Early life and education Prapuolenis was born into a family of affluent farmers. His father was elected burgomaster of
Kybartai for twenty years. In 1922, Prapuolenis started his studies at the
Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium. In 1923, he was transferred to the newly established
Žiburys gymnasium in Kybartai, which was later reorganized into the Kybartai
junior commerce college. Starting in 1930, he was an active member of the
Ateitininkai Catholic youth movement, and in 1931–1933, he was a leader of an Ateitininkai group in Kybartai. After graduating from the Kybartai college, Prapuolenis began studying economics at the
Vytautas Magnus University. As a university student, he was a member of the Catholic student corporation Kęstutis and chairman of the student sports club Achilas. In 1934, he moved to
Klaipėda to study at the newly established Commerce Institute, and after the first year, he was conscripted into the
Lithuanian Army. He applied to study at the
War School of Kaunas instead, but his request was rejected due to his political activity and opposition to the regime of President
Antanas Smetona. Prapuolenis won the case and graduated from the War School as a junior reserve lieutenant in 1936. After returning to the Commerce Institute, he was a member of the opposition movement – he chaired Catholic student corporation Gintaras, prepared the bi-weekly newspaper '''' for publication, and planned a student strike to demand democracy in Lithuania. Therefore, he was expelled from the institute in December 1938. Prapuolenis further received a four-year prison sentence but was spared by the changing political situation. When the new coalition government led by
Jonas Černius, which included members of the
Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and
Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union, was formed in March 1939, Prapuolenis returned to his studies at the institute, which was relocated to
Šiauliai as Lithuania
lost Klaipėda to Nazi Germany. He graduated from the institute in fall 1939. In 1939, together with Adolfas Damušis, Pranas Padalskis, and others, he established the chemical factory Gulbė (
The Swan) in Kaunas.
Member of the resistance After the
Soviet Union occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Gulbė was nationalized and Prapuolenis, feeling that he might become a target of Soviet repressions, went into hiding. Together with Adolfas Damušis, brigade general Motiejus Pečiulionis, and others, Prapuolenis established resistance groups (a network of fives) of the
Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) in Kaunas. Prapuolenis was a contact between LAF groups in Kaunas and Vilnius, led by major
Vytautas Bulvičius. After the Vilnius LAF was liquidated by the
NKVD and major Bulvičius was arrested, Prapuolenis became a leader of the LAF. When
Germany invaded the Soviet Union and LAF members started the
June Uprising against Soviet institutions in Lithuania, Prapuolenis read the independence proclamation at 9:28 a.m. on 23 June 1941 at the Kaunas radio station freed by the LAF rebels. Prapuolenis became the LAF representative to the
Provisional Government of Lithuania. On 15 September, after the Provisional Government was replaced by the German administration (
Generalbezirk Litauen of the
Reichskommissariat Ostland), Prapuolenis and other members of the LAF and the Provisional Government prepared a memorandum arguing against such German actions. The Germans responded by disbanding the LAF and imprisoning Prapuolenis in
Tilsit on 27 September. He was sent to the
Dachau concentration camp on 5 December 1941. On 7 April 1942, Prapuolenis was freed with the help of
Kazys Škirpa. Prapuolenis was placed under police supervision in
Munich without the right to visit Lithuania. He was allowed a short visit to Lithuania to attend his father's funeral in December 1942. Despite the German prohibitions, he participated in developing the strategy of the
Lithuanian Front (LF), an anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet resistance group that replaced the LAF. Between 15 September and 8 October 1944, Prapuolenis, together with
Zenonas Ivinskis and Pranas Padalskis, secretly visited German-occupied Lithuania and met anti-Soviet resistance members of the LF and the
Lithuanian Liberty Army in
Telšiai,
Rietavas, and
Kretinga. Prepuolenis did not return to
Nazi Germany. He briefly lived in
Vienna and
Bregenz, Austria. In May 1945, he moved to Switzerland and worked as a secretary of the (BALF). In June 1948, he moved to
Pfullingen in
West Germany and continued working for the BALF. He joined the anti-Soviet organisation
Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (VLIK), was vice-chairman of the Society of Friends of the Lithuanian Front (
Lietuvių fronto bičiulių sambūris), and was a correspondent of the Lithuanian daily newspaper
Draugas published in Chicago. In 1952–1953, he was one of seven Lithuanian independence activists who were selected as assassination targets by the Soviet
MGB. However, the plans failed when the MGB agent Rudolf Otting (codename Kirvis) defected to West Germany. In 1955, Prapuolenis moved to the United States and settled in Chicago. He was an active participant in various Lithuanian emigre organisations. He was buried at the Lithuanian cemetery of St. Casimir in Chicago. Prapuolenis published articles in various Lithuanian periodicals, including
XX amžius (20th century),
Studentų dienos (The Days of Students),
Į laisvę (Towards Freedom), and
Tėvynės sargas (Guardian of the Fatherland). ==Legacy==