Walking this 545 m long trail you will reach the grave of poet Vytautas Mačernis. The poet was killed on 7 October 1944 during the Battle of Seda, when he was accidentally hit in the head by an artillery shell splinter. After his death, poet‘s relatives returned the deceased back to Šarnelė, to bury in his homeland.
While walking along the V. Mačernis walking trail, don’t miss the Kerpauskai spring and informational stand near by. This spring commemorates an important historical period – the genocide of the Jewish people during World War II. The Kerpauskai spring is located on the trail leading from the car parking to the poet’s grave. The family of Juozas and Adolfina Kerpauskai hid Jews during the Second World War in underground hiding bunkers at the foot of a small hill next to the spring and in the farmhouse below. For three and a half years, the family cared for and protected several Jewish families – 16 people in total – from destruction. In Soviet times, Adolfina and Juozas Kerpauskai and their children Bronė and Tomas were exiled to Siberia. Juozas Kerpauskas in 1992 and Adolfina Kerpauskienė in 2009 were awarded the Life Saving Cross Awards.
Adress: Šarnelė village, Žemaičių Kalvarija eldership, Plungė district.
Find the trail here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t8Cx8qjVZFV6knEg9
Zemaitija National Park Directorate
Didžioji str. 10, Plateliai, LT-90420, Plungės dstr., Lithuania
Company code: 191440964
VAT code: LT914409610
The founder is the State Service of Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment.
Website part-financed by the European Union 2014-2020. Interreg V-A South Baltic Cross Border Cooperation Program.
