Kazimieras Paltarokas

Kazimieras Paltarokas (22 October 1875 in Linkuva – 3 January 1958) was a Lithuanian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Panevėžys. He was ordained in 1902 and he was appointed a bishop in 1926.^[1] He was an active book smuggler of the Lithuanian language literature during the Lithuanian press ban.^[2]

Kazimieras Paltarokas

In 1949, Paltarokas was the last of the eleven Roman Catholic bishops remaining in Lithuania after the others had been eliminated by the Soviet regime,^[1][3][4] and he was compelled to go into hiding.^[5][6] Among the other bishops, Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas of Kaunas went into exile in Austria, Bishop Teofilius Matulionis was deported to Siberia and poisoned, Auxiliary Bishop Pranciškus Ramanauskas was also deported to Siberia, Bishop Vincentas Borisevičius was shot in 1946, and Bishop Antanas Karosas died of natural causes in 1947 and no successor was appointed.^[6][7] In 1954, the Soviet press published a pastoral letter purportedly authored by Paltarokas, claiming that Lithuania had freedom of religion, but it was denounced as a forgery.^[1] He died in Vilnius in 1958.^{[1][8][9][10][11]}

References

1. "Bishop of Lithuania Reported Dead at 82". The Tablet. Brooklyn, NY. January 25, 1958. p. 19. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
2. . Grazitumano.lt (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
3. "Exhaustion Believed 'Drug' Used on Hungarian Cardinal". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, PA. February 21, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
4. "Many Priests Disappearing in Lithuania". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, PA. February 22, 1949. p. 14. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
5. "Lithuanian Bishop Goes Underground". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Honolulu, HI. July 5, 1949. p. 4. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
6. "Last Lithuanian Catholic Bishop Goes into Hiding". The Boston Globe. Boston, MA. July 5, 1949. p. 5. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
7. "Catholics Charge Purge in Lithuania". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. July 5, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
8. "Panevėžys (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". catholic-hierarchy.org.
9. . Panevezys.lcn.lt (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 24 May 2006.
10. "Diocese of Panevėžys, Lithuania". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
11. Statiev, Alexander (19 April 2010). The Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands. Cambridge University Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-521-76833-7.