After reading the Minister's (K. Birulis) appeal, the signalers rushed to work without being asked. They offered their assistance. As the Minister was in session at the Supreme Council, I had to organize the staff. We (director of the electronic communications department V. Micka, chief engineer A. Stelingis, director of the foreign affairs department V. Kuzma, chief of the work security department T. Jučas, and I) had been at work all week without leaving.
We're thankful to the technical director of the Radio and Television Center J. Rapkevičius, the department superintendent A. Ramanauskas, engineers R. Varnas, A. Šalkauskas, J. Beniūnas, and V. Zalensas, the staff of Kaunas radio and television, and others who enabled us to watch Independent Lithuanian television channels 6 and 11 in Vilnius and to listen to radio programming around the clock. Thanks to the signalers, we found out about the approaching disaster in no time. The selfless and ingenious work of our people helped prevent horrible crimes.
In addition, people were, and still are, at all of the communication enterprises. The Vilnius signalers, namely deputy director of the postal, telegraph and telephone enterprises V. Čeponis, superintendent of the station district A. Raščiukas, engineers R. Miniotas and A. Lapėnas, and mechanic R. Martinėnas, did everything to ensure that radios were functioning in the homes of Vilnius, and that the people in Independence Square and in Cathedral Square could hear the broadcast from the Supreme Council.
We've only mentioned a few names of signalers who actively participated in the tragic events of January. The number of signalers in our Republic exceeds 20,000.
Only a few of them got flustered and... went with the occupants. I'd like to embrace the others and say: „Women, men, together we did what we could and we are going to do everything for our Homeland, for the sake of Independent Lithuania. It's great to be surrounded by people who are so devoted to their work, to their vocation..."
Five holdings of the Ministry of Communication were seized. On January 11th — the newspaper dispatch office and the photographers' section (which gets the matrices of Union newspapers that are printed in Vilnius from Moscow) in the Press House were taken. At night on that same day the consolidation telephone line station in the suburbs was captured too. The equipment was only switched off for 45 minutes because it cut off not only the civilians but the military as well. And they sued for several thousand roubles for those 45 minutes.
On the night of January 12 when the Viršuliškės radio station was seized, radio broadcasting was cut off in Vilnius. Then Bloody Sunday began - the television tower was taken over.
Our „saviors" didn't like the signalers' hostile acts, and on the morning of Monday, January 14th, liudi" (“people") with automatic guns appeared in the administrative offices of the Vilnius postal, telegraph and telephone enterprise (Gedimino Prospect 34), and took over the radio junction building. They threw the workers out.
The takeover of the tower caused 3,600,000 roubles worth of damage. We don't know what our „saviors" will leave when they vacate the tower. The equipment alone was worth more that 6 million roubles, and one day without work at the communication service “Altaj" costs them 1,500 roubles. Hundreds of telephone numbers which directly connect with Soviet cities were also taken.
Many signalers' families live in the houses across from the TV tower. The windows shattered from the firing, and wounded people were laying below the windows. Children were scared to death and were screaming and yelling. Their health was undoubtedly affected by that.
About 20 signalers were on duty when the tower was seized. They did everything they could to keep broadcasting and communication going until the last minute, while you might say that they were looking death in the face themselves. But let them talk about what they went through themselves.
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 198-200.