Don‘t get lost in the woods and in your own conscience
Jonas Kadžionis was born in 1928 in Piktagalis, Anykščiai district, Lithuania. His parents Aleksas and Petronėlė Kadžioniai were farmers. There were 11 children in their family. In 1936-1940 Jonas went to Pieninių primary school (Anykščiai distr.), he finished 4 grades. Jonas lived and worked in a family farm. At the beginning of the second Soviet occupation in the spring of 1948 part of his family were exiled to Siberia. Jonas Kadžionis wanted to avoid military service in the Soviet Army so; he joined Lithuanian Freedom Fighters Movement and became a partisan. In 1948-1949 he was fighting in Tigras troop, Šarūnas pick of the army, Algimantas district. His nom de guerre was Bėda (adversity). In 949-1953 Jonas Kadžionis- Bėda was fighting In Laisvės (Freedom) district, he was one of three the last partisans in that district, he was hiding in different dugouts in Kavarskas - Dabužiai - Traupis area. In 1949 Jonas Kadžionis got married to Malvina Gedžiūnaitė. His wife Malvina Gedžiūnaitė-Kadžionienė-Sesutė (little sister)(1923-1992) was a Freedom fighter, volunteer and an exile. In 1950 while Jonas and Malvina were hiding in the dugout, their son Antanas was born. On the 22nd of May in 1953 Jonas Kadžionis -Bėda and his wife, partisan, Malvina Gedžiūnaitė-Kadžionienė -Sesutė by guile were ensnared into an ambush and caught by the exterminator agents. In 1953 by the Baltic Tribunal Jonas Kadžionis and his wife were sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and to 5 years exile. Jonas Kadžionis refused to appeal for pardon or admit that he was deluded, so he was in prison in Russia the whole time of his punishment. At the beginning he was kept in Omsk where he worked in the wood manufacturing factory, later he was building oil conversion factory in Taishet, was in prison in Mordovia and in Perm, worked in the timber mills. After fulfilling his sentence in May, 1978 Jonas Kadžionis returned to Lithuania and settled at his wife in Pajūris, Šilalė district, he worked as a cleaner in the church. The Soviet authorities started pursuing him, he had been hiding for some time, was accused of freeloading and in 1983 exiled to Kaliningrad area, Russia, worked in the timber mill, in 1989 he retired. During the years of Lithuanian Revival Jonas Kadžionis was allowed to come back to Lithuania and in March 1989 he returned home. On the 14th of April 1998 Jonas Kadžionis was recognised as Lithuanian volunteer, on the 13th May 1998 he was granted the degree of lieutenant. Presently Jonas Kadžionis is the commander of the revived Algimantas district, retired captain and takes care of partisan war monumentalization. He initiated the creation the memorial for Traupis district freedom defenders, and marking partisan battle, death and burial places in Kavarskas area. He managed to find the place of his former dugout in Dabužiai forest and in 2009 together with the other enthusiasts reconstructed it. Nowadays the dugout is used for educational purposes. Jonas Kadžionis was awarded the Cross of Commander (Third Class Order). In his free time Jonas Kadžionis writes reminiscence, poetry and songs.
