On June 28, 1978 Tiesa (Truth) published an article by correspondent Vytautas Žeimantas entitled "Slander from the Pulpit" in which the author brutally attacked the pastor of Viduklė, Father Alfonsas Svarinskas, with various fabrications. The faithful of Viduklė wrote a letter of protest to First Secretary Griškevičius of the Lithuanian SSR Communist Party. The letter was signed by over 1,000 believers.
The faithful also wrote to Žeimantas, but of course received no reply. In lieu of a reply, Security Police Interrogator Major Matulevičius came to the Blinstrubiškis Nursing Home on March 28, 1979 and interrogated patient Stasė Navardauskaitė who had dared to defend the pastor.
When he arrived, the Major stated he would conduct the interrogation without any outsiders. Assistant Director Danutė Lipeikaitė left the room. Major Matulevičius then locked the door, took out a sheaf of papers and said:
"Let's begin ..."
After a series of meaningless questions, the interrogator suddenly asked:
"What can you tell me about pastor Svarinskas of Viduklė?"
"What can 1 tell you other than that he is a good man, a good priest, eloquent. His sermons draw people, are inspiring and rouse people from moral stagnation."
"Why do you like him?"
"Because he fights drunkenness and moral licentiousness. He tries to urge families to live morally, raise theirchildren decently."
"What else does he say?" continued the interrogator.
"If you want to know so much, go listen to his sermons yourselves and then you will know everything."
"And what do others think of him?"
"Others also think well of him and love him because the church is nearly always full of people. Therefore it is often difficult for us disabled people to find a place for our wheelchairs. And there are many children."
"What do you know about such publications as the Chronicle of the Catholic Church, God and Country,and Suffering Christ?"
"And what can I know about them? I know nothing. But I've heard on the radio that they exist."
The security agent approached the patient, shoved a handful of papers under her nose:
"Take a look!"
"And what is this" (Miss) Navardauskaitė asked in surprise. "You see, look, issue No. 34!" and he again sat down at the table, leafing through that issue's pages. He then asked derisively: "And maybe you will tell me on what page?" The woman did not reply.
Then Matulevičius lifted up a handwritten page and again asked with great sarcasm:
"And perhaps you know nothing about this?"
"It's a letter I wrote," calmly replied the patient.
"Whom did you consult when you wrote the letter?"
"No one! I wrote it by myself. I read the article in the newspaper, was incensed and wrote."
"If you wrote the letter by yourself, then tell me how it found its way into theChronicle? You know, don't you, that it was in the Chronicle?"
"I heard it read on the radio, but do not know how it got there." "And how was it read?" the security agent kept harassing her. "It was read as I wrote it; without subtracting or adding anything."
"You wrote that letter at Svarinskas' urging," the security agent continued to badger her. After a brief pause, he continued:
"Explain for me this sentence: 'It is extremely painful that today after such suffering, our nation's body is being invaded, figuratively speaking, by cancer cells which, in attempting to extend the life of the malignant growth, destroy the healthy cells."
"And how else can you call the people," stated (Miss) Neverdauskaitė, "who make up a mess of slander and pour it over the head of a decent man?"
At the end of the interrogation, the security agent ordered (Miss) Neverdauskaitė to sign the minutes of the interrogation, but she refused. The interrogator gathered up all his papers and gnashed out through clenched teeth:
"Fanatic! I will go tell the director how you've behaving, how you repay the state."
N.B. Certain people conceal their talks with the security police out of fear and thereby, though indirectly, give them a helping hand for they help villany, for which publicity is fatal, to exist.
