- Jonas Kentra
Jonas Kentra (1869 - 27 December 1942) was a
Lithuania npatriot who died in aSiberia n prison. He was born inVeiviržėnai ,Samogitia in Czarist Russian occupied western Lithuania. He was very active in the struggle for Lithuanian independence and the preservation of Lithuanian language and culture during the Czarist Russian occupation.Early life
He studied in the Seminary in
Kaunas for four years but left after having met his future wife, Felicija Bielevičiūtė. He later studied inLiepaja to obtain his qualifications as aNotary Public , settled inPalanga , and served as notary for the region for over 40 years.Later life
He was passionate about Lithuanian culture and language. This was difficult as official Russian policy was to suppress the Lithuanian language with a [http://www.spaudos.lt/Istorija/Period_press.en.htm ban on Latin-script and Lithuanian publications] .
Using his official position, he provided approval for the performance in
Palanga of a Lithuanian comedy "Amerika pirtyje" (America in the Bath) byAntanas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis . It was said that "news about the first Lithuanian play inPalanga quickly spread to other regions in Lithuania and persuaded a number of Lithuanians to take more consistent measures against censorship in Lithuania." [ [http://daugenis.mch.mii.lt/apsamogitia/KULTURA/zemteatr.en.htm Samogitian Cultural Association] ]Jonas was also active in a network which smuggled literature written in Lithuanian into the country, "
knygnešiai ". The Russian administration had forbidden the printing of Lithuanian books and newspapers in Latin characters. Palanga, where Jonas lived, became an important point for the smuggling of Lithuanian publications fromLithuania Minor .During Lithuanian independence between 1918 and 1940, life was pleasant with Jonas's hard work paying off. The family was well-provided for and Lithuanian culture flourished.
On 19 September 1939, pursuant to the secret
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact betweenGermany and theSoviet Union , Vilnius was seized and annexed by Soviet Union. On10 October 1939 , under a Soviet ultimatum, the Lithuanian government accepted the presence of Soviet military bases in the country in exchange for restoring the city to Lithuania. The whole of Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940 and a puppet Communist government was installed over the newly created Lithuanian SSR.Arrest and fate
Like many other "intellectuals" and public servants, Jonas was arrested and deported to the Siberian prison camp at
Resoty ,Nizniy Ingas District,Kraynoyarsk Territory.He died in December 1942 of starvation and exposure in the Siberian winter.
References
ee also
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Vladas Petronaitis (Son-in-Law)
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