Icikas Meskupas pseudonym Adomas (20 August 1907 – 13 March 1942) was a leader of the Lithuanian Komsomol and Communist Party in interwar Lithuania.
Two of his uncles were active in the communist movement and he joined the Lithuanian Komsomol in late 1924 while still a high school student.
[1] Upon his release, Meskupas joined the central committee of the Lithuanian Komsomol and was sent to Berlin by the Communist Party of Lithuania in July 1931.
[1] There he attended the University of Berlin and organized the publishing of various communist newspapers (Balsas, Komunistas, Partijos darbas, Undzer emes, Darbininkų jaunimas) and their smuggling into Lithuania.
He was released in April 1934 and returned to Kaunas where he joined the central committee of the Komsomol and the secretariat of the Communist Party.
They launched a campaign to attract new members and published newspapers Šturminė kampanija (July–August 1934) and Darbininkų ir valstiečių jaunimas which were edited by Meskupas.
Antanas Sniečkus, the first secretary of the Communist Party, spent much of 1938–1939 in hiding from both the Lithuanian police and the Soviet NKVD and refused invitations to appear in Moscow.
At the time, the communists intended to reestablish the party in Lithuania – they prioritized political work and agitation over partisan warfare.
Meskupas was eager to depart, even promising to walk the distance, but various setbacks (Battle of Moscow, airplane malfunction, lukewarm reception by the NKVD) delayed his departure to 7 March 1942.
[3] Meskupas along with nine others was airlifted and parachuted near Bauska, Latvia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of their intended destination of Rokiškis District.
[3] On 12 March, the remaining six men reached the environs of Nemunėlio Radviliškis and asked a local forester for food and directions.