Kazys Skučas (3 March 1894 in Mauručiai, Marijampolė district – 30 July 1941 in the

Butyrka prison Butyrskaya prison ( rus, Бутырская тюрьма, r= Butýrskaya tyurmá), usually known simply as Butyrka ( rus, Бутырка, p=bʊˈtɨrkə), is a prison in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow, Russia. In Imperial Russia it ...

) was a Lithuanian politician and General of the Lithuanian Army. Skučas was the last

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of independent Lithuania. He was a target of anti-Lithuanian Soviet propaganda in the days leading to the 1940 Soviet ultimatum and occupation of Lithuania. Right after the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

invaded Lithuania on 15 June 1940, Skučas was directed to leave the country by the then-President

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the ...

but was arrested at the border several days later by the then acting Lithuanian President Antanas Merkys and handed over to the Russians, transported to Moscow, and executed in 1941.

Early life and career

After graduation from the Veiveriai Pedagogical Seminary in 1912, Skučas worked as a teacher for a few years. He then enrolled to the Pedagogical Institute of Petrograd. However, in 1915 he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army and served in the

Romanian front The Romanian Front ( ro, Frontul Românesc, FR) was a moderate fascist party created in Romania in 1935. Led by former Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, it originated as a right-wing splinter group from the mainstream National Peasants' Part ...

with the 249th Infantry Regiment. In 1918 he returned to Lithuania and volunteered for the Lithuanian Army, where he began by organized police forces in Daugai. Skučas steadily rose through the ranks and in March 1928 he became the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division and the Kaunas garrison. From 1934 to 1938, Skučas worked as a military attaché in Russia. After his return, he was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, but he soon retired. He then joined the 20th cabinet (Prime Minister

Jonas Černius Jonas Černius (6 January 1898, Kupiškis, Kovno Governorate – 3 July 1977, Los Angeles) was a Lithuanian general and Prime Minister. When Lithuania declared independence in 1918, he joined the army as a volunteer and participated in the Freed ...

) as the Minister of the Interior. Formed after the government crisis in the aftermath of the

1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania The 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum which Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania on 20 March 1939. The Germans demanded that Lithuania give ...

, the 20th cabinet included four generals. Skučas retained his position when Prime Minister

Antanas Merkys Antanas Merkys (; 1 February 1887 – 5 March 1955) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When the Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding that it accept a Soviet g ...

formed the 21st cabinet in fall 1939.

Soviet persecution

In spring 1940, the Soviet Union heightened its anti-Lithuanian rhetoric and increased diplomatic pressure. The Lithuanian government was accused of kidnapping, torturing, and interrogating two Russian soldiers, stationed in Lithuania according to the

Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty ( lt, Lietuvos-Sovietų Sąjungos savitarpio pagalbos sutartis) was a bilateral treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on October 10, 1939. According to provisions outlined in the tre ...

of 1939. Skučas and Director of the State Security Department

Augustinas Povilaitis Augustinas Povilaitis (24 February 1900 in Pašventys, Jurbarkas district – 12 July 1941 in Moscow) was a captain of the Lithuanian Army and Director of the State Security Department of Lithuania. Together with Minister of the Interior Kazys ...

were singled out as the main perpetrators of the provocations. Despite Lithuanian repeated pledges to fully investigate the incident, the Soviets kept pressing the charges. Just before receiving the Soviet ultimatum, Lithuanian government decided that Skučas should resign. However, it was not enough and the Lithuanians were presented with the ultimatum, listing three demands. The first demand was to put Skučas and Povilaitis on trial. After Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union on 15 June 1940, Skučas and Povilaitis were arrested, by police sent by Antanas Merkys, near the Lithuanian border with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. For a time they were held in the Kaunas Prison, but then transported to the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. After a show trial, Skučas was sentenced to death and executed in July 1941 aged 47. For a long time very little was known about Skučas' trial or execution. Only in 1989 his case documents were made public. They showed that, despite lack of evidence, Skučas was accused not only of provocations against the Russian soldiers, but also of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

during the years as military attaché and "brutal actions against the

socialist revolution Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revoluti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skucas, Kazys 1894 births 1941 deaths People from Marijampolė County Lithuanian generals Lithuanian people executed by the Soviet Union Ministers of Internal Affairs of Lithuania