Union for the Liberation of Vilnius
It established an unofficial but highly popular national mourning day on 9 October (the anniversary of the Żeligowski's Mutiny of 1920).
Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno) was captured by Polish forces during the Żeligowski's Mutiny in October 1920 and officially incorporated into Poland in March 1922.
Lithuania protested these actions and refused to recognize the loss of Vilnius even de facto leading to the termination of any official relations with Poland.
[6] The initial goal of the committee was to organize aid for the exiled Belarusian as they ended up in a foreign country with no financial means.
[11] The organization focused on cultural propaganda and while it urged soldiers to be prepared to do their duty when the time comes, it did not support armed or violent activities (e.g. it did not encourage accumulation of weapons).
[17] The union organized various events, including lectures, concerts, amateur theater performances, Catholic masses and prayers, tree plantings, radio programmes.
[19] The union built upon romantic medieval legends (e.g. Iron Wolf or Šventaragis' Valley) and painted a dire image of enslaved and repressed Lithuanians suffering under the Polish regime.
[11] The union and its propaganda efforts transformed Vilnius, a foreign and unfamiliar city to most Lithuanian peasants, into something familiar and cherished, an integral part of the national identity.
The magazine had up to 40 pages and reported on the conditions of Lithuanians in Vilnius Region as well as other ethnic minorities, primarily Belarusians and Ukrainians, in Poland.
The magazine also published poems, theater plays, announcements and reports on the union's activities, caricatures, historical essays, and articles on current political events.
[5] In October 1931, the union established Vilnius Iron Fund (Vilniaus geležinis fondas) to raise money to support Lithuanian schools and societies active in the region.
[14] Its rector was Mykolas Biržiška and it was intended to study Vilnius Region, its history, language, customs, etc., but it was essentially inactive.
