Practice of the death penalty: 1935-1936 farmers' strike in Suvalkija

In the midst of the interwar years, the 1930s were particularly marked by social discontent within society. The 1929-1933 global economic crises had worsened the conditions of agriculture, the quality of life dropped, the restrictions on civil rights and liberties by the authoritarian regime led people to protest in various ways. In 1935 the farmers of Suvalkija started their movement. Prices of agricultural products decreased, but prices of industrial products remained unchanged forcing farmers to demand economic concessions by executing the boycott for the cities by not supplying them with agricultural products. Massive pickets, demonstrations and rallies came with propaganda, chaotic vandalism, and the destruction of public and private property. The government had to take actions. The police started to arrest the strikers; courts began to punish the most active participants of the farmers’ movement. For extremely serious crimes strikers were judged in the court – martialed and sentenced to death. In the interwar period of Lithuania the death penalty was in force until 15 June 1940 with short breaks. The imposition of the death penalty was legally defined in the Criminal Statutes, Penal Statute of War and extraordinary national laws. The practice of the death penalty in Lithuania is divided into two periods: 1919-1937 when punishment was carried out by firing squad and 1937-1940 when gas chamber was used for execution. Jurgis Čėsna was the first participant of the farmers’ movement sentenced to death. On 23 April 1936 he was convicted for the demolition of telephone and telegraph lines and actions against the state. Fortunately, the president granted him clemency and sentenced J. Čėsna to imprisonment in a penitentiary. The second and the most famous criminal case of Suvalkija farmers’ strike took place on 18-21 May 1936. Seven individuals were court-martialed and convicted to death because of the organised actions against the state. After appealing for pardon, three persons were granted clemency, but K. Narkevičius, A. Petrauskas, B. Pratasevičius and P. Šarkauskas were sentenced to death. They were executed by firing squad on 23 May 1936 at 3:00 a.m. The information about execution was widely covered in the press. It can be assumed that the official propaganda sought to suppress the strike, by threatening its participants with death penalty. The third case of the death sentences of the 1935-1936 farmers’ movement in Suvalkija was announced on 3 July 1936. The court-martial sentenced ten participants of the strike to death, because they belonged to the secret organization which provoked farmers not to pay taxes and not to sell agricultural products. This organization also sought to overthrow the government. After big scandals of the last May executions, the president decided to be gracious and changed the punishment to a lighter sentence. On 21 October 1937 the capital punishment was executed in the recently built gas chamber. The poisoned person was A. Maurušaitis, who was convicted for organizing terrorist acts and attempting to overthrow the state order. Even though the cassation appeal was given after the first court verdict, the Supreme Court confirmed the court-martial judgement. [...