Graves of Lithuanian soldiers

The graves of Lithuanian soldiers are located in the central cemetery of Kupiškis town. 60 Lithuanian soldiers who died in 1919 during the Lithuanian War of Independence against the Bolsheviks in Kupiškis area are buried there. In honor of the fallen soldiers, representatives of Kupiškis society and organizations gave task to Kupiškis Riflemen's Unit to build a monument on May 15, 1927. A 3-person commission was elected at the Kupiškis Riflemen's Unit meeting: the chairman - teacher Puodžiūnas, secretary-teacher Justinas Vaičaitis and school principal Vincas Eidukas. According to the project prepared by the commission and revised by sculptor Antanas Aleksandravičius, the monument to Lithuanian soldiers was erected in the Kupiškis cemetery in 1929. The monument's unveiling and consecration ceremony took place on October 2, 1929. During the ceremony, a service was held and a solemn procession to the cemetery was held. The monument was consecrated by the parish priest of Pandėlys, Mikalojus Šeižys-Dagilėlis, with more than 20 priests participating. Funds for the monument were donated by local residents and residents from surrounding villages, and the Kupiškis branches of the the Lithuanian Catholic Women's Society, the Riflemen's Unit, the "Spring" Union, and Union for the Liberation of Vilnius. Around 1951, after the Soviet authorities failed to demolish the monument (its foundation were buried 2 meters into the ground), the inscriptions and symbols on the monument were plastered over, the cross and the steps were demolished. Three participants of the June 1941 uprising are buried next to the soldiers' graves – Vincas Aleksynas and Vytautas Alešiūnas, who died near Šepeta village, Kupiškis district, on June 24, 1941, and Danielius Kulikauskas, who was killed by Soviet activists and Red Army soldiers near the Panevėžys sugar factory on June 25, 1941. The Kupiškis Council of the Reform Movement of Lithuania, led by architect Algis Graužinis, restored the monument, and the monument was unveiled and consecrated on June 14, 1989. The monument was consecrated by the dean of Kupiškis, Monsignor Klemensas Gutauskas.