Tomas Šernas (born 28 April 1962 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

) is a former

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n customs officer and the only survivor of the Medininkai Massacre on 31 July 1991. He survived the point-blank shot to his head, but became disabled. After extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation, Šernas graduated from theological studies at

Klaipėda University Klaipėda University ( lt, Klaipėdos universitetas or KU) is a university in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda. Overview Klaipėda University was formally founded on January 1, 1991, by a decree of the Seimas (the Lithuanian parliament ...

and joined the

Reformed churches Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...

as a parson of the Vilnius parish. In 2010, he was elected for a three-year term as the General Superintendent of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania.Medininkų žudynes išgyvenęs T.Šernas tapo Lietuvos evangelikų reformatų bažnyčios vadovu

Delfi.lt Delfi (occasionally capitalized as DELFI) is a news website in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics. It ranks as one of the most popular websites among Baltic users. Delfi operates in the ...

Biography

Born to a family of music teachers, Šernas studied veterinary in

Buivydiškės Buivydiškės is a village in Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, it had 1,314 residents. Buivydiškės Manor was first mentioned in 1593. The village has a technical school for agronomy and zootechnics, establis ...

. After graduation in 1983, he was drafted to the

Soviet army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

and served two years in aviation security in

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

.Tomas Šernas. Biografijos faktai
. Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania. After the army he enrolled into the

Lithuanian Veterinary Academy Lithuanian University of Health Sciences ( lt, Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, LSMU) is a medical school in Kaunas, Lithuania. The present-day Lithuanian University of Health Sciences is a consolidation of two institutions of higher e ...

and worked at

Kaunas Zoo Lithuanian Zoological Garden ( lt, Lietuvos zoologijos sodas) previously known as Kaunas' Zoological Garden (''Kauno zoologijos sodas'') is the oldest scientific zoo in Lithuania. It is located in an Ąžuolynas oak grove park in the south-wester ...

. In 1990, he volunteered for pro-independence

Sąjūdis Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...

and joined newly established

State Border Guard Service The Border Guard Service of the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic also commonly known as the Kyrgyz Frontier Force is the border guard of the Kyrgyz Republic. It is currently a Public Service department of the government ...

. After Lithuania declared independence 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 March 1990, newly built border posts became a symbol of independence. These posts were targeted by Soviet OMON forces – custom officers and policemen were harassed or beaten, cars were stolen or bombed, the posts were burned down or wrecked.History of the SBGS
State Border Guard Service (SBGS). On 31 July 1991

OMON OMON (russian: ОМОН – Отряд Мобильный Особого Назначения , translit = Otryad Mobil'nyy Osobogo Naznacheniya , translation = Special Purpose Mobile Unit, , previously ru , Отряд Милиции Осо� ...

troops from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

executed seven officers in

Medininkai Medininkai (; be, Меднікі) is a village in Lithuania, located east of Vilnius city municipality and from the Lithuanian–Belarusian border. The village is situated on the Medininkai Highland, near the highest points of Lithuania � ...

checkpoint on the Lithuanian–

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian border. Severely injured Šernas was the only survivor. He suffered brain damage and became disabled. After several years of intense therapy, he regained speech and body movement, even though he still uses a wheelchair. In 1997, he enrolled into

and received a bachelor's degree in evangelical theology. He continued the religious studies at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

, earning a master's degree in 2002. On 30 June 2002 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest in Vilnius and headed the Vilnius parish. Several times he was elected as vice-superintendent of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania. In June 2010 he was elected as General Superintendent for a three-year term.

Biography

References

Further reading