Rapolas Skipitis (31 January 1887 – 23 February 1976) was a Lithuanian attorney and politician. In 1920–1922, he was
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 ...
and was later elected to the
Second and
Third Seimas. After the
1926 coup d'état, he chaired the
Lithuanian Riflemen's Union (1927–1928), Society for the Support of Lithuanians Abroad (1932–1940), and several other Lithuanian organizations. He also edited several newspapers, including ''Ūkininko balsas'' (1925–1928), ''
Trimitas'' (1927–1928), ''Namų savininkas'' and ''Pasaulio lietuvis'' (1937–1940). At the start of World War II, he retreated to Germany and joined the
Lithuanian Activist Front. He was reserved the seat of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the
Provisional Government of Lithuania. After the war, he settled in Chicago where he was active in
Lithuanian American
Lithuanian Americans refers to Americans, American citizens and residents who are Lithuanians, Lithuanian and were born in Lithuania, or are of Lithuanian descent. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans ...
cultural life.
Biography
Education and World War I
Skipitis was born in 1887 to a family of peasants. His parents decided to educate him hoping that he would become a priest.
[ He graduated from ]Palanga
Palanga (; bat-smg, Palonga; pl, Połąga; german: Polangen) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Palanga is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long ...
Progymnasium in 1904 and Šiauliai Gymnasium
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...
in 1909. In Palanga, he met priest Julijonas Jasienskis who introduced him to the banned Lithuanian-language press.[ Already as a school student, he participated in public life by taking part in the protests of the ]Russian Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
and joining various student activities. He organized aid to political prisoners by forging Russian passports.[ For these activities he was arrested for a few days in 1908, but released.][ He continued his studies at the University of Moscow in medicine (1909–1910) and law (1910–1916).][ Skipitis joined '']aušrininkai
''Aušrininkai'' was a semi-formal socialist student movement in Lithuania that formed around the ''Aušrinė'' (morning star) magazine. Established in 1910, it was the first youth organization in Lithuania.
Student groups formed in various scho ...
'' (socialist-leaning student organization) and contributed articles to its magazine ''Aušrinė''. In 1911–1915, he chaired the Lithuanian Student Society of Moscow.[
In March 1917, he was one of the founders of the ]Democratic National Freedom League The Farmers' Party ( lt, Ūkininkų partija, ŪP) was a liberal political party in inter-war Lithuania.
History
The party was established as the Democratic National Freedom League (''Demokratinė tautos laisvės santara'' known simply as ''Santara' ...
(known as ''Santara''), a moderate liberal party, and became its secretary and editor of its newspaper ''Santara''.[ He was elected to the Council of the Lithuanian Nation and later the Supreme Lithuanian Council in Russia. In January 1918,][ together with ]Augustinas Voldemaras
Augustinas Voldemaras (16 April 1883 – 16 May 1942) was a Lithuanian nationalist political figure. He briefly served as the country's first prime minister in 1918 and continued serving as the minister of foreign affairs until 1920, representin ...
, he was sent as a Lithuanian representative to the Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...
in Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Ky ...
. It was a dangerous journey as it took him across the Soviet–Ukrainian front, and the mission was brief as the Red Army captured Kiev in February 1918.[ He returned to ]Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...
, but learned that many members of the Supreme Lithuanian Council were arrested. He then bribed a Russian official for a permit to return to Lithuania.[
]
Political career
Skipitis returned to Lithuania in May 1918 and took up teaching in Šiauliai
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different ...
. However, by the end of the year he became a judge in the newly formed Lithuanian judiciary system first in Šiauliai and, when the city was captured by the Soviets during the Lithuanian–Soviet War, in Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...
.[ From 6 March 1919 to becoming Minister of the Interior in June 1920, he worked as a public prosecutor.][ Once, when due to financial difficulties, the Lithuanian government did not pay wages to court officials, Skipitis personally borrowed 12,000 ]German Papiermark
The Papiermark (; 'paper mark', officially just ''Mark'', sign: ℳ) was the German currency from 4 August 1914 when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I. In particular, the Papiermark was ...
s to pay the wages.[ He was active in organizing the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union which sent him to Šiauliai in November 1919 to organize the partisan staff for combat with the West Russian Volunteer Army (Bermontians) during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence.][
In fall 1919, he was sent as an official investigator into reports that ]Povilas Plechavičius
Povilas Plechavičius (1 February 1890 – 19 December 1973) was an Imperial Russian and then Lithuanian military officer and statesman. In the service of Lithuania he rose to the rank of General of the army in the interwar period. He is best kn ...
' partisans executed Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
civilians near Skuodas and Seda. According to the report of Steponas Kairys to the Lithuanian government, Plechavičius' men killed about 50 Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
in January–April 1919. Skipitis did not deny the executions but concluded that Plechavičius served Lithuanian interests. He was one of the drafters of the election law to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania
The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania ( lt, Steigiamasis Seimas) was the first parliament of the independent state of Lithuania to be elected in a direct, democratic, general, secret election. The Assembly assumed its duties on 15 May 1920 and w ...
.
At the time, there were very few Lithuanians with legal education (later, in his memoirs, Skipitis claimed that there were no more than 20).[ As such, Prime Minister Kazys Grinius invited him to become the ]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 ...
on 19 June 1920.[ At the time, the ministry was in charge of numerous areas, including civil administration, local self-government, public security, border protection, infrastructure maintenance and development, social services, taxes, citizenship, health services, etc.][ All of these areas had to be built and organized in the difficult and chaotic post-war years.][
In the 1923 election, Skipitis was elected to the Second Seimas (parliament) as a candidate of the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union.][ In 1925, ''Santara'' was reorganized as the Farmers' Party and Skipitis became its chairman and editor of its weekly newspaper ''Ūkininkų balsas'' (Voice of Farmers). He was elected in the ]1926 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1926.
Africa
* 1926 Egyptian parliamentary election
* 1926 Lagos by-election
* 1926 Northern Rhodesian general election
* 1926 South West African legislative election
Asia
* 1926 Hong Kong sanitary ...
to the Third Seimas as a candidate of the Farmers' Party.[ During the 1926 coup d'état, Skipitis and Vaclovas Sidzikauskas mediated between the deposed government and the new regime of ]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 m ...
, taking care to observe constitutional formalities.[ In the new government of ]Augustinas Voldemaras
Augustinas Voldemaras (16 April 1883 – 16 May 1942) was a Lithuanian nationalist political figure. He briefly served as the country's first prime minister in 1918 and continued serving as the minister of foreign affairs until 1920, representin ...
, Skipitis was offered the post of Minister of the Interior, but refused.[ After the coup, Seimas was dissolved in 1927 and the Farmer's Party was banned in 1928.][
]
Work with Lithuanians abroad
From 1922, Skipitis had a private attorney practice. From April 1927 to June 1928, he was chairman of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union.[ He was also active in other societies such as the Society for the Support of Higher Education Students (''Aukštųjų mokyklų lietuviams moksleiviams šelpti draugija''), which he chaired in 1927–1928, the Union of Lithuanian Homeowners' Associations (''Lietuvos namų savininkų draugijų sąjunga''), and the Council of Attorneys, of which he was a member in 1932–1940.][ In April 1933, Skipitis organized electricity boycott in Kaunas to force the local electricity producer, a monopoly controlled by a Belgian corporation, to lower the prices from up to 1.35 Lt/]kWh
A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...
to 0.82 Lt/kWh.[ He edited weekly magazine ''Namų savininkas'' (''Homeowner'') in 1937–1940.][
In February 1932, he was one of the co-founders of the Society for the Support of Lithuanians Abroad (''Draugija užsienio lietuviams remti'') and became its chairman.][ Thousands of Lithuanians had emigrated to United States and South America mostly due to economic reasons. The society sought to encourage the emigrants to maintain their Lithuanian traditions and increase their economic ties with Lithuania by supporting Lithuanian-language schools, libraries, press.][ The society also wanted to establish a unifying global Lithuanian organization and Skipitis raised an idea to organize the first Lithuanian World Congress. To that end, in early 1935, he visited Lithuanian communities in United States and South America advertising the congress which was held on 11–17 August 1935 in ]Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...
.[ The congress was accompanied by various sport competitions, concerts, exhibitions, etc.][ Two Lithuanian American basketball players, Konstantinas "Connie" Savickas and Juozas Knašas, remained in Lithuania and trained the fledgling ]Lithuania men's national basketball team
The Lithuania men's national basketball team ( lt, Lietuvos nacionalinė vyrų krepšinio rinktinė) represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body ...
.[ During the congress, delegates from eight countries established the Union of World's Lithuanians (''Pasaulio lietuvių sąjunga''), chaired by Skipitis, to develop cultural and economic ties between Lithuania and the communities abroad.][ The union published, and Skipitis edited, 63 issues of ''Pasaulio lietuvis'' magazine (''The World's Lithuanian'') in 1937–1940.][
]
World War II and after
Skipitis work and activities were interrupted by the Soviet occupation in June 1940. Fearing an arrest by the NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
, he fled to 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 ...
in fall 1940. He left his wife and two daughters in Lithuania and they were deported to Siberia during the June deportation.[ In Berlin, he joined Kazys Škirpa and became one of the co-founders of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) in November 1940. He was appointed chairman of the LAF commission on Lithuanians abroad.][ In April 1941, when plans were drawn for the June Uprising, Skipitis was reserved the seat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government of Lithuania. However, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the ]Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...
did not allow Skipitis to leave Berlin and he never joined the uprising in Lithuania.[ In July 1941, Skipitis, ]Ernestas Galvanauskas
Ernestas Galvanauskas (20 November 1882 – 24 July 1967) was a Lithuanian engineer, politician and one of the founders of the Peasant Union (which later merged with the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union). He also served twice as Prime Min ...
, and Petras Kalvelis petitioned Škirpa to close LAF in Berlin. Škirpa responded by officially dismissing the three from LAF.[
Skipitis continued to be involved with anti-Soviet resistance. In 1942, he briefly and secretly visited Kaunas to discuss creation of a unified resistance organization (such organization, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania or VLIK, was established in November 1943).][ In July 1943, he delivered a petition to the ]Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (german: Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete (RMfdbO) or ''Ostministerium'', ) was created by Adolf Hitler on 17 July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert, the Baltic ...
[ asking to release Lithuanian intellectuals imprisoned at the ]Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig ( Gdańsk) in the territory of the Germa ...
as reprisal for the failure to raise a Lithuanian ''Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
'' legion.[ In May 1944, when the Gestapo arrested most of the leaders of VLIK in Lithuania, it was decided to establish VLIK section in Berlin. Its members were ]Mykolas Krupavičius
Mykolas Krupavičius (1 October 1885, Balbieriškis, Lithuania – 4 December 1970, Chicago, U.S.) was a Lithuanian priest and politician. He is best known for his involvement with the land reform in the interwar Lithuania.
In 1900 Krupavič ...
, Skipitis, and Vaclovas Sidzikauskas.[
In 1946, Skipitis emigrated to United States and settled in Chicago. There he continued active public life. He worked at '' Naujienos'' newspaper, chaired the Society of Lithuanian Attorneys (''Lietuvos teisininkų draugija'') in 1949–1955, re-joined VLIK and Lithuanian Riflemen's Union when they moved to United States in 1955 and 1956, respectively.][ He contributed articles to Lithuanian American press and to the '']Lithuanian Encyclopedia
Lithuanian encyclopedias are encyclopedias published in the Lithuanian language or encyclopedias about Lithuania and Lithuania-related topics. The first known attempt to create a Lithuanian encyclopedia was in 1883, when Jonas Jacevičius failed t ...
''.[ He published two volumes of memoirs, ''Building Independent Lithuania'' (''Nepriklausomą Lietuvą statant'', 1961) and ''Independent Lithuania'' (''Nepriklausoma Lietuva'', 1967).][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skipitis, Rapolas
1887 births
1976 deaths
20th-century Lithuanian lawyers
Lithuanian Activist Front members
Lithuanian emigrants to the United States
Members of the Seimas
Ministers of Internal Affairs of Lithuania
Moscow State University alumni