Banga, the sculptural composition to commemorate M. Reisgys and his family

The Banga (Lith. Wave) statue is located in the university campus and is dedicated to the president of Lithuania Minor, Martynas Reisgys, and his family. The statue is made from steel, black metal, and granite. The authors of the statue are Gintas Reisgys , an architect (it is his first statue in the land of his ancestors), and Vytautas Karčiauskas, a Klaipėda-based artist.

Martynas Reisgys was born in 1886, in a small farmstead of a small-scale agriculturalist from Venckai village. Reisgys studied carpentry, sang in a Lithuanian choir, and was a part of the opposition against Germanisation. In 1913, he married and moved in to live with her – a 54 acre farm in Jurgiai village.

He spent 4 years in World War I. When he came back, the Klaipėda region farmers elected him to serve as a representative in the State Council, and later – in the Klaipėda Region Council. He was also granted the title of Klaipėda Region Advisor. In 1922, the fate of Klaipėda was discussed in an ambassadors conference in Paris. For this reason, a commission was formed, where M. Reisgys presented the opinion of the Minor Farmers Party: the Klaipėda region must be united with the Republic of Lithuania.

He was an active member of the uprising in the Klaipėda region. Later, he became the member and chairman of the Klaipėda Region Directorate and prepared a plan for the agricultural and cultural reorganisation in the Klaipėda region. The political situation was growing tense and, due to this, Reisgys received a lot of threats. Eventually, in 1934, Reisgys gave up the position of Chairman of the Directorate.

The State of Lithuania awarded him with the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, with the Medal of Independence, the Silver Klaipėda Liberation Insignia and the Archer’s Star. In 1941, fascists took Reisgys into custody because of his anti-German activities. He was incarcerated in Königsberg, Zacksenhaus, and Mauthausen. In 1942, Reisgys was tortured to death and his body was cremated.

During Soviet rule, his family was exiled. When times changed, his children were released from the camp, but they did not have the right to return to the Klaipėda region. So, they requested permission to travel to Germany. In 1986, a commemorative plaque, dedicated to M. Reisgys, was unveiled in the Jurgiai village.