The Monument of Lithuanian pilots

On the 17th of July 1933 in the Pszczelnik forest two Lithuanian pilots died in a crash - Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas. Their intent was to go from Kowno to New York without any stopovers. The flight was supposed to be the second flight without stopovers in the world. The pilots flew a Belanca CH3000 Pacemaker, equipped with additional tanks which were called “Lituanica”. On the 15th of July they started their journey of 7 186 km. The take-off of the overloaded plane was said to be one of the most risky in the history of aviation. Most probably due to low budget “Lituanica” did not have a radio and therefore written reports from the flight were thrown out by the pilots in bags. On the 16th of July the plane was seen near Stargard Szczeciński, and then above Barlinek. Most likely due to the storm after 37 hours and 11 minutes of the flight the plane crushed in Pszczelnik. They had 650 km to go. The wreck of the plane and the bodies of the pilots was found by a local girl picking berries.

Two years after the crush, in a place where the engine of “Lituanica” was found, a granite monument was placed. In the place where injured Stepas Darius crawled to a wooden shrine was put on a pole. The location of the crush, an area with a diameter of approx. 10 m, was purchased by the Lithuanians for 99 years before the 2nd World War. In 1989 in the Żmudź cottage, brought from the Museum of Folk Architecture in Rumszyszki in Lithuania, there was a memorial room established. In 1995 the team completed a stone with the description of the crush written in four languages.