Merkinė commemorates 80th anniversary of Dainava partisan district

On August 16, 2024 at 12:00, the town of Merkinė in southern Lithuania hosted the fifth edition of the “Samanos” ancient days festival, marking the 80th anniversary of the Dainava partisan district, a key resistance group during the post‑World II Soviet occupation.

The programme included forest walks along former partisan routes, folk singing, a market, a church service with a mixed choir led by Kęstutis Breidokas, concerts by the folk group Ugniavijas and bard Romas Naidzinavičius, lectures by historians such as Dr Žygimantas Buržinskas, Ramona Staveckaitė‑Notari and Andrius Tumavičius, and an exhibition by the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Centre featuring women partisans, uniform artifacts and photographs.