Scattered around the world, collected in America, returned to Lithuania again – weapons of the interwar Lithuanian army
What is the story of their discovery and return? What does the study of these weapon paths have to offer the military historian to today’s military?
You will find the answers to these questions from the representative of the Lithuanian National Museum Živile Stadalytė and military historian Karol Zikar in the conversation.
– For a month, you studied the military collection of Henry Gaidis, donated to our museum and to the whole of Lithuania. How did you look at it and what are your findings in the field?
– I did not look at the weapons of the Lithuanian army in the collection of H. Gaidis from the perspective of a collector, but as certain symbols, signs of the times. They were purchased by the Lithuanian army of that time to order, thus investing in their security and defense. This is the choice of the people responsible for the defense of Lithuania at that time. I was wondering what kind of weapons they chose – the cheapest, the best, the most modern, the most beautiful?
– Expectations are one thing, but did our country, which was still very young at the time, have the opportunity to choose according to all these criteria?
– Our infantry used rifles made in Belgium and later in Czechoslovakia, although they actually came from Germany. I’m referring to the pre-WWI Mauser system. It was the most advanced weapon, with almost 80 percent of the lock characteristics used by all similar weapons to this day, so nothing better and more convenient has yet been created by mankind.
Belgian Browning High Power pistols were also purchased for self-defense, which were considered a real breakthrough at the time.
The purchase contracts could not be found, they were destroyed during the occupation. Belgium, from which these weapons were bought, was also occupied by the Nazis and the agreements failed, but even without them, the conclusion is clear: the Lithuanian army had the most modern ones of that time, they served our country throughout the interwar period.
– Mauser, Browning, even for a person who is not interested in weapons or warfare, are quite well-heard names.
– These are such objects that form an understanding of the entire area to which they belong. As an example, it is called “primus”. It is the name of a company that once existed and made stoves, but for a long time everything that resembles these stoves is called by its name. Primus was their pioneer.
Same with rifles. My grandfather called everyone pistoles “braunykais”, i.e. Browning, because it was the product of this factory that became a synonym, a common word for pistol in Lithuania at the time and created a common understanding of the entire niche of weapons.
– Tell the readers, maybe these weapons have another unique characteristic.
– It is completely unique that these weapons were marked with Lithuanian symbols. For example, the first batch of Mauser rifles produced in Belgium was marked 24L, 24 is the year 1924, and L is Lithuania. Later, in the factory near the lock hole, they were additionally engraved with Gediminaičiai pillars, which we can also see on the Browning High Power pistols intended for Lithuania.
No occupation can tell about such signs, the state has been destroyed, but the signs remained and influence people who in the Soviet era, when they were still children, found them depicted on various things in their grandparents’ attics and thus learned that the state of Lithuania was so “smetonish”.
– After the occupation, these weapons were spread around the world, until finally, thanks to H. Gaidis, they returned to Lithuania. How did you go about tracing them?
– The fate of these weapons reflects the calamities that befell our country at the time: after the occupation at the end of the Second World War, they fell into the hands of the Soviets and were transported to Russia, handed over to its allies in Asia – the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and communist Korea. Later, these weapons went to the soldiers as war trophies in Korea and somehow ended up in the United States.
H. Gaid found them bought from the US army at an arms dealer.
This is one of the more interesting aspects of this collection, because the weapons reflect the fate of our army and the entire country, and the circle closed when these weapons returned to Lithuania thanks to H. Gaidis alone.
– And what was the interwar society’s attitude towards the Lithuanian army?
– We can look at these weapons through one prize – the various cultural influences that militarism had on the Lithuanian society of that time. Some Mauser rifles are marked “Arms Foundation”, which means that they were donated to the Lithuanian army by some public organization.
At that time, supporting the army was very popular, with various slogans, such as “We will not rest without Vilnius”, events were held to bring the army and society together. During them, funds were donated for machine guns so that Vilnius would be recaptured as soon as possible.
– Does the Lithuanian army mark weapons in any way today, which has not only a sentimental meaning, but, as we can see, also a practical benefit – it allows you to find your scattered relics after many years? After all, if it wasn’t for labeling, we probably wouldn’t have them today.
– In principle, yes, because if there were no symbols that are depicted, it would be necessary to check according to serial numbers, the purpose of which is the year of production, the part, what it is intended for, where they were given. The weapons have strict registration numbers to keep track of their journey, but when things like world war happen, they still end up scattered around the world. H. Gaidis specifically said that those weapons arrived in a very large batch and he was looking for Lithuanian ones among a bunch of others.
In modern military the practice of marking weapons with no symbols, and it would actually be a very good idea, I think it would also be a lot of fun for a modern soldier to hold a weapon that was marked with, say, Gediminaičius.
In LNM, you can already see the weapons of the interwar Lithuanian army with engraved Gediminaičiai pillars (photo by S. Samson / LNM)
– To see these weapons until the end of the year, you can come to the “Unpacking!” exhibition at the National Museum of Lithuania. Do you think they make an impression?
– For some, it will be an emotional impression – to be close to an object that symbolizes the lost interwar Lithuania, whose stories and images are still very much from their grandparents. Others at the exhibition will be able to appreciate how many people of that time that traditions are continued. Their efforts were not in vain, the relics disappeared, but reappeared, and these weapons are today the symbols of that interwar Lithuania.
Having collected those crumbs, we can also continue the traditions further, as they continued them in the interwar period by collecting the crumbs of those times. This is because, without seeing the evidence of that time, you have to believe, imagine. And when you come to the exhibition, you can simply make sure that it is a fact, a reality, an indicator in which direction we can go further.
The talk is part of the exhibition “Unpacking!” of the National Museum of Lithuania. The exhibition displays one of the largest museum collections ever donated by Lithuania. It was collected in the United States of America for more than half a century by the expatriate Lithuanian Henry Lazarus Gaidis, who worked as an FBI agent for a long time and hunted the Lithuanian past in his spare time.
The most valuable part of the collection, which weighs almost a ton, is military-themed. For the first three months, the first researchers committed to the experiment worked at the exhibition. They brought to light the process taking place in archives and storages – researching and revealing the observation of the collection donated to the museum, which later became part of the exhibition.
The exhibition runs at the New Arsenal until 2023. January
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