<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This article focuses on the history and main activities in the search and identification of Lithuanian partisans, commonly known as the “Forest brothers”. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the search for partisans was chaotic and unprofessional, leading to extensive exhumations without professional provision, and reburial without further identification of the remains. Only after regaining independence, the Lithuanian government supported official surveys and even re-exhumations of the partisans. These new investigations were led by esteemed historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists, and provided results that conflicted with former activities. The overall outcome could be summarized as a division between an “official history” asserted by the Soviet Union, and results coming from a collaboration between forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology specialists. The thorough results and overall conclusions led to two main accomplishments: the identification of partisans, including some prominent figures of this movement, and the manner of death, through the evidence of undocumented torture.</p>
</abstract>

This article focuses on the history and main activities in the search and identification of Lithuanian partisans, commonly known as the “Forest brothers”. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the search for partisans was chaotic and unprofessional, leading to extensive exhumations without professional provision, and reburial without further identification of the remains. Only after regaining independence, the Lithuanian government supported official surveys and even re-exhumations of the partisans. These new investigations were led by esteemed historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists, and provided results that conflicted with former activities. The overall outcome could be summarized as a division between an “official history” asserted by the Soviet Union, and results coming from a collaboration between forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology specialists. The thorough results and overall conclusions led to two main accomplishments: the identification of partisans, including some prominent figures of this movement, and the manner of death, through the evidence of undocumented torture.

Forest brothers - the search and identification of the participants of anti-soviet resistance

Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Anthropology

Scandinavian Journal of Forensic Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This article focuses on the history and main activities in the search and identification of Lithuanian partisans, commonly known as the “Forest brothers”....

Forest brothers - the search and identification of the participants of anti-soviet resistance

Published Online: Dec 21, 2022

Page range: 50 - 54

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjfs-2022-0017

Keywords
Forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, partisans, inhumations, Soviet Union, Lithuania

© 2022 Justina Kozakaitė, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Forest brothers - the search and identification of the participants of anti-soviet resistance

Published Online: Dec 21, 2022

Page range: 50 - 54

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjfs-2022-0017

KeywordsForensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, partisans, inhumations, Soviet Union, Lithuania

© 2022 Justina Kozakaitė, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, partisans, inhumations, Soviet Union, Lithuania