Veliuona renames its last street named after Petras Cvirka

Veliuona has renamed its last street named after writer and Soviet official Petras Cvirka, LRT reported. The street, in the town of Veliuona in Jurbarkas District, will now be called Kalno Street.

The roughly 500-metre street is home to nearly 30 residents. The new name was chosen in a resident survey that offered seven options, including Dvaro, Junigedos, Kalno and Kunigaikščių streets. The Jurbarkas District Council approved Kalno Street on September 24.

Veliuona local administrator Egidijus Mikšta said the change would involve little expense. The street has two name signs, which will be replaced once the new ones are made.

Resident Ingrida Boguckienė said the name suited Veliuona because the town and the street are on a hill. She said the short street climbs uphill, making the ascent noticeable both on foot and by bicycle.

This is the third street named after Cvirka to be renamed in Jurbarkas District. In 2024, the street in Seredžius was renamed Palemono Street and the one in Jurbarkas became Bibliotekos Street. Veliuona’s street was left unchanged at the time after residents appealed again to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania.

A special expert commission has described Cvirka as an active supporter of the Soviet occupation authorities and a member of the Lithuanian Communist Party. It said he served in the People’s Seimas after the results of the 1940 election were falsified, supported Soviet rule and remained a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union until his death in 1947.

Lithuania has prohibited the promotion of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes and their ideologies since May last year. The ban requires public spaces to remove related symbols, including monuments and the names of streets, squares and other public places.