Petras Bartkus, also known by his codenames à ½adgaila and AlkupÃÂnas (30 May 1925 â 13 August 1949) was a poet and anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisan. He was one of the signatories of the Lithuanian Partisans Declaration of 16 February 1949, and the first commander of the partisan PrisikÃÂlimas military district.
Petras Bartkus was born on 30 May 1925 in the village of of the Raseiniai district to Antanas Bartkus and Anastazija BartkienÃÂ. In 1941 he was arrested for distributing illegal newspapers but was released as he was underage. He studied at the Kaunas higher technic school, and in 1942 he joined the resistance in the Lithuanian Liberty Army.
During the Soviet re-occupation of Lithuania in 1944 he organized partisans in the Kelmàarea. He was a communicator for the local VÃÂgÃÂlàunit and then staff member of the à ½ebenkà ¡tis unit, later renamed the à  ernas unit, after which Bartkus became its leader. When the KÃÂstutis military district was established on 12 September 1946, Bartkus was made the head of its headquarters organizational unit (during which he gained the codename SÃ à ¾inÃÂ). Bartkus published the newspaper LaisvÃÂs Varpas. After the KÃÂstutis district lost its organizational capacity following intense raids, Bartkus was tasked by Jonas à ½emaitis and his colleague Bronislovas Liesis to not only establish new communications but also to discuss the creation of a new military district.
On 15 March 1948 a meeting took place that involved representatives from the district, as well as from the Voveràand Atà ¾alynas units. On 31 March the PrisikÃÂlimas military district was established and on 1 April Bartkus was selected as its commander (with the codename Maà ¾rimas). The district at first consisted of the VoverÃÂ, Atà ¾alynas, à ½alioji and Povilas Lukà ¡ys units. Bartkus published the newspaper PrisikÃÂlimo Ugnis. He also wrote poems under the pseudonym AlkupÃÂnas. A collection of his poems was published in 1948. The press he published often involved themes of centralized resistance. When the West Lithuanian (Sea) Area of partisans was created in 1948 with Jonas à ½emaitis as its head, Bartkus and another colleague were made à ½emaitis's substitutes. Bartkus was the head of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters (LLKS) headquarters organizational division, and also the presidium secretary of the General Democratic Resistance Union, an organization set up by Soviet agent . On 21 November 1948 Bartkus was awarded the rank of major. Bartkus pariticpated in the partisan meeting in the village of MinaiÃÂiai, in which he was one of the signatories of the Lithuanian Partisans Declaration of 16 February 1949. He was also appointed as a presidium secretary of the LLKS. In the same year Bartkus was made the head of reconnaissance of the LLKS.
Bartkus died on 13 August 1949 in a fight with MGB agents in the Uà ¾pelkiai forest in the Radvilià ¡kis district, along with Bronislovas Liesis (another signature of the 1949 declaration), Jonas Vytautas à  niuolis (a member of the LLKS presidium), and two unidentified others. Their bodies were driven to Radvilià ¡kis and buried there. On 25 September 1994 the bodies were exhumed and buried in the Radvilià ¡kis cemetery.
In 1997 he was awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis 1st degree. In 1998 he was awarded the rank of colonel.