SUBREDDIT RULES

Good evening folks! I've been operating a recreational gaming community on Discord since 2016 primarily for Communists/Socialists and we're known as Red Star Vanguard [RSVG].

You may have seen our name in a couple of games like Guild Wars 2, Planetside 2, and among a few others over the years! You may have even seen some of our members in games like Wargame Red Dragon and wouldn't have known it; or maybe you even follow some of the promoted streamers we have from our server and haven't clicked the button to join our server!

A couple of things you should know before joining:

1. Our server prefers to manually screen all applications, so fill out your questions respectfully & thoughtfully. Then wait a while for someone to process your application to be admitted into the server once it is submitted in the introduction channel.
2. We do enforce our rules strictly, and we have a zero tolerance for hate speech or hateful ideologies.
3. Read the rules of the server.

To join us, click the "Join our Discord" button on our website at:
https://rsvg.org

Thanks and see you there! <3
-Commander Red Vega

So….as you all know I have been archiving and releasing posts of photographs of Soviet/Polish People’s army veterans of the Baltic states/Poland for several years now, and hope to continue…..One unfortunate realization is that Reddit has removed 3rd party support which no longer shows captions on mobile as far as I know….since my old posts use captions, this means I’d have to go through much time to re-work and release every post again, but I do not have enough free time, so I will keep them up, even though unfortunately certain details won’t be visible until Reddit supports captions again….an easy solution to this has been to add numbered lists and descriptions to photos in new posts…..so all that I’d request of you is 2 things….share my posts with those you know, as it gives the true heroes of the Baltics and Poland a voice that needs to be heard in nations currently rife with historical revisionism……and as for the SendInTheTanks mods, a Lithuanian user commented on my Soviet Heroes of Lithuania Vol. XIV post, thanking me for happening to show his grandfather, who happened to be a Soviet partisan, in that photo volume I created. He referred to his grandfather by name, but for some reason, his comment was removed….if you could restore it so I could reach out to him, I’d greatly appreciate it…..thanks everyone!

In the age of current mass glorification via media from Lithuania and the United States of diaspora Lithuanian fascists like Adolfas Ramanauskas (Ramanauskas was born in New Britain, Connecticut, USA and later moved to Lithuania, later collaborating with Nazis during their invasion) or Lithuanian exile fascists like Jonas Mekas, few diaspora Lithuanians remember the names of revolutionary socialist Lithuanian diaspora heroes like Vytautas Montvila or Antanas Bimba. Antanas Bimba was a Lithuanian involved in the early American Communist movement, and a post will be made for him sometime later. As for the story of Montvila, It is up to Lithuanians everywhere to give this man his credit as a hero and martyr against fascism. Vytautas was born to to an ethnic Lithuanian Catholic immigrant family in 1902 in the city of St. Charles, Illinois. His family, like many Lithuanian immigrants to America at the time, left due to persecution by czarist Russian Empire authorities, whom sought to ban Lithuanian language as well as restrict the Catholic Church in favor of Orthodoxy. This persecution under czarism caused many minorities, particularly ethnic Lithuanian Catholics and Lithuanian Jews, to move often to the United States, Canada, or South American nations. In 1906, he and his family returned to Lithuania, moving to the city of Marijampolė. The family later moved to Degučiai, then a Marijampolė suburb.

As Vytautas grew older, between the years of 1922-26 he joined the Kėdainiai Teacher’s Seminary. It was somewhat of a social club for study, covering a wide range of topics, such as science, culture, atheism, and philosophy. Members were of various political parties, but it was here Vytautas became acquainted with local Communist activists and gained entry into the wider movement. The communists at these meetings often discussed Marxist theory, offered to share sections of the Communist Manifesto, and recruited members into local Worker’s Guilds.

In 1923, he began writing his early poetry, often revolutionary in nature and influenced by avant-garde style. In his most famous poem, “Naktys be Nakvynės” (ENG: “Nights Without Accommodation”), written early in his career, he champions revolutionary socialism and personifies art of poetry as a tool for revolution. His later work from 1940-41 reflects the new Soviet period, condemns the reactionary past, hoping towards a socialist future in Lithuania. These later poems were influenced heavily by the works of fellow Soviet poet V. Mayakovsky, whose works Montvila enjoyed. These later works by Montvila were of a topical oratorical style, and he is credited often with having laid the foundation for other Lithuanian Soviet poets at the time. Montvila also wrote short stories and portions of novels. Among other feats, he translated the novel “Mother” by fellow Soviet writer Maxim Gorky, from Russian into Lithuanian, as well as translated the writer Émile Zola’s novel “The Collapse” from its original French into Lithuanian.

He shortly then studied in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Lithuania (Today, Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas).

Following his departure from university, he began a life fully committed to revolutionary socialist activism. In 1929, in an effort to organizationally unify leftist writers against the bourgeoisie, he published the revolutionary almanac “Raketa” (ENG: “Rocket.”) For this, he was imprisoned from his arrest in 1929 to 1931. During 1935, he moved back to Marijampolė, and published the “Skardas” (ENG: “Tin”) worker’s newspaper for the Communist faction of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. He also published other socialist newspapers, titled “Darbas” (ENG: “Work”), “Kultūra” (ENG: “Culture”), “Aušrine” (ENG: “Dawn”), and “Prošvaistė” (ENG: “The Light”) for various leftist organizations. He simultaneously worked odd jobs to add to his livelihood.

Upon establishment of the Soviet Lithuanian government in 1940, Montvila, like many leftist Lithuanian citizens, was thrilled and ready for change, having been oppressed in a society previously plagued by issues such as anti-communism, rural serfdom, clerical fascism, anti-Semitism, and capitalist exploitation of all of the working people of Lithuania. Vytautas dedicated specialized time to working with Soviet authorities to publish and translate revolutionary texts from various authors, as well as delivering his own revolutionary pro-Soviet speeches. He continued this into 1941, the final year of his life.

Upon the Nazi invasion of Lithuania in mid-1941, he was captured by local collaborators and Gestapo. According to documents, he did not run or resist, rather instead defiantly, in true revolutionary martyr manner, insulted his captors. He was taken prisoner to the 9th Fort in Kaunas, where he was executed, being shot to death on July 19th, 1941, killed alongside many other Jewish and leftist victims of Nazi and collaborator fascist terror. To leftists who are aware of his heroism and revolutionary martyrdom, he is often compared to fellow revolutionary and Spanish poet F. Garcia Lorca, a leftist whom was executed by the Francoists. Vytautas, Lorca, and all revolutionaries shall be remembered forever. May we remember Vytautas Montvila, a hero to all Lithuanians, but especially to Lithuanians in the diaspora! Remember Vytautas Montvila, both uniquely a hero to Lithuanian-Americans, and the people of Lithuania!