Tautos Garbės Brolija

Tautos Garbės Brolija (Brotherhood of National Honour), commonly abbreviated as TGB, is a controversial Lithuanian patriotic organization. Despite of its name, the organization accepts female members as well as males.

History

The brotherhood became a great power after the Thunderstorm War, when it, led by Kazys Škirpa, was one of major oraganisators of resistance against the Russians and later the Germans. After the war ended, the organisation was not dissolved and continued to exist. It gained members mainly from the circles of people unhappy with the RTC who would have prefered an independent state of Lithuania; the facts of mistreatment of Lithuanians in Belarus, Maasai and other places helped the ideas of TGB to become more popular. In the 50s and 60s TGB was primarilly militant organisation which viewed the RTC as a Venedic occupation, later their views became less radical, but in general they still regard southern Skuodia, Lithuania Minor, western Belarus and other places to be occupied parts of Lithuania. TGB itself does not organise military action such as sabotages anymore, but organisations which are considered to be closely related to TGB does.

Practices and actions

Modern TGB reminds secret society to some extent as the names of its members are frequently concealed. Official actions of TGB include collecting charity for Lithuanians living in poor countries (especially Maasai) as well as raising aid for Free Lithuania. Members of TGB meet at special parties where alcohol consumption is generally discouraged. They also do perform other official duties, in that way the organisation functions as a club.

Entire families are frequently members of TGB; there are special wings for children and teenagers, where they are taught military tactics, how to use various weapons, martial arts and such things.

It is important for TGB member, both adults and children, to be able to "defend the Truth and Honour" anytime. That is, members are expected to defend people who are mugged at streets, to inform "those capable to deal with that" about suspicious things; more frequently than informing police, however, TGB acts as the police on itself, arresting criminals after more members are called to the place of crime. While some support this as an activity that is increasing safety, others oppose it as an anachronism. Several lynchings by TGB members were reported (however, it is usually difficult to prove that a particular person is a member of TGB if he/she does not admit it).

TGB is known to organise protest demonstrations and otherwise enforce its political goals as well. Allegedly, for example, provocateurs are being sent to demonstrations of those people who oppose TGB goals (this has never been proven). Similarly, allegedly TGB tries to gain influence over newspapers, radio and television stations by having their own people in these institutions. It is unclear how much truth there is in these allegations however.

TGB also issues its own books and materials.

Another, even more controversial, thing about TGB is its support for the militant organisations (which are sometimes even considered to be part of TGB) responsible for attacks against Skuodia, Russia, Belarus, Maasai and other countries, as well as assasination attempts inside Lithuania.

Order

The order inside the TGB is quite hierarchical; (military ranks) are used to denote person's level in the organisation, and the organisation itself is divided into typical military units (divisions, batallions, etc.), each of which is responsible for some area of Lithuania; there are such units in other countries which large Lithuanian communities as well.

Dozen truths

Closely associated with the TGB, the "Dozen truths", known since the Second Great War, makes an important "moral code" for the organisation as well as other patriotic and nationalist political and militant organisations in Lithuania.

Among those dozen (12) truths are:

1. Lithuania is above everything in this world; above love and life, above any possible possesion - everything is valueless compared to Lithuania and thus could be sacrificed easily in the name of it (commonly abbreviated as Lithuania above everything).
2. Lithuania, from the center of the Earth to the limit of the sky, belongs to the Lithuanians, they are the rightful earthly owners of every river, forest, house, every smallest piece of earth and sand which ever existed in Lithuania (commonly abbreviated as Lithuania for Lithuanians).
3. Lithuania is everywhere where Lithuanians live or used to live, where there exists Lithuanian gravestones and where air bears the marks of smoke emmited by the cremation of Lithuanians (commonly abbreviated as Lithuania is where there are Lithuanian graves).
4. Lithuanian language is the single language of all Lithuanians and all people of other nationalities living in Lithuania; it is the oldest, most beautiful and supreme (commonly abbreviated as Lithuanian language is the language of Lithuania).

Legal status

TGB works illegally in some countries (for example, Maasai and Skuodia), in some others no special laws regulating the organisation exists. In Lithuania provinces have the power to decide on werether to permit such organisation or not; over the time, TGB has been banned in Volhynia, Suslewia and Polesia and under a controversial decition it was banned in 2004 in Vilnija as well (after the assasination of Aitvaras Varnelis). The future of the organisation is thought to depend on whether Samogitia, the last province of Lithuania where TGB is still legal, decides to ban it. Current liberal government of Samogitia seems to be against the idea. Some believe however that even completely banned in Lithuania the organisation would not disappear and work underground, while the official HQ would be moved to Free Lithuania, where it is very unlikely that TGB would be banned anytime soon.

Relationship with the government of Lithuania

While TGB does not support the government of Lithuania, it is not trying to fight it and enjoys the status quo to some extent where it is permitted to work, but in exchange does not do anything to destabilise the government. It was expected by some that after Vilnija banned TGB a reviolution or great riots would start, but in fact nothing like that happened; some attributed it to the fact that TGB supposedly is weaker than assumed, others claim that only if TGB will be banned in Samogitia, the last province of Lithuania where it is still legal, it will attempt a revolution. Such opinions were unofficially confirmed by key members of TGB as well.

It is a common topic of conspiracy theories in Lithuanian press as well as fictional books and films that the TGB influences government, or that various members of government use TGB to achieve their own goals (such as that, for example, security organisations and counterintelligence receives help from TGB in exchange for various supposed coverups for TGB operations). It is sometimes assumed that a bunch of members of government might be members of the TGB as well; some conspiracy theories even claim that the majority of seimas members and the members of government are in the TGB. However, when TGB was banned in Vilnija, the critics of this view claimed that the organisation would have not been banned if it really was so influential.

This page was created by Abdul-aziz.