A Lithuanian Farewell -- Huge Crowd Mourns Victims Of Massacre

VILNIUS, U.S.S.R - When the lids were taken off the coffins, a collective wail echoed through the arena.

There lay the bodies of 10 of the 14 unarmed Lithuanians who were killed by Soviet soldiers on Sunday. Relatives and friends had gathered for a first glimpse of the bodies, several disfigured by wounds, before they were put on public display here in the main sports arena in the Lithuanian capital.

Nijoli Simulioniene, whose 17-year-old son Ignas was shot to death when the Soviet troops stormed a television tower, sobbed as she stroked her son's cheek and patted his hand.

``Do you know that something happened to you?'' said Simulioniene. ``All night long we were looking for you - everyone thought you had gone to the parliament. But when you weren't home by 5:30 we knew you weren't coming back. Why weren't you more careful?''

Two hours later, the arena doors were opened, and through the night tens of thousands of Lithuanians filed past the bodies.

The 14, who were shot to death or crushed by tanks as they joined a human shield around two television installations, have become martyrs, a symbol of the republic's independence movement. ``This bloody day and these people will be remembered for ages in Lithuania,'' said Genute Maciuniene, a teacher.

Seeing the 10 bodies laid side by side in the arena brought home the savagery of the Soviet attack, carried out with tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers using machine-guns and grenades.

Arrangements were made to bury the other four victims in private ceremonies.

This is the list of those being mourned in the arena, all of them fervent independence activists:

-- Rimantas Juknievicus, a 24-year-old university student, shot at the television tower. ``These people were dancing and singing as they guarded the tower, and the soldiers murdered them,'' said his aunt, Rita Septuiene. ``If these soldiers thrive on blood, let them take it from older people. Why do they have to kill children?'' His father said: ``Maybe we will also have to begin to shoot.''

-- Virginius Druskis, a 21-year-old student, who friends say was shot at close range in the chest when he yelled ``Freedom for Lithuania!'' at the Soviet soldiers. ``I think the Russians will pay for these victims,'' said his cousin Romunas Talkevechius.

-- Algimentas Kovoliuskas, a 51-year-old shop-worker and father of three, who stood in front of a Soviet tank and was crushed to death. ``He said if he died he would be dying for Lithuanian independence so his children could be free,'' a neighbor said.

-- Loreta Asanauiciute, a 23-year-old seamstress, crushed by a tank. ``She stood in front of the tank,'' said a friend. ``It stopped. She did not expect it to move again but it did, and she slipped under it. Her hips were crushed. She lived 5 hours.''

-- Vytautas Vaitkus, a 47-year-old plumber who was shot in the arm and the heart. ``He was there to defend Lithuania,'' said his wife, Apollonia. ``He was a real patriot.''

-- Vidas Maciulevicius, 24, shot in the head. ``Now there is a much bigger hatred for the Soviet Union,'' said his cousin, Ceslovas Natselavius.

-- Rolandas Jankauskas, 22, who was recently discharged from the Soviet Navy. A friend said that, according to witnesses, Soviet soldiers stomped on his chest after he was shot.

-- Titus Masiulas, 29, shot in the chest as he and four others stood facing Soviet troops after they had secured the TV tower.

-- Ignas Simulionis, the 17-year-old son of Nijoli Simulioniene, shot in the head and chest at the TV tower. His parents also had been standing watch at the tower earlier in the day.

-- Apolinaris Povilaitis, a 54-year-old pharmacist and father of three, shot in the chest. ``He was always going everywhere to fight for Lithuanian freedom,'' said his niece Kristina Olechiene. ``If a referendum were held now on Lithuanian independence, everyone would sign their name in blood to be free.''