BioGraphy
Anton KAUNAS
Anton Kaunas was born in Tarpučiai, Lithuania, on 4 March 1941. In 1949, at the age of 7, he was deported with his parents as being a kulak family. They were sent to a small village near Irkutsk. He and his brothers and sisters felt hungry as they went lifting frozen potatoes. To go to school they had to share one pair of shoes between two. When they got there, other children threw stones at them, sometimes calling them Fascists. His father worked as a joiner in the kolkhoz for a kilo of grain a month. But he died in 1951 and his mother could not work because she was ill. The children helped each other, his three brothers became tractor-drivers and he a lorry-driver. He began to go hunting, although at first it was illegal, his life improved. He remembers the first wolf he killed, before becoming one of the best wolf-hunters in the district. He said he loved the work, probably because of his hunger.
In 1961, he entered the army for three years, and served in Kazakhstan and then on the Virgin Lands Campaign until 1964.
When he was released, he did not want to go back, whereas his elder brother, sisters and mother went back, later, in about 1983. He often goes on holiday to Lithuania but his life is here in Siberia.
The interview with Anton Kaunas was conducted in 2010 by Emilia Koustova and Larissa Salakhova.
Entire interview with Anton Kaunas - in English
Tunguy, Irkutsk region, 25/01/2010, Original in Russian; interpretation from Russian into English: Jan Krotki.
Protecting valuables
One neighbour hid his valuables in the lake to protect them from looting.
They shouted “Fascists” at us
Some children called him a Fascist, but that was rare.
Religious practice
His mother read him the Bible, went to church. They were allowed to.
Mutual family support
Their family back in Lithuania helped them with regular parcels and letters.
The brigade-leader turns a blind eye
Hunting became a passion for Anton Kaunas.
"I won’t join the Party, even if you shoot me"
Anton Kaunas refused to join the komsomol or the Party, even though it would be to his advantage.
Repatriating his father’s body to Lithuania
The family repatriated their father’s body to Lithuania; he is now buried alongside his wife in his Lithuanian village.
Qualified work
After hard years at the start, Anton Kaunas and his brothers got qualified jobs, him as a lorry-driver, and them as tractor-drivers, so they could afford to save the family from poverty.
