Love in the face of rebellion: the short story of Z.Sierakauskas and his wife Apolonia was revived in Gina Viliūnė’s novel | Culture

“Apolonija” is G. Viliūnė’s ninth novel and the author’s thirteenth book. The writer has been interested in the history of her native Vilnius and Lithuania for many years, leads tours and writes articles. The novel was published by “Alma littera” publishing house.

Together – just nine months

Z.Sierakauskas and Apolonija met in the summer of 1861 in Vilnius. She was twenty-three at the time, beautiful and desirable, but dreaming not of love, but of the freedom of her homeland. He is a Russian army captain, thirty-five years old, living with the idea of ​​a future uprising. Three short meetings, a few letters – and a year later the wedding took place.

Photo by Vytenis Krisčiūnas/Gina Viliūnė

In April 1863, Zygmantas left his expectant wife and went to the forests of the Kaunas province to lead the rebel squads. A month later, the news reached Apollonia: the battle was lost, Zygmantus was wounded, arrested, imprisoned.

Z. Sierakauskas was hanged in Lukiškiau Square in Vilnius by order of Governor General Muravyov. In the autumn of the same year, the pregnant and sick Apollonia was exiled to Russia, where she, the widow of the leader of the uprising, began her path full of losses, pain, hope and sincere work for the sake of her homeland.

Rebellion – through the eyes of a woman

This is a short love story of Zygmantus and Apollonia, which can be found in various historical sources. The author of historical novels, G. Viliūnė, discovered it while writing an article for a magazine. “I thought it would be a good topic for a book,” she says, “I thought I would write about the uprising of 1863, and in its background I would depict the love of Sierakauskas.” There was a lot of material, different testimonies, I couldn’t find the right form.

Photo of the publishing house/Apolonia

Finally, I decided to write about women in the rebellion, about Apollonia, the wife of the leader of the rebellion, who saw everything with her own eyes. It turned out that we were both born on the same day – January 19th, it was like a sign that put everything in its place. And then gifts began to fall from the sky – the remains of Z. Sierakauskas were discovered and identified, Apolonia’s memoirs were published in Lithuanian. There is nothing left but to use these gifts and gain knowledge.”

The wedding ring on which the names of Zygmantas and Apolonia were engraved helped to identify the remains of Z.Sierakauskas. “These are real personalities who once lived and loved, the original letters of Zygmants, which were translated into Lithuanian by a historian, became the testimony of this in the book

Tamara Bairasauskaitė. I inserted them in order to show how strong and true the couple’s love was, today I think, maybe they will become the most valuable part of the book”, says G. Viliūnė and adds that she understands the heroine of her book well. Contemporaries say that Apollonia was a rather closed person, a very strong, proud woman. It seems that she was born to adorn herself with pearls, to walk on Persian carpets, and not to experience the path of exile.

Photo of the publishing house/Apolonija, page photo

When she started writing the novel, the author of the book knew that her heroine would have to endure the pain of loss – Apollonia’s daughter died in her mother’s arms. “I haven’t experienced such a feeling myself, I kept doubting whether I would be able to write that place convincingly, I got so emotional that I myself began to dream Apollonia’s dream in which her daughter dies. I realized that I must withdraw from the topic a little,” says the writer, who in the novel tried to understand a woman whose marriage lasts nine months and who must accept the fact that she no longer has anyone to build a future with.

Such love is only once

Without a doubt, the writer could have found another man in the novel for Apolloniai. And she found it, but her heroine chose to stay alone. “Once you fall in love, you no longer want to settle for a weaker feeling of love, and you will hardly ever feel the same again. Apollonijos, who died early and tragically, was deified, perhaps someone would appear in his lifetime who would take him down,” G. Viliūnė said at the presentation of the book at the Vilnius Book Fair.

In the early 19th century, the heroine of her book chose to be independent. Such a decision was not common in the society of that time – women were under the guardianship of, if not a man, then a father or brother. However, Apollonia was different from childhood – even though she grew up in a family of ten children, she had the opportunity to study, which later allowed her to get involved in public affairs. “She wanted to be useful to the world, today not all of us ask the kind of questions that Apollonia and her sister Ksavera asked”, G. Viliūnė says about the relevance of the book today.

The writer has no doubts that even the quickly suppressed uprising of 1863 had a meaning – every historical event has, it affects other events and people. “We must understand and know that the freedom of our country, from a historical perspective, cost very, very much, it cannot be forgotten or underestimated,” says the author of the historical novel “Apolonia”.

The ancient photos are rephotographed from the book “Apolonija Dalevskytė-Sierakauskienė. Memoirs”.

We suggest you read an excerpt from Gina Viliūnė’s novel “Apolonia”:

Remember the night I told you the big news? I waited a long time for the right moment, because when you came to Vilnius, you were completely immersed in the affairs of the uprising. It was already night when you got back to the hotel. Tired, troubled by conflicting knowledge and thoughts. You entered quietly, afraid to wake me.

But I waited. Although I spent a long time choosing the words before, I said simply: we are going to have a baby. You smiled, running up for a hug. You said it’s a good sign, no, it’s a wonderful sign, God’s will, that everything will be fine. I believed in you. We sat by the window until morning, you held me in your arms. We didn’t talk about anything, we didn’t make plans, we just watched the stars twinkle over Vilnius, how they faded, giving way to the dawn. It was so good back then… I would give a lot for one more hour by your side…

Ashed to paper, Apollonia leans over to the sleeping Zygmutt. Love for her daughter is the only living thread connecting her with life. There would be no daughter, probably she would not be there either, her heart would stop beating, she would stop from indescribable longing.

One unusually warm day at the end of October, the sisters and Zygmut go for a walk and wander unreasonably far along the river. The exiles are not allowed to go outside the town without a policeman’s permission, but they decide to take the risk. The forest is almost bare, dry golden leaves crunch underfoot, it smells of moss, autumn and sadness. Having settled on a fallen birch trunk, they untie the wild bear. Zygmutė sleeps sweetly, stuffed with a wool blanket. The mother slowly chews the bun, thinks, gets upset.

“I feel so guilty about Pran,” he says. – He was arrested through me. That guilt gnaws from the inside. My biggest fear is that one of us will die, and the words of forgiveness will remain unspoken.

“He really forgave you, Teklyta,” consoles sister Apollonia. – I’m sure he forgave even the real abusers. That’s what Prana is…

– Yes, – Tekle smiles sadly. – He is like that.

Apollonia does not ask to tell anything. But, when Tekle starts talking, he listens attentively

This happened a month after the horrible execution of your husband Zygmants. We tried not to break down, to continue living and working for the good of the homeland. Once I visited the Sisters of Mercy in the hospital, as you remember, Ana and Anelė were not only our mother’s friends, but also loyal supporters of the uprising.

That time I stopped by Aneliute to hand over the organization’s documents and found her in the company of a young Russian officer. She introduced the officer as her nephew, the son of a brother she had not seen since childhood. And already Aneliutė looked happy! He told me what a great joy it was to find a relative after so many years, and one that was so good and loving. The nephew really looked like he was smeared with honey, he was kissing hands, smiling and pouring out compliments. Then they delicately left us alone to talk. Aneliuke asked me a favor in a whisper.

It is said that her nephew is eager to join the rebels, to pay tribute to the homeland he once left behind. And after all, at that time many Russian officers went over to our side. Aneliutė begged me to ask for Pran’s recommendation form, with which the nephew will be able to travel directly to the fighting unit. I tried to be careful, I asked Aneliutė if she was sure that it was her nephew. The poor thing assured me it was absolutely true. That man not only looks like his brother, but also showed his passport – it says Gajevski, the same last name, so what other evidence is needed?

Good, caring Aneliutė had no idea how treacherous our enemy could be. Already at a later stage, I learned that this Gajevski was a professional agent of the Third Department, sent from Petersburg. Maybe the last name is just a coincidence, or maybe the authorities issued him such a document to mislead a naive woman? Infected by Anele’s uplifting mood, I immediately rushed to Pran. After listening to me, my brother, as always, thought for a long time and advised me not to rush.

Something in this story seems unbelievable to him. But Aneliutė was pressured by her self-proclaimed nephew, she was pressuring me, and I was pressuring Prana. Every day I kept reminding him about Aneliutė’s sacrifice and merits for our cause. Shall we answer the holy woman? After all, it is such a trifle. Finally, Pran relented under our persuasion and arranged a meeting with Gajevski in the conspiratorial apartment.

He also brought a recommendation form. Of course our sage Pran was right! A police ambush was already waiting in the apartment. That day, they arrested not only him, but also Aneliutė and Ana. They found compromising documents with the nuns, and Pran managed to hide the form during the search and eat it. But it didn’t help anything, as you know. Ksaveriutė warned me. He met me on the street and shouted: “Run, Tekle, they are waiting for you, they are preparing to arrest you!” I ran, not knowing where, but will you escape from fate? In the morning I had to return and surrender to the waiting gendarmes.

Locked us all in the citadel. The cell contained only a plank bed with dirty straw lying on it, a table and a chair. Another bucket in the corner. The stench, the darkness, the cold. But that was not the worst thing. The worst part was figuring out what to say to the interrogators. What to say so as not to harm anyone? How not to break down and accidentally give something away? How do you know how much you can take?

Zygmantė wakes up. Apollonia rushes home with Tekle, she needs to make dinner for the child. Missing the tenants, Baba Mania is unhappy and grumpy, but Zigmutė’s smile cheers her up. Again, the samovar is humming peacefully, raspberry jam smells, women are sitting with handicrafts.

Baba Mania teaches Apollonia and Tekle how to knit thin warm woolen shawls. She has already knitted half a bag herself, she is waiting for the winter fair in Naugard, she says, there you can sell shawls very profitably. Apollonia tries, hooking a thin fluffy thread with a wooden needle, piercing one eye after another. The first scarf will be for Zygmut. And the others, if we are lucky, will be sold. After all, you have to come up with money somehow.

Apollonia’s savings are depleted even faster after Thekle’s arrival. Tekle offers to fill out an application and receive poor alms for deportees paid by the government. Apollonia does not agree to anything. After learning about the lack of money, grandmother Mania suggests: yes, the merchant Pivachov has three daughters, you could teach them to play the piano, foreign languages ​​or whatever else you know there. You would earn another kopek.

The next day, Tekle puts on her best dress and goes to the merchant. She returns happy. On Saturdays, she will teach the merchant’s daughters French, and on Wednesdays, Apollonia will give them music lessons. You will receive half a ruble for each lesson.

The joy doesn’t last long, because the merchant Pivachov’s house is right next to the police. No matter how observant the commissioner Vasia is, in the end he also notices that the exiles visit the town’s rich man twice a week. After finding out who and how, he scratches the flaking macula for a long time.

– For me, you could rattle that instrument and break your tongue, I’m not sorry. But ukaz is ukaz. It is clearly written there: deportees are prohibited from working in the public service, teaching in schools and privately… Well, you see? Black on white laid out. Well, unless you applied to the governor of Naugard and he allowed it, then you could teach yourself.

Apollonia remembers the red, smiling face of Governor Skariatin and refuses to write. Tekle writes the request in beautiful, correct Russian. The answer is coming soon. Request denied, teaching not allowed. Vasya just spreads her hands.

Tekle does not ask Apolonia and submits a request to receive money allocated by the state. 72 rubles per year are allocated to the nobility. One and a half rubles for housing rent per month and fifteen kopecks per day for food. Why so much? After all, even Baba Mania asks twice as much for an apartment! Vasya just shrugged, glancing at the emperor’s portrait hanging crookedly on the wall. Well, what can you add here.