The underground press

While analyzing the press ban in Lithuania and the illegal presence of the press it is possible to highlight two historical periods: when all Lithuanian publications without exception were banned and the Bolshevik government years, when any publication could be published only with permission of censors; for disobedience people were prosecuted. For these reasons, there emerged the underground press. The difference between the two periods is that the tsarist Russia banned the Lithuanian press, and the Bolsheviks censored everything, regardless of the language it was written. As a kind of resistance structure there formed a network of book smugglers. The Lithuanians mastered the activities of the underground press distribution very well. Today it is difficult to understand that period without “Aušra (Dawn)” and “Varpas (Bell)” newspapers. Without Jonas Basanavičus, Vincas Kudirka, Maironis and Jonas Šliūpas. The underground press has greatly contributed to the formation of national self-awareness. The religious press gave impetus to it; some newspapers reached foreign countries and some articles were heard over the airwaves. In 1978, priests Jonas Kameneckas, Alfonsas Svarinskas, Vincas Natkevičius and Juozas Zdebskis founded Organization for the Defense of the Rights of Believers and tried to publicly express their views. These activities proved that it was possible to overcome the fear, so the people became bolder. Illegal publications “Laisvės Šauklys” (Liberty Herald) and “Perspektyvos” (Prospects) focused on independence aspirations. The underground press publishers and distributors performed the underground press functions and showed that nation was not sleeping, that it believed in its futureIstorijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta