The remains of two partisans sentenced to death by the Soviets and executed by shooting were found at the Orphans' Cemetery in Vilnius. They belong to Vytautas Miskinis-Viesulas (executed in 1962 at the age of 33) and Pranciskus Prusaitis-Lape (executed in 1963 at the age of 35).
In 2019, the remains of 34 partisans were re-exhumed at Leipaligis Cemetery in Druskininkai Municipality, and the remains of seven partisans and two supporters have been identified so far. The identification of another three remains is nearing completion.
"The remains were re-exhumed in response to relatives' requests to identify the victims. We looked for relatives of all 170 killed persons and took their DNA samples. Nine fighters have been identified so far out of the 34 re-exhumed remains," Eugenijus Peikstenis, a senior adviser from the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania, told BNS on Monday.
In his words, the search for the remains of the remaining fighters in Leipalingis will continue.
Adas Jakubauskas, head of the center, noted that it was the first re-exhumation of partisans' remains.