Remember, Only You can Prevent Freedom! (or Forest Fires!)
(Or something like that. Story in a few minutes.)
This entire area has gone through so many political boundary and ideology changes in the last few hundred years that it makes them a card-carrying member of Borders-R-Us. Through it all, Lithuania has tried, with very limited success, to declare its independence from whomever has the yoke around their necks at the time.
Usually, it’s the Russians.
1831 was no different, except that now it also involved the defunct Prussian entity. Men went to war, families stayed home, and men did not return thus.
A small ancient ‘fort’ located on a hill in Lithuania became a memorial of sorts as families who could not locate bodies of their perished rebels, started putting up symbolic crosses at the site of the former hill fort. Over the generations, the place has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian people despite the threats they faced throughout history. Loved ones continued bringing crosses to the Hill in memorial.
The practice grew, the people embraced their idea of a place to erect a cross in memory of someone or in hope of something,,,, the Hill grew too.
All is well and good in The Hill of Crosses country until the Revolution, the big one, the one where the Czars were made candidates for the Hill themselves, the one where Lenin and the Bolsheviks rose to power, and it was the year that Communism became synonymous with Russia…… 1917.
Communism and organized religion don’t get along.
Fast-forward to the Soviet occupation starting in 1941 which ended the Lithuanian’s brief dally with Independence that it claimed when that 1917 event shook things up for a bit.
Oppressed Catholic Lithuanians and communists don’t get along either.
The Hill of Crosses becomes a symbol to both, and to both, was as important as it could be. Three times the Authorities (including the KGB) try and remove it. They used bulldozers, troops, and even thought of flooding the land…. nothing worked. Every night the Faithful would risk punishment severe in order to fulfill what they now considered a Sacred Duty……. Keep the Crosses coming.
You all know what happens….. I don’t have to tell you who won, the fact that we went there is proof enough. Pope John Paul II went there in 1993, said that it was “a place for hope, peace, love, and sacrifice.” If a visit from a Pope and an affirming statement doesn’t solidify your place in the world, I don’t know what does!
The Hill has grown into The ‘Field’ as they have now worked their way down the sides and into the fields on either side. There are numerous trails that meander through the plantings making it easier for someone either to visit an old one, or find the perfect place for a new one.
The parking lot is across the street; a long walk needs to be accomplished before you may step onto the Hill. Happily, no one has started charging admission although there is the obligatory “Book Shop” (aka souvenir stand.)
That was the second stop of the day.
Yesterday we traveled from Klaipeda in Lithuania to Riga, Latvia. It took all day mainly because we made it so, stopping there at The Hill of Crosses and an old Cold War site.
Our first stop was at a disassembled ICBM missile site straight out of that Cold War Era. In fact, that was its name….. The Cold War Era Museum and Missile Silo (roughly translated!) Inside we saw what was ‘what’, and where that ‘what’ was located, and how and why the ‘whats’ were there,,,,oh, and plus how many ‘what’s’ there were.
Confused?
Well, all of this was a ‘re-creation’ as nothing was left after the fall of the U.S.S.R. Military posts were abandoned, locals came in and ransacked the place, absconding with anything that could be of value. I wonder how many homes in the area boast electricity upgrades courtesy of the miles and miles of wire pinched from there! Generators, tiles, lumber, desks, pencil sharpeners, 😊you name it and poof! it was gone!
Apparently, there are only three sites in the world that are now open for public inspection….. this one, one in Arizona, and one in Ukraine. We’ve been to two out of the three and I don’t think we’ll ever get to Ukraine, so we’ll stay put at two. FYI, if you ever go to Tucson (which makes a fabulous get-away anyway!) check out the Titan Missile Museum, it is definitely worth it!
