Karolis Didžiulis (born Grosmanas; 19 August 1894 – 24 May 1958) was a Lithuanian communist politician and statesman. He was a member of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviet invasion and occupation. The party was ...

in 1927–1958 and chairman of the Supreme Court of the Lithuanian SSR in 1947–1958. Didžiulis completed just three years of primary education and worked as a farm worker, dockworker and metalworker in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

before joining the Communist Party of Lithuania in 1919. The party was illegal in

interwar Lithuania In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

and Didžiulis was arrested and imprisoned numerous times, spending a total of about nine years in Lithuanian prisons. After the

Soviet occupation of Lithuania The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic st ...

in June 1940, he joined the

People's Government of Lithuania The People's Government of Lithuania () was a puppet cabinet installed by the Soviet Union in Lithuania immediately after Lithuania's acceptance of the Soviet ultimatum of June 14, 1940. The formation of the cabinet was supervised by Vladimir De ...

, was elected to the

People's Seimas The People's Seimas () was a puppet legislature organized in order to give legal sanction to the occupation and annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, a new pro-Soviet government was formed, known a ...

, and was deputy chairman of the

Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR (; , ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution) of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics constituting the Soviet Union. The Supreme Soviet was established ...

. He was in charge of the Soviet land reform which nationalized landholdings and distributed them to landless peasants. During World War II, he evacuated to Russia and was party representative and organizer in

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

and

Pereslavl-Zalessky Pereslavl-Zalessky (, ), formerly known as Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, or simply Pereyaslavl, is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the main Moscow–Yaroslavl road and on the southeastern shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo at the mouth of the ...

. He returned to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in July 1944 and participated in the Sovietization efforts of Lithuania: land nationalization, mass deportations to Siberia, and suppression of the

Lithuanian partisans Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in E ...

. From 1947 to his death in 1958, he was chairman of the Supreme Court of the Lithuanian SSR.

Biography

Early life

Didžiulis was born on 19 August 1894 in north of

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

. He was of Latvian origin; from about 1940 he used the Lithuanian translation (Didžiulis) of his surname Grosman (). His parents owned of land, but struggled financially. Didžiulis completed just three years of primary education. In 1912, he moved to

to work in the docks and metalworking factory. During a dockworkers' strike in 1913, he was involved in distributing social democratic literature. In October 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, he returned to his family's farm. In late 1918, after the

German revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Didžiulis joined a local pro-communist group in

Žagarė Žagarė (, see also #Etymology, other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lith ...

. In January 1919, at the start of the

Lithuanian–Soviet War The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War () was fought between newly independent Lithuania and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the larger Soviet westward offensiv ...

, he organized communist soviet and police in Šakyna. These institutions were disbanded by February 1919.

Interwar Lithuania

In June 1919, Didžiulis established contacts with Lithuanian communists and joined the

. At first he worked with local communists in

Joniškis Joniškis (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Juonėškis''; ) is a city in northern Lithuania with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border. Joniškis i ...

and

. In September 1921, he was tasked by the party with transport and distribution of illegal communist literature, including the periodicals '' Tiesa'' and '. In September 1922, Didžiulis was arrested when he transported literature to

Vilkaviškis Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilkauj ...

. Even though the Lithuanian police found only legal publications, Didžiulis was confined to a camp in and later the Fifth Fort of

Kaunas Fortress Kaunas Fortress (, , ) is the remains of a fortress complex in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was constructed and renovated between 1882 and 1915 to protect the Russian Empire's western borders, and was designated a "first-class" fortress in 1887. During W ...

. He was released in September 1923. The party then sent him to study at the Communist University of the National Minorities of the West in Moscow. He returned to Lithuania in August 1925 and organized communist activities in the Šiauliai area. After the coup d'état in December 1926, many two members of the Central Committee of the

were executed while a few others were arrested. As a result, the Central Committee coopted Didžiulis in January 1927. Later that year, he was also elected to the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

and Secretariat. However, he was arrested in January 1928 after the police searched his apartment and found numerous illegal publications. In May 1929, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He served the sentence in Kaunas Prison,

Ninth Fort The Ninth Fort () is a stronghold in the northern part of Šilainiai elderate, Kaunas, Lithuania. It is a part of the Kaunas Fortress, built in the late 19th century. During the Soviet occupation, the fort was used as a prison and way-statio ...

, and . He was released in October 1933, but again arrested and imprisoned for three months in November 1933. Released, Didžiulis continued communist activities. In late 1934, he travelled to Moscow to consult and coordinate with other Lithuanian communists. At the time the Communist Party had two main leaders – Vincas Kapsukas and

Zigmas Angarietis Zigmas Angarietis (born Zigmontas Antanas Aleksa, ; 13 June 1882 – 22 May 1940) was a Lithuanian communist and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Lithuania. He was one of the main people behind the short-lived Lithuani ...

– who competed for influence. Didžiulis and allied with Kapsukas who died in February 1935. This allowed Angarietis to promote his man Kazys Sprindys to the Secretariat. With the help of Mikhail Trilisser, leader of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

, Lifšicas attempted to remove Angarietis. Sprindis was replaced by

Icikas Meskupas-Adomas Icikas Meskupas pseudonym Adomas (20 August 1907 – 13 March 1942) was a leader of the Lithuanian Komsomol and Communist Party of Lithuania, Communist Party in interwar Lithuania. He was elected to the People's Seimas and the Supreme Soviet of the ...

but Didžiulis and Lifšicas were demoted to regional (

raikom The organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was based on the principles of democratic centralism. The governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the Party Congress, which initially met annually but whose ...

) party work in

Suvalkija Suvalkija or Sudovia ( or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithuanian. It is located sout ...

and

Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region () or Memel Territory ( or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when, as Memelland, it was put under the administr ...

. While in Suvalkija, Didžiulis rallied communist forces in support of the 1935 Suvalkija farmers' strike. He opposed the party's position of not allying with non-communists and wanted to collaborate with other parties (including the

Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party (, LKDP) was a Christian-democratic political party in Lithuania. History Russian Empire and Republic of Lithuania A Christian Democratic movement was established in Lithuania in 1890 by a group of Ro ...

) that supported the strike. Didžiulis was arrested again for three weeks in January 1936 and three months in November 1936. In June 1938, he organized 10-day courses for young communists near

Alytus Alytus () is a city with Town privileges, municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, sixth-largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, 14th-largest city in the Baltic ...

. After these courses, he was arrested and sent to the Dimitravas forced labour camp for a year. He was arrested again in October 1939 and sent back to Dimitravas and later to

Pabradė Pabradė (; ; ''Podbrodz'') is a city in eastern Lithuania, in Švenčionys district municipality, on the Žeimena river, 38 km south-west of Švenčionys. Pabradė is a busy place as the Vilnius–Daugavpils railway is close to the city. ...

. In total, he spent about nine years in Lithuanian prisons.

Lithuanian SSR

1940–1941

He was freed from the forced labor camp after the

in June 1940. The

appointed him as its envoy to

and

Vilnius Region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

(with rights of a minister). According to memoirs of

Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius Vincas Mickevičius (pl. ''Wincenty Mickiewicz'', October 19, 1882 – July 17, 1954), better known by his pen name Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, was a Lithuanian writer, poet, novelist, playwright and philologist. He is also known as Vincas Krėv� ...

, Didžiulis was given this assignment (effective July 1) to give communists a majority over Lithuanian nationalist members of the government. He was elected to the

as a candidate of the Union of the Working People of Lithuania. According to early voting results published by ', Didžiulis received 93,375 votes out of approximately 178,000 total votes (thus roughly 52%). However, later "official" results claimed that 99.2% of voters voted for the Union of the Working People (no official results by candidate were ever published). Didžiulis was one of twenty representatives sent to Moscow to request the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to accept the newly established

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

as one of its constituent republics. People's Seimas reorganized itself as the

and Didžiulis became deputy of

Justas Paleckis Justas Paleckis ( – 26 January 1980) was a Lithuanian Soviet author, journalist and politician. He was nominal acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from 17 June t ...

, chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet. At the same time, he became the agricultural department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania. In this capacity, he led the Soviet efforts to nationalize landholdings. In a year, about of land was nationalized. The Soviets did not establish

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

s but distributed land to landless peasants.

1941–1958

After the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

in June 1941, Didžiulis evacuated to

where he became a representative of the

Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

in charge of the affairs of evacuated Lithuanians in the Penza region. In June 1943, he became party organizer ( partorg) in

where several Lithuanian artist assemblies had gathered. In July 1944, after Vilnius was retaken by the Soviets as a result of the

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

, he returned to Vilnius and resumed his pre-war positions: deputy chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet and work in a commission in charge of the land reform. He also taught the history of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

at the party school in Vilnius. He was elected three times (in 1947, 1951, and 1955) to the

and twice (in 1955 and 1958) to the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

. Didžiulis participated in Soviet repressions against the Lithuanians. In 1945, he dealt with property confiscated of people

deported to Siberia From 1930 to 1952, the government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forcibly Population transfer, transferred populations of various groups. These act ...

from

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

and

Kretinga Kretinga (Yiddish: קרעטינגע) is a List of cities in Lithuania, city in Klaipėda County, in north-western Lithuania. It is the capital of the Kretinga District Municipality. It is located east of the popular Baltic Sea resort town of Pala ...

districts. In May 1948, he supervised and instructed party activists on how to carry out the

Operation Vesna Operation Vesna (; ) was a mass deportation of the armed opposition to the Soviet power in the occupied Lithuania carried out by the forces of the Ministry of State Security (MGB) on May 22–24, 1948. According to the February 21, 1948 decr ...

Biržai Biržai (, also known by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Name The exact origin of th ...

district. In October 1951, during the

Operation Osen Operation Osen (, ) was a mass deportation carried out by the Ministry of State Security (MGB) in the territory of the Lithuanian SSR in the autumn of 1951. During the operation, more than 5,000 families (over 20,000 people) were transported to r ...

, his sister-in-law Ana and her son were deported from his family's farm in Mandeikiai, but Soviet officials quickly intervened and she was freed from the deportee train in

Ostashkov Ostashkov () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Ostashkovsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, on a peninsula at the southern shore of Lake Seliger, west of Tver, the administrative center of the ...

. From 1947 to 1958, Didžiulis was the chairman of the Supreme Court of the Lithuanian SSR. On 25 September 1957, the court handed death sentence to

Adolfas Ramanauskas Adolfas Ramanauskas (March 6, 1918 – November 29, 1957), code name Vanagas (), was a one of the leaders of the Lithuanian partisans and the anti-Soviet Resistance in Lithuania during World War II, resistance. In 2018, the Seimas of Lithuania po ...

, one of the most prominent

Death and legacy

For his service to communist causes, Didžiulis was awarded two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

and two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour. Didžiulis died on 24 May 1958 and was buried at the in

Antakalnis Cemetery Antakalnis Cemetery (, , ), sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is an active cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. It was established in 1809. Soldier burials 12 of the 14 victims of the Soviet attacks duri ...

. During the Soviet era, the polytechnic institute in

(present-day ) as well as the secondary school in

were named in his honor. Streets in

, Šiauliai, and

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

bore his name. His memoir and selected writings were published in 1963.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Didziulis, Karolis 1958 deaths 1894 births Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Fourth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fifth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Prisoners and detainees of Lithuania Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery