Jonas Misiūnas (1911)

Jonas Misiūnas - 'Žalias Velnias' ( b. 1911/01/15 Poliesė manor [now - Pamiškė] - d. 1947/03/11 Moscow, Russia ) - Lithuanian officer, partisan.
== Early Life and Service ==
Jonas's father was a blacksmith. The family of Jonas himself included 3 brothers and 6 sisters, one of which, Petronėlė, is mentioned when visiting Jonas Misiūnas's grave.http://www.partizanai.org/failai/html/didziosios_kovos.htm#347 When his father died in 1931, he went to join the Lithuanian army as a volunteer, and served in a Hussar regiment in Kaunas. in 1934, after he finished his mandatory service, he stayed as a fully pledged member, and in 1940 he received the rank of Viršila (something equivalent to Sergeant Major).
== Early Partisan Activity ==
When Germany occupied Lithuania, Misiūnas was working in the railroad security service in the Kaišiadorys police force. In 1944 on the 5th of February, he enlisted in the Lietuvos Vietinė Rinktinė, an organization founded by general Povilas Plechavičius to restore Lithuania's sovereignty and to protect its new borders. He worked there until its dissolution the same year. On February 16th, he graduated from the Marijampolė war school as a cadet.
During the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, in July, Jonas Misiūnas, along with his family settled in the Janioniai (Musninkiai county) village at farmer Juozas Kupčinskas. It is here where he organized his 'Didžiosios Kovos' partisan group, in which by the end of the month, had up to 200 fighters. The fighters did not avoid confrontations with the enemy, as they mostly destroyed Soviet institutions and eliminated Soviet activists. Jonas himself traveled with his guard, otherwise called 'Mažasis ratas' (small circle). He'd change his position of dislocation using the following route: Kaugonys - Dainava - Paparčiai - Šilonys - Beištrakiai - Kaišiadorys - Žiežmariai - Strošiūnai - Kaugonys.
== Ascension to Leadership ==
In January 15th 1945, he met with the Lithuanian Freedom Army's Vilnius district central headquarters representative Mečislovas Kesteinas-Serbentas (In KGB documents he is listed as Mykolas Kareckas), and reorganized his partisan group into the LFA's Vilnius district's 5th area and transferred the leadership of that group to M. Kesteinius just a month later. He himself remained the deputy of that group and the commander of the 1st operative division. In April 13th, he would again regain the command of the group, now called the 5th district, after its previous leader died.
In December 1st, the name was once again changed to the now infamous Didžiosios Kovos Apygarda (Great Battle District). 2 Divisions were made from that district: A - Trakai section and B - Ukmergė section. Throughout 1944-1946 Misiūnas's own district published newspapers like Laisvės Keliu and Laisva Lietuva. Around this time he received the rank of Lieutenant.
== Character ==
Jonas Misiūnas was intelligent, demanding of himself and his comrades, did not panic in difficult situations, took care of his soldiers and their education. As he was remembered by the people who knew him, he was a strong, tall, very energetic and handsome man. He was happy in his unit and had a sharp tongue. He would punish not only traitors and enemies but also his soldiers if they were caught stealing.
== Capture & Death ==
He was being followed by NKVD agents since his first day in Musninkiai county. He would receive letters from NKVD recruited partisans trying to lure him in. In 1946 however, they would finally make a connection through Juozas Albinas Markulis, an MGB recruited agent since 1945. He understood that a big organizational unit needed an intelligent commander like Misiūnas, so by his recommendations, the leadership of the district shifted from Jonas Misiūnas to an NKVD agent, known as Viktoras Pečiūras-Kapitonas Griežtas (from 1942 the agent was listed as 'Gediminas'), and Misiūnas himself was left as a deputy commander. 
In 1946 at August 14th, the previously mentioned NKVD agent lured Misiūnas in with a fabricated event of a partisan leadership meeting in Vilnius. It is here where he would be secretly arrested. A few months after his arrest, he would still try to contact his soldiers with his nickname 'Žaliasis Velnias', which means Green Devil in Lithuanian. When this option failed, he was sent to Moscow. 
It is thought that since 1947 March 11th, he was shot and killed in the Moscow prison of Butyrskaya, also simply known as Butyrka.
== Wife & Children ==
His wife Ona-Vida Misiūnienė (Krivickienė), along with her seven year old twins Kęstutis and Rimgaudas were arrested in 1945 February 5th. In prison, she gave birth to a third son, Vytautas. 5 days later she would be released, while all of her 3 children would be kept as hostages. It was due to the hope of leverage that she could hand over a letter, forged by the NKVD, to his husband - Jonas Misiūnas. When she finally made contact with partisans in 1945, on February 4th, she died in Musninkiai county in a shooting. She was secretly buried in the Pigoniai village, in the Čiobiškiai cemetery. Their children would remain hostages until December, where they would be given to the children's shelter, later transferred to Kaliningrad.
In the end, they had 5 children:
* Vytautas Misiūnas (1944-2018)
* Gediminas-Petras Misiūnas (1942-1942)
* Kęstutis Misiūnas (1937-1995)
* Rimgaudas Misiūnas (1937-2013)
* Danutė-Ona Ilčiukienė (1935-2019)
Jonas Misiūnas still has living descendants through his children Vytautas, Rimgaudas and Danutė-Ona.
== Awards & Remembrance ==
* [1997] - was recognized as a war volunteer.
* [1998] - received the rank of Colonel.
* [1999] - received the Vytis Cross 2nd Grade award.
* [2012] - became an honorary citizen of Kaišiadorys
He was remembrance statues built in Kaišiadorys, Kaugonys, Ukmergė Mūšios park. The nickname of 'Žaliasis Velnias' is written on the Kaišiadorys Cemetary on the partisan's chapel. 
The square train station in Kaišiadorys is also named after him. He also has some exposition in the museums in Kaišiadorys and Pasvalys regardings his battles and his life.