In some fields about 12 kilometres north of Siauliai in Lithuania, there is a hillock densely covered with  crosses which is well known as the Hill of Crosses.

Locals say that the first crosses were constructed  in the middle of the 19th century

in prayer to God. At that time, people considered this to be a sacred place.

Other sources believe that the first crosses were erected in the middle of the

19th century in memory of those who had perished in the 1831 and 1863 rebellions

against Tsarist Russia.

However, the subsequent Russian occupation saw the prohibition of any further erection of crosses in addition to the demolition of those that had been constructed.

Later, in the Spring of 1961, the Soviets then in power decided to obliterate the Hill of

Crosses. It was destroyed by the military under strict control. The wooden crosses

were burnt, the metal crosses were scrapped, the stone and the concrete crosses were

either used for road building or were buried.

However, what we may remember is that throughout the period of the Russian occupation in Lithuania, the Hill of Crosses remained a symbol of unflagging resistance and of an  unwavering belief in freedom.