Širvintos is a city in the east of Lithuania. The Širvinta River flows through the city. It is dammed in the city and forms the Širvintos pond. On the bridge across the pond in the south direction, you can reach the old cemetery of the town of Širvintos - next to the road on the left side. After a short walk, you can see the territory of the Lithuanian soldiers' cemetery, surrounded by an iron fence. Soldiers were buried here after one of the most prominent moments in the history of the city of Širvintos - the battle of Širvintos-Giedraičiai in 1920. During the independence struggles, the Lithuanian army won a battle against the Poles near Širvintos-Giedraičiai, forced them to stop their attack and withdraw to their previously occupied positions. This battle stopped the advance of the Polish general L. Żeligowski into the depths of Lithuania and preserved the Independence of Lithuania. The area and its surroundings were in the neutral zone, which was abolished in 1923 and Širvintos became part of Lithuania.
23 graves of Lithuanian soldiers are enclosed in this cemetery. Above them - the marking of Lithuanian tombstones - concrete crosses with the sun and the names of soldiers. Most of the soldiers' graves are marked by concrete soldier's crosses created by the artists Antanas Aleksandravičius and Adomas Varnas. They are built for soldiers in their eternal resting places. The privates and volunteers of the 7th Infantry Regiment of the Samogitian Duke Butigeidis are buried here. Most of them fell in the fall of 1920 during the battle of Širvintos-Giedraičiai in Širvintos. Also in Giedraičiai town, Motiejūnai and surrounding villages. Polish soldiers who fell in the same battle in Širvintos are buried next to the Lithuanian graves. The graves of Polish soldiers are marked by the same Lithuanian crosses. This shows that the dead soldier was not an enemy to civilized nations even during the war. The graves of Lithuanian soldiers in Širvintos, who died in 1920 in the fight for Lithuania's independence, were restored with the funds of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Values. On November 19, the anniversary of the Lithuanian independence struggle is celebrated in Širvintos every year.
