In 1919, the
young state of Lithuania began creating its main institutions. One of them was
the Central State Bookstore founded on December 20, 1919 which later would
become the National Library of Lithuania. The most important functions of the
Bookstore in Kaunas were to collect mandatory copies of publications published
in Lithuania and the books of persons who for one or another reason were no
longer their owners and of former tsarist institutions. In the first year, the Bookstore
housed approximately 18,000 books. Today the National Library of Lithuania has
6.5 million of books.
Archivist Daina Pocius (on the right) and Australian Lithuanian Community President at the presentation ceremony. Photo credit: The Australian Lithuanian Archives
The Lithuanian-Australian
newspaper “Mūsų pastogė” informs that last December the Australian Lithuanian
Community, Inc. Board of Directors decided to invigorate the Australian
Lithuanian Community Archive so that it is the preferred option for people to
donate their archive material.
As a result the
Board appointed a management committee, currently chaired by the interim chair Tony Cibiras. The committee is also
looking for “archive ambassadors” in all communities and the organizations to
help promote the Archive.
Committee’s
longer term plan is to collect, collate and digitize the history of Lithuanians
in Australia and make it available online. One of the options being discussed
is to partner with the National Library of Lithuania to gain access to the
portal www.epaveldas.lt. Another is to join with the Lithuanian Archives
Project in Chicago www.lithuanianarchivesproject.org and use their portal.
On November 1, the
Australian Lithuanian Archives shared another piece of news. The Archives has
been successful in obtaining a grant from the National Library of Australia.
This highly competitive grant gives the Archives funding for a Significant
I would like to introduce you to my favorite poet, Algirdas Zolynas. His most recent book was his just released, Near and Far, Garden Oak Press, December, 2019,141 pages. $11.69 at B&N.
Al’s poems are personal, rich in
emotion, and often leavened with humor. Many capture the beauty and mystery of
every day life. Some of my favorites include: Bread, In Gratitude; Near
Sunskai, Lithuania; Watching a Day; the Western Felt Works, Leaving Kaunas,
1944, and Sideways Down Rapids.
Also worth a look in earlier books:
Love in the Classroom, The Zen of Housework, Nothing to do—Nowhere to go, The
Way He’d Like it, Running down Summit Avenue in Saint Paul in a Heavy Snowfall,
and Living with Others.
Al was born in Austria of Lithuanian
parents in 1945. They had fled the Soviet advance and survived bombing raids in
Berlin. His parents became part of the wave of 11 million displaced people (DP)
after the war. His father had been an attorney and one of his grandfathers
signed the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence in 1918. As refugees they
were refused entry to the US, where you had to have a sponsor, a place to live,
and a guarantee that you would not displace American workers or, better yet, a
related American citizen.
On 25 November, 2019 the screening of a film “Coming Home Soon: The Refugee Children of Geislingen” by Dutch-Estonian film director Helga Merits took place at the National Library of Lithuania. The director’s latest film is about Estonian children who fled Estonia in 1944 with their parents, sometimes with only one parent or relative, and spent the war in the Geislingen refugee camp in southern Germany.
Despite the testimonies
about extreme poverty and especially difficult living conditions during and
after the war, Merits says that her film is also about hope and inspiration.
And while the documentary tells a story of Estonian refugee children living in
the Geislingen refugee camp from 1945 to 1950, it is also the history of many Eastern
Europeans. The film draws parallels with the current situation of the refugees
in Europe as well. “Coming Home Soon” has already been screened in 11 countries
and 24 European cities.
“Coming Home Soon”
is the fifth documentary film by Helga Merits. All her films tell stories about
people who were forced to leave their homes and establish new lives in new and
unfamiliar places.
The director was
present at the screening and answered questions from the audience.
The participants of the first discussion. Photo: Vytautas Magnus University
On November 8, 2019,
on the initiative of Vytautas Magnus University, the Society for the Study of World
Lithuanians was established.
The president of
the Society, Dr. Ilona Strumickienė,
says that the name was chosen in memory of the Society for Aiding the
Lithuanians Abroad which was active in Lithuania in 1932-1940. The Society
provided aid to and maintained contacts with Lithuanians living abroad. It also
contributed to strengthening of the Lithuanian identity among expatriates. In
1935, the Society organized the first World Lithuanian Congress in Kaunas.
By following the
example of the Society for Aiding the Lithuanians Abroad, the newly established
society hopes to build a network of and disseminate message about Lithuanians
around the world, share discoveries and research results, and help
strengthening civil society in Lithuania.
The first event
organized by the Society was a discussion about how Lithuanian schools receive children
who have returned from emigration which took place on December 13, 2019.
