Installation

The Battle of Kalniškė is one of the most prominent symbols of resistance to occupation. On 16 May, 1945 in the Kalniškė forest, Lazdijai district, about 100-120 partisans, led by Jonas Neifalta, code name, Lakūnas and Aleksandras Padimansko, code name Šarūnas, fought to break the encirclement of the NKVD 220th Frontier Regiment, which was outnumbered by several times more than them. The wife of one of the commanders, Albina Neifaltiene, code name Pušelė, also fought bravely in the battle and caused many losses to the enemy with the aim of her hand-held machine gun, but was also hit by an enemy bullet herself. More than 40 partisans were killed in the fighting, and the NKVD forces lost several hundred who were killed and wounded.

It is a story of courage, of sacrifice, of freedom that has not been destroyed, a story of meaningless sacrifices, of eternity. The story focuses on the unoccupied hilltop of Meškakalnis Hill. The final, most intense phase of the battle was fought on the top of the hill, which the enemies never managed to capture. Prayers were made for the darkness to come soon…

The installation symbolises both a hill and a fictitious tent of the Freedom Fighters covered by camouflage nets. The almost invisible image, blending with nature, protects the lives of the Freedom Fighters. Inside the symbolic hill of the installation – memory. Forty-four (44) shoes – not death, but faith and hope.