Vincentas) Radauskas family.

-Mykolas ir Agota Savickai - Mykolas Savickas (born c1900), my fourth cousin twice removed and his wife Agota Žukauskaitė Savickienė (born c1910).  The Savickas cross in Gikoniai was built in their honor.

-Domo ir Viktorija Radausko šeima - probably Dominykas (Domas) and Viktorija Radauskas family.

-Savicko Jono šeima 1888-1955? - Jonas Savickas (born 1888) family.

Osvaldas noted that there were "a lot of persons in Gikoniai who have the same surnames. They used nicknames for daily communication. There were 8 houses of Radauskas, 5 Urlakis houses, 4 Savickas houses and others.

Nicknames:

Agota Guokaitė Radauskienė [1861-1942] they called ''Ignienė" -  wife of Ignas (Ignacijus) [this is the sister of my great-grandfather Kazimieras "Charles" Guokas];

Justinas Radauskas [1888-1977], (sculptor Elvyra's father) was "Martyniukas" [his father's name was Martynas];

Justinas Radauskas was "Baukas" - he might be the son [born 1888] of Agota Guokaitė Radauskienė [and this my first cousin twice removed];

Jonas Radauskas [born 1878] - "Pranejons" like Jonas [son] of Pranas;

Alfonsas Urlakis [born 1886] - "Bismarkas";

Dominykas Radauskas - "Pūkis" [which translates to "Fluffy"];

Stanislovas Razgaitis [born 1902] - "Ponadievs" like "LordGod" because he was a marshal in the church."

The monument is on the property originally owned by sculptor Elvyra Radauskaitė's father Justinas Radauskas, which is about halfway down the road that runs north from the Savickas cross to the Radauskas cross.  This cross is at the junction of the road that leads to the "Bridge of Love," crossing the Daugyvelė river over to Plaučiškiai.  You can see the land at the left center on the Gikoniai maps in this post.  In this 2017 virtual tour of Gikoniai, the monument appears on the left at the 28-second mark, and the Radauskas cross can be seen quite well on the right at the one-minute mark:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wleR-Eifrn4.

© Amanda Pape - 2024 - e-mail me!