Silvestras Leonas (1894–1959) was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n military officer. After serving in the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Leonas joined the

Lithuanian Army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Lithuan ...

and fought in the

Lithuanian Wars of Independence The Lithuanian Wars of Independence, also known as the Freedom Struggles (), refer to three wars Lithuania fought defending its independence at the end of World War I: with Bolshevik forces (December 1918 – August 1919), Bermontians (October ...

. He completed law studies at the

University of Lithuania Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the Polish–Lithuanian War, interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the Univ ...

and worked as a judge. In 1934–1935, he presided over the Military Tribunal

trial of Neumann–Sass The trial of Neumann and Sass (; ), also known as the Kaunas Trials, was among the largest mass trials of Nazis in the early 1930s. The trial resulted in the convictions of the leaders of regional Nazi parties, Theodor von Sass, and other part ...

that involved 122 defendants accused of anti-Lithuanian activities. From March 1938 to March 1939, he was

Minister of Internal Affairs 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 ...

in the government of Prime Minister

Vladas Mironas Vladas Mironas (; 22 June 1880 – 18 February 1953) was a Lithuanian Catholic priest and politician. He was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania and served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania from March 1938 to M ...

. In 1944, Leonas was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

and imprisoned in a

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

camp. He returned to Lithuania in 1956.

Biography

Leonas was born on 15 January 1894 to a family of Lithuanian farmers. After graduation from the Second Men's Gymnasium in

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 ...

, he continued to study at the

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

and

Kharkiv University The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second old ...

but was drafted to the

in May 1916. He completed military courses in

Chuhuiv Chuhuiv () or Chuguev () is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The city is the Capital (political), administrative center of Chuhuiv Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Chuhuiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population ...

and was promoted to ''

praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

'' in September 1916. After the promotion to ''

podporuchik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, , , , , ) is the most junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, and is placed below the rank of lieutenant, typically corresponding to rank of second lieutenant in English ...

'' in July 1917, Leonas was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the

Russian Railway Troops Railway Troops of the Russian Armed Forces ()См. сведения о постоянных корреспондентах газеты «Красная звезда» в выходных данных на С. 2. каждого еженедель� ...

. Leonas returned to Lithuania in 1919 and was mobilized on 1 July 1919 into the

and assigned to the

8th Infantry Regiment The 8th Infantry Regiment of the United States, also known as the "Fighting Eagles", is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. The 8th Infantry participated in the Mexican War, American Civil War, Philippine Insurrection, Moro Rebe ...

. He saw action in the

against Soviet Russia (July 1919 – January 1920) and Poland (August–November 1920). In February 1920, he helped to subdue a revolt by Lithuanian soldiers in Kaunas and was promoted to captain. He completed

Higher Officers' Courses The Higher Officers' Courses () were military courses for senior officers of the Lithuanian Army in 1921–1940. Junior officers were prepared by the War School of Kaunas. In July 1923, the courses were named after Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

in October 1923 and was promoted to major. He retired from the military after graduating from the Law Faculty of

in 1925. He worked as a judge in

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 ...

Telšiai Telšiai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Telšē'') is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis. Telšiai is one of the ol ...

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 ...

. After a judicial reform in 1933, he became a judge of the appellate court. On 16 June 1934, after the failed coup d'état by the '' Voldemarininkai'', he returned to military duty and became the presiding judge of the Military Tribunal. He presided over the high-profile

trial of Neumann and Sass The trial of Neumann and Sass (; ), also known as the Kaunas Trials, was among the largest mass trials of Nazis in the early 1930s. The trial resulted in the convictions of the leaders of regional Nazi parties, Theodor von Sass, and other party ...

. The case involved 122 defendants – Nazi sympathizers that were accused of various anti-Lithuanian activities in the

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 ...

. In March 1938, after the Polish ultimatum to Lithuania, he became

in the new cabinet assembled by Prime Minister

. In this capacity, Leonas issued many laws and directives, many of them on sale of pharmaceuticals, health clinics, and other health care issues. He also implemented the law establishing a council () to monitor and control various societies and organizations giving even more power to the authoritarian regime of

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until the Occu ...

to control political opponents. The government was forced to resign after the German ultimatum to Lithuania in March 1939. He again retired from the military on 31 March 1939. In May 1940, Leonas was appointed as a judge of the

Lithuanian Tribunal The Lithuanian Tribunal ( or ''Lietuvos Tribunolas''; ) was the highest appellate court for the Lithuanian nobility, nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was established by the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of ...

. 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, Leonas was arrested on 11 July 1940 and imprisoned in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

and later

Lubyanka Prison Lubyanka (, ) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Neo-Baroque building with a facade of yellow brick designed by Alex ...

. He was freed at the start of 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 ...

and anti-Soviet uprising in June 1941. During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, Leonas worked as an attorney in Kaunas. When the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

returned to Lithuania, Leonas was arrested by the

in November 1944 and sentenced to 10 years of prison and 5 years of exile. He was imprisoned in a

camp in Abez, Komi Republic. Later, he was transferred to the

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...

. He returned to Lithuania in 1956 and died three years later in Kaunas.

Awards

Leonas received the following awards: *

Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis () 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. History Interwar period Reje ...

(5th degree, 1921) * Independence Medal (1928) * (1929) *

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

(3rd degree, 1931) *

Order of Vytautas the Great The Order of Vytautas the Great () is the Lithuanian Presidential Award.''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 84 straipsnis''. Priimta 1992 It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguish ...

(3rd degree, 1937)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonas, Silvestras 1894 births category:1959 deaths Lithuanian Army officers Ministers of internal affairs of Lithuania Lithuanian judges Lithuanian Gulag detainees People from Suwałki Governorate Lithuanian military personnel in the Imperial Russian Army of World War I Vytautas Magnus University alumni Recipients of the Order of Vytautas the Great Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas