Simas Kurdika (9 April 1930 – 11 February 2023) was a Lithuanian sailor. He is best known for the attempted

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1970 and subsequent activism against the Soviet regime in Lithuania. An important outcome of the incident was the creation of the improved guidelines for handling defections by American officials.

Biography

Born in

Griškabūdis Griškabūdis is a small town in Marijampolė County, in southwestern Lithuania. As of 2011, the town has a population of 857 people. History The settlement started to develop towards the end of the seventeenth century. In the beginning, it was ...

on 9 April 1930, Kurdika graduated from the in 1952. He worked as a radio operator on various ships from 1956 to 1970. On 23 November 1970, during a bilateral negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding fishing rights, he jumped from his ship, the trawler ''Sovetskaya Litva'', onto the American coast guard ship, the USCGC ''Vigilant'' (WMEC-617). He requested

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

, but was detained and forcibly returned to the Soviet ship by Soviet troops who had been let on board by the Americans. Actions by U.S. and Soviet officials were condemned by American news sources, particularly the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

was angered by the incident, because of the violation of the procedure of handling the defection cases. After that three high officers associated with the incident were relieved from the duties. A more important outcome was the creation of the new guidelines for handling defections, which made the standing procedures more specific to ensure that similar situations would not happen again. In May 1971, Kurdika was sentenced to 10 years of

correctional labour camp The Correctional Labour Camp was a kind of penitentiary institution. Under various names and forms of ownership, they exist practically all over the world (due to the need to reduce the costs of the penitentiary system by means of its self–suffi ...

s and he served his time in camps in

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

and

Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...

. His mother, who had been born in the United States, regained her U.S. citizenship, and Kurdika managed to secure release from imprisonment in 1974. He moved to the United States with his family and gave lectures about the communist regime in Lithuania. He returned to Lithuania in 2000, ten years after the country's independence. Kurdika died in

Pilviškiai Pilviškiai ( pl, Pilwiszki, yi, פילווישאָק ''Pilveshok'') is a town in Vilkaviškis district municipality and in Marijampolė County History In the Jewish world, it was known historically for its learned population, served among other ...

on 11 February 2023, at the age of 92.

Honors

*Commander of the

Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis ( lt, Vyčio Kryžiaus ordinas) is a Lithuanian presidential award conferred for heroic defence of Lithuania's freedom and independence. November 23 is a holiday in honour of the Order of the Cross of Vytis. His ...

(2008)Apdovanotų asmenų duomenų bazė
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Works about Kudirka

Several books and films have been produced about the life and story of Kurdika: *''Simas'' (1971) – book written by Jurgis Gliauda *''Day of Shame'' (1973) – book written by Algis Rukšėnas *''Simas Kudirka in Chicago'' (1974) – film directed by

Algimantas Kezys Algimantas Kezys (1928 – February 23, 2015) was a photographer born in Lithuania who moved to the United States in 1950. Kezys was ordained as a Jesuit priest in the 1950s; he received a master's degree in philosophy from Loyola University (Chic ...

*''

The Defection of Simas Kudirka ''The Defection of Simas Kudirka'' is a 1978 American made-for-television drama film based on actual events, featuring Alan Arkin as Simas Kudirka, a Lithuanian merchant seaman who attempts to defect from the Soviet Union to the United States by ...

'' (1978) – television film that won two Emmys *''For Those Still at Sea'' (1978) – book written by Kudirka and Lawrence E. Eichel *'' The Jump'' (2020) – Lithuanian documentary film

References

'', 21 December 1970. * ''Fidell, Eugene R.'
How to (Mis)Handle a Defection
''Proceedings'', Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2008 (with many photos).

* [http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/i-jav-beges-ir-uz-ssrs-isdavima-kalejes-skudirka-visas-lietuvos-gyvenimas-persunktas-bolsevikine-dvasia.d?id=60709603 Į JAV bėgęs ir už SSRS išdavimą kalėjęs S.Kudirka: visas Lietuvos gyvenimas persunktas bolševikine dvasia]
Virginija Skučaitė. Šuolio į laisvę kaina. Kauno diena, 2008-11-15

Attempted Defection by Lithuanian Seaman Simas Kudirka: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Foreign Operations…, 91-2, December 3, 7-9, 14, 17, 18, 29, 1970
''

Radio Freedom Radio Freedom also called Radio Zambia was a South African radio arm of the African National Congress (ANC) and its fighting wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) (Spear of the Nation) during the anti-Apartheid struggle from the 1970s through the 1990s. ...

'', November 17, 2019 **A detailed description of the incident (in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kudirka, Simas 1930 births 2023 deaths Lithuanian sailors Soviet sailors Soviet defectors to the United States Gulag detainees Lithuanian emigrants to the United States Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis People from Šakiai District Municipality

Biography

Honors

Works about Kudirka

References

Further reading