''Karys'' (literary: ''soldier'') is a

Lithuanian-language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

military magazine published since 1919. It is a magazine about 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 is geared towards the soldiers and the general public. During the interwar period (1919–1940) it was published weekly 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 ...

by the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and the

General Staff of Lithuania The Defence Staff () is the main staff (military), staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Since 2008, the staff has reported to the Chief of Defence (Lithuania), Chief of Defence. Its main tasks are to plan, lead, and support military operations as ...

. During World War II, it was a magazine of the

Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions The Lithuanian Auxiliary Police was a Schutzmannschaft formation formed during the German occupation of Lithuania between 1941 and 1944, with the first battalions originating from the most reliable freedom fighters, disbanded following the 194 ...

. During the

Soviet period The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

(1950–1990), it was published monthly by Lithuanian veterans in New York. After the restoration of independence in 1990, it is once again published monthly by the Ministry of Defence. The circulation was 4,000 copies in 1920, 33,000 copies in 1940, 1,650 copies in 1983, 22,000 copies in 1991, 3,000 copies in 2005.

History

Interwar

The first 8-page issue appeared on 22 May 1919 titled ''Kariškių žodis'' (Word of Soldiers) in

. At the time, the newly established Lithuanian Army was fighting in 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 ...

. The magazine was renamed to ''Karys'' in October 1920 by editor Jonas Laurinaitis who believed that ''kariškis'' is not a proper Lithuanian word. The weekly magazine printed military news, reports from soldiers' lives, memoirs from 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 ...

, popular science articles on military science or weapons, works of literary fiction, humorous anecdotes. It also published one-time supplements on individual units of the Lithuanian Army. When military education became compulsory in Lithuanian schools in 1929, ''Karys'' was distributed among students as well. To attract them, poetry and short story contests were organized. Under editor Simas Urbonas (1936–1940), the magazine grew to 28 pages and increased publication frequency to twice a week. At the time, it was a richly illustrated magazine printed using intaglio technique. In the first 20 years, ''Karys'' had some 5,000 contributors. The number of contributors grew from 26 in 1919, to 65 in 1923, 148 in 1926, 256 in 1929, 414 in 1931, to about 500 in 1935–1938.

World War II

When Lithuania was occupied by 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 ...

in June 1940, ''Karys'' was discontinued and replaced by pro-Soviet daily ''Karių tiesa'' (Soldiers' Truth) on 6 July 1940. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, ''Karys'' was reestablished 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 ...

as the weekly magazine of the

on 23 December 1941. It also served as recruitment platform for the

Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (; , LVR) was a short-lived Lithuanian volunteer military unit created in spring 1944, during the last year of the German occupation of Lithuania during World War II, German occupation of Lithuania in World ...

of General

Povilas Plechavičius Povilas Plechavičius (1 February 1890 – 19 December 1973) was a Lithuanian military officer and statesman. His military career began in the Imperial Russian Army as a yunker during World War I. Then, Plechavičius climbed the ranks of the i ...

in early 1944. Despite heavy censorship and lack of paper, editor Urbonas managed to increase the circulation to up to 40,000 copies. The anniversary edition in May 1944 was marked by a 20-page issue printed in color. In mid-1944, Lithuania was re-occupied by the Soviet Union 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 ...

and ''Karys'' was discontinued. Most of its editors and contributors fled to Germany ahead of the advancing

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 ...

. The magazine was briefly revived in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

as a supplement to newspaper ''Lietuvis''.

United States

The magazine was revived again in United States by Stasys Butkus, secretary of the editorial board of ''Karys'' since the first issues who continued to work on ''Karys'' until his death in 1961, and Augustas Astrauskas who agreed to provide financial support. They invited Urbonas to resume editorship. The first issue (24 pages) appeared on 23 November 1950. The monthly magazine reoriented itself to cater to Lithuanian veterans, both privates and officers, thus merging the traditions of pre-war ''Karys'' and ''Kardas''. After Urbonas had to resign due to health issues, Domas Penikas became the editor. During his tenure the circulation dropped to just 250 copies. In 1954, the publication was taken over by the New York chapter of Ramovė, an organization of Lithuanian officers, and Zigmantas Raulinaitis became the new editor. It was an unpaid position but over 30 years of his editorship, Raulinaitis displayed great enthusiasm and dedication. The circulation recovered and the number of subscribers exceeded 1,000. In 1958–1973, ''Karys'' published ''Tremties trimitas'' (Trumpet of Exile, a homage to the pre-war '' Trimitas''), a supplement for members of the former

Lithuanian Riflemen's Union The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union (LRU, ), also referred to as Šauliai (''the Riflemen''; from for ''rifleman''), is a paramilitary organization supported by the Government of Lithuania and regulated by the dedicated law. It is active in three ...

. By 1970s and 1980s, it was becoming more and more difficult to find contributors as the older generation that actually served in the Lithuanian armed forces was naturally dying off. When Dr. defected in 1981, he contributed a series of articles over four years on the gradual destruction of the Lithuanian Army by the Soviet Union. The articles were published as a separate book in 1993. Other series were published separately as well: memoirs by Jonas Abraitis on Grand Duke Gediminas Staff Battalion, memoirs of Juozas Klimas on his wartime experiences, three-act drama by Anatolijus Kairys on

Romas Kalanta Romas Kalanta (22 February 1953 – 14 May 1972) was a 19-year-old Lithuanian high school student who killed himself by self-immolation in an act of protest against the Soviet regime in Lithuania. His death provoked the largest post-war riots ...

Return to Lithuania

In January 1991, ''Kardas'' was reestablished in Vilnius by the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania, but the magazine continued to be published in the United States for another year due to the precarious situation of the newly independent Lithuania. In 1991–2001, the magazine was published twice a month. From 2002, it became a monthly.

Editors

Magazine's editors were: * Major Petras Ruseckas: first issue and 13 December 1922 – 4 November 1925 * Lieutenant colonel Vytautas Steponaitis: 25 May 1919 – 24 March 1920 * Lieutenant colonel Jonas Laurinaitis: 25 March 1920 – 29 September 1921 * Reserve lieutenant Kazys Kepalas: 30 September 1921 – 1 February 1922 * Military official Juozas Petrėnas: 2 February 1922 – 8 September 1922 * Military official Zigmantas Kuzmickas: 9 September 1922 – 12 December 1922 * Reserve captain Antanas Majus: 12 November 1925 – 3 February 1926 * Reserve major Juozas Tomkus: 4 February 1926 – 29 June 1926 * Reserve lieutenant colonel Romualdas Burokas: 30 June 1926 – 15 March 1927 and 7 September 1927 – 6 March 1928 * Reserve lieutenant Tadas Šakmanas: 16 March 1927 – 6 September 1926 * Reserve lieutenant Stanislovas Kuizinas: 7 March 1928 – 10 October 1928 * Lieutenant colonel Juozas Balčiūnas-Švaistas: 11 October 1928 – 24 November 1935 * Major Petras Jakštas: 25 November 1935 – 18 March 1936 * Captain Simas Urbonas (Simonas Urbanavičius): 1936–1940, 1941–1944, and 1950–1951 * Bronius Aušrotas: 1945 * Domas Penikas: 1951–1954 * Zigmantas Raulinaitis: 1954–1984 * Balys Raugas: 1985–1991 * Bronius Čekanauskas: 1991–1993 * Kęstutis Starinskas: 1994–1998 * Alina Meilūnaitė-Vaišvilienė: 1999–2004, 2006 (4 issues), 2009 (one issue), 2010 (six issues) * Kazys Jonušas: 2004–2012 (with breaks) * Darius Varanavičius: since 2012

References

External links

Full-text archives 1920–1940

Full-text archives 1940–1945

Full-text archives 1950–1965

{{italic title Magazines established in 1919 1919 establishments in Lithuania Lithuanian-language magazines Military magazines Lithuanian-language mass media in the United States