7.Lithuania in the world

Sun, 6th May, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13633(17) Comment2012-05-06+07%3A07%3A570df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13633

No LT leaders called
to say they love me

Rimgaudas P. Vidziunas aka "Rim", at Scorpion Bay Marina,
Lake Pleasant, Arizona.

Rimgaudas "Rim" Vidziunas
Owner of Photography by Rimgaudas, Mesa, Arizona
Creator of "Images and Imagination"

This is Rimgaudas' brief autobiography and photo album, from his birth in a German camp for displaced Lithuanians in 1947, fleeing westward with his family until he ended up in Arizona, USA. His story is similar to those of many other Lithuanian-American children who were born while their parents fled Stalin's Red Army. Rim has been back in his parents' homeland and do much to keep the memory alive. Still it is with a certain soreness he answers NO when I ask if he ever heard from the Lithuanian authorities. Not a single letter, no phone call from the home country's leaders. No one from home has told Rim and many other refugee children that they are loved by the ancestral homeland, that they are welcome back now that the communism yoke is lifted off. It seems, unfortunately, that today’s Lithuanian leadership has not done much to restore contact with this most valuable of all resources, namely its own people around the globe.

Here is his story...

My father Juozas Vidziunas escaped Pramedziava, Lithuania during the Soviet invasion of 1941. He went to Germany and there he studied Medicine at the University of Heidelberg. Juozas met Salomeja while he was a student. My mother, Salomeja worked as a hostess at a US Army USO club after the war in Germany. They were given a visa to go to the United States in 1949.

Parents did not talk about their escape from Lithuania to Germany.

I was born in 1947, and when I was two were allowed to come to the U.S. We came here with the ship USS General Sturgis, a US Army troop carrier. After dropping off troops in Germany it would carry refugees back to the United States. We left Bremen Germany, arriving Port of New Orleans 13 March 1949.

The Army Red Cross gave us each $5.00 US dollars and boarded us on a train bound to Los Angeles, California. We were met by my father's brother Juonas Vidziunas and cousin Daiva. We lived with them till 1952 and departed for Chicago, Illinois. Several years later we moved to a small farming community Lexington, Illinois about 120 miles southwest of Chicago. I graduated high school from Lexington, was Senior Class President and graduated University of Miami, Florida, BA History, January 1970.

I returned to the Midwestern United States upon graduation. My love of photography began. On a trip to Arizona in 1974, I fell in love with the desert and moved to Arizona in 1978. I continue my art of photography to this day.

Fri, 4th May, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13618(15) Comment2012-05-04+11%3A06%3A100df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13618

How Chicago became
Lithuania’s second capital
PLUS EARLY 20th CENTURY LITHUANIAN-AMERICAN
SOCIETY TOKENS OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Banner from the website http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,26

By Frank Passic, Albion, Michigan.

When Lithuania came under Russian control in 1795, the Russians did all they could to “Russify” the Lithuanians, but they were continually met with stiff opposition. During the last half of the 19th Century, oppression increased as parochial schools were closed and Lithuanian printed matter was forbidden. Repressive measures were forced upon the people by the Czar, adding to the misery of the Lithuanian nation which already suffered from famine and mass unemployment.

As a result, thousands of Lithuanians fled their homeland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries prior to World War I. Emigration to America eventually totaled 635,000 individuals, approximately 20 percent of the population of Lithuania! Lithuanians arrived at Ellis Island impoverished, penniless, and unable to speak the English language but full of hope – the hope of freedom, a new life and unlimited opportunity.

Helping the Lithuanian immigrant was the Brooklyn Chapter of the Lithuanian Alliance of America, which gave aid to those at Ellis Island. The Brooklyn Lithuanian-American Citizens Club held a special conference in May of 1911 to plan a strategy for helping those who were scheduled for deportation back to Lithuania. The No. 4 issue of Tevyne (1896) stated, “At present, masses of Lithuanian emigrants are arriving in New York. Every ship from Hamburg brings tens and hundreds of Lithuanians. Many are sent back and the Alliance’s Brooklyn Chapter is working its hardest for the good of those poor peoples…”

In general, the immigrants stayed in New York only briefly, then moved westward to Pennsylvania, where they found employment building railroads and working the coal mines. Numerous Lithuanian organizations, newspapers, and societies were organized in Pennsylvania. These served as the prelude to those that were to be established later in Chicago as Lithuanian immigrants moved westward. Many Chicago societies were actually branches of those that were first established in Pennsylvania.

The first group of Lithuanians came to Chicago in 1870, when eighteen men arrived with a railroad crew. Because of its central location with industry and development, Chicago became the goal of the thousands of impoverished Lithuanian immigrants seeking a new life. Groups of Lithuanians came in 1880 and 1885, with the first colony being established on the North side of the city. After that, the influx of Lithuanians to Chicago grew at an enormous rate. It is estimated that between 1880 and 1914 more than 47,000 Lithuanians settled in the city, congregating in the Bridgeport and Town of Lake districts. By 1923, the Lithuanian population had grown to over 90,000, confirming the fact that Chicago contained the largest Lithuanian population of any city in the world, even more than Kaunas, Lithuania.

According to one story, the Bridgeport section, where many Lithuanians settled, was supposedly named after a Lithuanian immigrant from Tilsit (East Prussia/ Lithuanian Minor) named Ansas Portas. Portas owned land on the south side of the Chicago River at a bridge crossing, and people referred to the area as the “bridge to Portas,” which was later changed to Bridgeport. The Bridgeport section served as the nucleus of the Lithuanian community from the early years of immigration to Chicago through the era of World War I.

Due to the difficulty they had in obtaining jobs, Lithuanian immigrants began to settle around the stockyards where work was available in the slaughterhouses and steel mills. By World War I, approximately 25 percent of the ethnic work force in the industries was Lithuanian, and it is estimated that a total of 100,000 Lithuanians worked in the stockyards in Chicago during their existence. The grim and horrible conditions Lithuanian workers faced there were the theme of the classic novel, The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair.

The Lithuanian contribution to the city of Chicago is significant in several ways. First, it provided the city with an added labor base upon which the city’s industries grew and prospered. Second it accelerated the building of ethnic neighborhoods, adding to the distinctive variety found in the city’s cultural life. Third, it spurred the formation of new businesses and more affluence.

Tue, 1st May, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13570(3) Comment2012-05-01+14%3A25%3A500df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13570

By Jennifer Virškus

A nation can be defined by several different characteristics; geographical location, language, a common history, cultural body, or race. The Lithuanian nation is defined by all of these. Lithuania has a language which is unique in the world and a culture that runs deep. It shares more than two centuries of its history with Poland, and few other nations have survived occupation by so many different groups. There are several types of nationalism; primordial, civic, organic, and liberal. Because of the lack of opportunity in Lithuania, young Lithuanians have recently tried to convince themselves that they want to “forget” their Lithuanian culture and move on to a new life in the West, but it is not possible. Lithuanians will always be Lithuanians whether they are in Lietuva or not. This is evident in the Lithuanian-American community, though they are clearly Americans, their Lithuanian identity stays with them. This is because Lithuanian nationalism is both geographic and organic, an entity to which all Lithuanians belong, as parts of a whole and independently of their will, choice or consciousness.

Jennifer Virškus
Jennifer Virškus is a Lithuanian-American freelance writer, photographer, graphic designer, skier, sailor, traveler, and current MFA Writing student at California College of the Arts. While living in Vilnius, she founded the Kalnu Ereliai Ski Team. You can read more of her writing about skiing, sailing, and Lithuania at her blog, One Way Ticket.

Category : Featured black / Lithuania in the world

Sun, 29th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13520(2) Comment2012-04-29+15%3A03%3A280df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13520

Rūta Šepetys and Ellen Cassedy
Probably our relatives brushed shoulders in the marketplace

Rūta Šepetys and Ellen Cassedy interviewed by Jennifer Virškus

Two new books making a splash in the literary world—Between Shades of Grey by Rūta Šepetys and We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust by Ellen Cassedy—take place in WWII Lithuania. Though the two women's stories begin in much the same place—Sepetys's grandfather is from a village near Biržai, while Cassedy's great-grandfather hails from Rokiškis only 60km away—the books, and their stories, couldn't be more different. We Are Here is a first person memoir about Cassedy's journey to discover her Litvak heritage while studying Yiddish at Vilnius University. Between Shades of Grey is a young adult fiction novel about a 15-year-old girl who is deported to Siberia along with her mother and younger brother.

Individually, the books have met with incredible success. Between Shades of Grey, which came out in paperback this month in the US, has been translated into twenty-five languages and sold in thirty countries. Only in bookstores for a little over a month, We Are Here is racking up rave reviews at home and abroad. When speaking of the book, which will be released in Lithuania in May, former president Valdas Adamkus said, “This eloquent book can help us to reach out, open our hearts, and rediscover one another in a spirit of mutual understanding.”

Indeed, the need for understanding is a theme in both books, and together, they provide a more complete portrait of a time in history when Lithuania's identity was at its most complex—not only for their readers, but for the authors, too. “I went to Lithuania, hoping to decide who was right and who was wrong; to put people in a column, who was a victim, who was a killer. And then those lines began to blur,” says Cassedy.

Šepetys went one step further, “The intersection that I've experienced [between the ethnic Lithuanian fear of the Soviets and the Litvak fear of the Nazis] is one of regret … People that I've spoken to say that some of their greatest regrets weren't the things that they forgot to pack with them; they were human interactions with people. Something that was said or done, a suspicion or paranoia; but they also explained that those are the casualties of war.”

“I went to Lithuania, hoping to decide who was right and who was wrong; to put people in columns…. And then those lines began to blur.”
- Ellen Cassedy

“The intersection that I've experienced [between the ethnic Lithuanian fear of the Soviets and the Litvak fear of the Nazis] is one of regret … People that I've spoken to say that some of their greatest regrets weren't the things that they forgot to pack with them; they were human interactions with people. Something that was said or done, a suspicion or paranoia; but they also explained that those are the casualties of war.”
- Rūta Šepetys

Category : Featured black / Lithuania in the world

“Why do you love Jews so much?”

Sun, 29th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13485(14) Comment2012-04-28+21%3A53%3A180df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13485

Vilnius, the old Jewish Synagogue.

By Aage Myhre, Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

I have repeatedly been asked, by Lithuanians and others why VilNews, and I as a Norwegian without a single drop of Jewish blood, love Jews so much? Recently I met a Lithuanian-American, well educated and well read, who yet bombastically trumpeted. "You lick the asses of the Jews, Aage."

During my meetings with Jews in South Africa, where 90% of the Jewish population of almost 100 000 are of Lithuanian descent, I have also been asked why I have such great interest in Litvaks.

My answer to all these, has been that I do not love Jews more than other peoples.

But I also tend to add that I am always impressed by people who achieve more than the common herd. Intelligence and wisdom are to me among the most important qualities a person can have, and I have no problem admitting that these are qualities I've seen a lot of among the Jews I have known through life.

As to the Litvaks, they were subjected to an almost total extinction here in Lithuania during the Holocaust. It was an assault and a genocide of an unimaginable scale that we must never forget, and which memory must find its fair balance in the mental as well as in the practical.

Category : Lithuania in the world / Litvak forum

Sat, 28th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13494(0) Comment2012-04-28+19%3A05%3A170df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13494

US-Lithuanian Jews
play many key roles

There are very strong communities of Jews of Lithuanian descent (Litvaks) around the world, especially in Israel, the United States, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Brazil and Australia.

In all these countries they hold top positions in politics, economy, science, culture and society in general.

Their names are frequently found among the Nobel laureates and in many other honorable contexts.

They often lead in matters and innovations that affect and influence us all, wherever in the world we live.

So also in the U.S., where they have been prominent leaders in economics, science and culture since the 1800s. It is, for example, said that Hollywood would not have existed had it not been for the Litvaks.

Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: (present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and the northeastern Suwałki region of Poland).

Lithuania was historically home to a large and influential Jewish community that was almost entirely eliminated during the Holocaust. Before World War II there were over 110 synagogues and 10 yeshivas in Vilnius alone. Before World War II, the Lithuanian Jewish population was some 160,000, about 7% of the total population. Vilnius (then Wilno in the Second Polish Republic) had a Jewish community of nearly 100,000, about 45% of the city's total.

The reason for the Litvaks’ huge success is likely to be found in the fact that Vilnius through many centuries was considered the Jewish intellectual and cultural capital, with a huge number of teachers and scholars who taught and ruled this tiny community with wisdom and deep knowledge about a large number of disciplines.

Tolerance and interpersonal respect was also a hallmark of this community and for the whole of Lithuania through hundreds of years.

It was this that made Napoleon to name Vilnius as "Jerusalem of the North" when he came here on his way to Moscow in 1812. It is said that Napoleon himself became very surprised on what met him in Vilnius, a city so far away from the European mainstreams and still with a lively Mediterranean mood and life.

Vilnius was the first and only "Jewish city" Napoleon would ever see. He was no doubt aware of the Crusades, Inquisitions, pogroms and laws designed to discourage Judaic life. But here he had found a city, right before his eyes, that was an amazing exception to the rule.

And true enough, the history of the Litvaks is unusual and surprising. It was a history of mostly peaceful coexistence with other peoples and cultures that lasted for more than six centuries. It was a history that spawned an incredible number of eminent Jews, not the least of whom was Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (1720-1797), also known as “The Gaon of Vilnius”.

The "Golden Age of Jewry" in Lithuania started with Grand Duke Gediminas (1275-1341), the empire builder who took a liking to foreigners and Jews whose skills and education were badly needed in medieval Lithuania. In the early 1300's he attracted them to his realm with numerous perks, including guarantees of religious freedom and tax exemptions.

The Jews of Europe responded in droves, and Vilnius became the heralded centre of Jewish culture and learning. There would be synagogues, schools, theatres, publishing houses and the Yiddish Institute of Higher Learning. At a time when others in Europe were effectively illiterate, all the Jews in Vilnius could read and write.

This was so unusual that it provoked the invention of a brand-new word, "Vilner," meaning "an educated man with knowledge." For almost 700 years, the Litvaks became an inseparable part of Lithuanian society, having enriched the country’s economy, culture, science, and education.

Category : Featured black / Lithuania in the world / Litvak forum

Sat, 28th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13478(2) Comment2012-04-28+18%3A44%3A390df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13478

Ona Šimaitė:
Righteous – and Human

Julija Šukys,
Author of Epistolophilia: Writing the Life of Ona Šimaitė

Julija Šukys interviewed by Ellen Cassedy

In her new book, Epistolophilia, Julija Šukys follows the letters and journals—the “life-writing”—of Ona Šimaitė (1894–1970), a Lithuanian librarian who again and again slipped into the Jewish ghetto of German-occupied Vilnius carrying food, clothes, medicine, money, and counterfeit documents. Often she left with letters to deliver, manuscripts to hide, and even sedated children swathed in sacks. In 1944 she was captured by the Gestapo, tortured for twelve days, and deported to Dachau.

Šukys beckons back to life this quiet and worldly heroine. Ona Šimaitė is a giant of Holocaust history – one of the “Righteous among the Nations” honored at the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel – and yet little known.

Julija Šukys lives in Montreal, Canada. In addition to Epistolophilia, she is also the author of Silence Is Death; The Life and Work of Tahar Djaout. Visit her website at http://julijasukys.com.

Category : Lithuania in the world / Litvak forum

Wed, 25th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13434(14) Comment2012-04-25+11%3A33%3A400df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13434

IT’S ALL ABOUT LT-MASSACHUSETTS TODAY…

A visit to our Homeland
through the eyes of 12 American-Lithuanian women

Text & Photos: Jenifer C. Dillis
Founder/Researcher at JCD Photography
Lives in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts
From Brockton, Massachusetts

Please join me and my eight biological sisters and three nieces, as we venture to The Homeland of our four grandparents. Having grown up as “purebred” Lithuanian-Americans, we 16 siblings are gifted to have parents who share their pride with us. (We sisters left our seven brothers back in The States, while we took our trip in June-July 2007).

Whether it was attending Lithuanian School to attempt to learn the beautiful language, dancing as members of folk dance groups, or learning to play the Kankles, we each have a level of that same pride in our heritage. Though some of us may own more “Lietuva” souvenirs than others, we all are strong, stubborn, determined, and addicted to Kugelis!

Our journey landed us in Vilnius, where the spirits of our ancestors met us warmly. How can I possibly describe the emotion of having landed in the capital of the country we had only ever heard, or dreamed about? We walked the cobblestone streets, window-shopped for Gintaras, and some of us even ventured down alleys. We felt nothing but safe and free in OUR homeland! From the powerful presence of the free-flying flags of Lietuva, to the steeple of St. Casimir’s Church, we were “home.” The locals were familiar faces. We had seen them in our own Lithuanian parish back home.

If being a Lithuanian-American or American-Lithuanian means anything to you, I suggest and recommend a visit to The Homeland. Go shove your feet into the sands of The Dunes, search for that one piece of amber along the rough shores. Pull up a chair at a local bar, and order a round of Svyturys for the crowd. Search the birth records of your ancestors. Touch the doorknob of the Church that your own grandmother may have touched. Look up while walking the cobblestones of Vilnius. Chances are there will be someone on a balcony. And that someone may be your own flesh and blood.

Category : Featured black / Lithuania in the world

Saluting the Lithuanians of Brockton, Massachusetts

Wed, 25th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13425(3) Comment2012-04-25+11%3A21%3A530df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13425

Lithuania Hall, Brockton, Massachusetts, 1913

This article was written by JOHN BERNOTAVICZ, BS, MS, PhD (1913-2009) for Lituanus (Lithuanian quarterly journal of arts and sciences) in 1990

On Sunday, April 24, 1988, l drove from Hyannis to Plymouth to pick up Mrs. Florence Melevsky, my sister-in-law, so we could attend the 90th anniversary for St. Rocco-St. Casimir Parish in Brockton. Originally, all we had was a basement church, as l remember it. Now, over the basement towers a huge bell-towered edifice.
The following credentials will establish my family and my roots in this parish.
My father, Mykolas Juozas Bernotavicius from Marcinkonys, Lithuania, was married on June 1, 1905, to Ona Geceviciute from Varėna, Lithuania, by Father M. Peza in the old wooden church on Webster Street. Later, this building became our church hall. Although my parents had four children, l was the only one to survive beyond infancy. Because my birth occurred on St. John's Day, June 24,1913, l was baptized John. On June 11, 1939, l married Amelia Veronica Jermolaviciute (the youngest of seven sisters) in this basement church by Father John Svagzdys. Our two children, John (a graduate of Notre Dame University and Georgetown Law School) and Mary (a graduate of the Georgetown School of Nursing) were christened here in 1943 and 1946, respectively. In addition to the above data, my parents and my wife were buried from this church.

As we descended the steps to the hall, a flood of memories of long ago surged through my mind. Nowhere in sight did l see the confessionals, nor the organ or choir loft, nor any pews or stations of the cross, nor any main altar with two side altars—only a huge expansive area filled with long tables and chairs prepared for a family-style feast for the parishioners and friends of the parish. At one end we saw an hors d'hoeuvres table. Other tables along the sides of the building were lined with pictures, photos, newspaper clippings of past functions, mementoes of other activities and paraphenalia illustrating past history of its parish and people.
During the 1920-1935 era, Brockton, a bustling city of 55,000-65,000 inhabitants, was known as the world's largest shoe manufacturing center.

Category : Lithuania in the world

Wed, 25th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13417(0) Comment2012-04-25+11%3A06%3A240df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13417

“I will always wonder how many other Lithuanian parishes can match what
the people of St. Rocco's-St. Casimir's has accomplished.”

St. Casimir Church in Brockton closed in 2008
Over the past years, six Catholic parishes in Brockton have closed or merged, making the city one of the hardest hit by the Boston Archdiocese's reconfiguration process. In 2008 St. Casimir Church, a 110-year-old Lithuanian parish held its final service…
Read more…

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lithuanian Brockton disappears
Nearly a century after she was born in Brockton’s Lithuanian Village, Helen Savilonis Giovanello still remembers the aroma of Lithuanian bread baking at Kilkus Bakery. She remembers the lush flower gardens grown by Lithuanian immigrants. She remembers her family’s well-tended home at 18 Albert St. and her days at the neighborhood’s Franklin Elementary School.
But most of all, she remembers the solidarity of the people who lived in that northeast section of Brockton. “It was a cluster of Lithuanian people that were all friendly with the church,” says Giovanello, now 98.Those days are over. The Lithuanian Village is but a shadow of the once-vibrant enclave, and the expected closing later this month of the venerable St. Casimir Church may mark the end of the Lithuanian community in Brockton.
Read more…

Category : Front page / Lithuania in the world

Wed, 25th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13410(0) Comment2012-04-25+10%3A59%3A200df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13410

Boston, Massachusetts, July 1, 2012

The 14th Lithuanian Folk
Dance Festival!

Lithuanian folk dance group of Vilnius Gediminas technical university

The Boston Lithuanian American Community will be hosting as many as 47 Lithuanian folk dance groups from around the world. The dance festival is held every four years and for the first time will be coming to Boston. The festival begins with an entry march, as 1,800 dancers dressed in distinctive folk costumes fill the stadium floor, then together perform intricately choreographed dances, creating a kalaidescope of movement, music and color.

Come experience this celebration of Lithuanian dance and culture!

Learn more at: http://www.sokiusvente2012.org/

Category : Front page / Lithuania in the world

Boston Lithuanian Cultural “Subatvakaris” – 50 years

Wed, 25th April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13405(0) Comment2012-04-25+10%3A54%3A420df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13405

Slideshow commemorating 50 seasons of Boston Lithuanian Cultural Saturday evenings (Subatvakaris) and 60 years of the National Lithuanian Society of America, Boston Chapter (Amerikos Lietuvių Tautinė Sąjunga (ALTS)). Background singing from the Vilnius University girls choir Virgo performing during the cultural part of the jubilee program, November 7, 2009, at the South Boston Lithuanian Citizens Association, 368 W. Broadway, South Boston, Massachusetts USA.

The slideshow includes pictures of events and the founders at the Boston Chapter's National Lithuanian Society House at 484 Fourth Street in South Boston, MA from the 1950's to 1980's. After selling the building, and a period of inactivity, the Subatvakaris cultural evenings were revived in the 2000's and are now held at the South Boston Lithuanian Citizens Association, 368 W. Broadway, South Boston, MA.

Draugas article (in Lithuanian), http://www.draugas.org/12-03-09boston.html

Category : Front page / Lithuania in the world

US-Lithuanian Facebook sites do a superb job!

Mon, 23rd April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13372(3) Comment2012-04-23+13%3A49%3A180df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13372

Visit: LT NEWS

Visit: America LTV

Visit: Our Moms'
Lithuanian Recipes

Visit: The Lithuanian Rat Pack

“In this new media age, there is a growing population interested in Lithuania and its culture. LTnews.net provides a simple, easy-to-access platform with a social media aspect that has re-shaped the way people can seek a topic of interest.”

This write the enthusiasts behind the site and the Facebook page LT NEWS in their introduction to the page. They represent one of many new social media in the United States with Lithuania as the main theme. Combined, these sites have revived a strong, energetic interest in the home country here at the southern shore of the Baltic Sea.

There are many, many more than the four we mentioned above, and there are similar sites in many other countries. Please contact us if you represent one of these sites, and we will eventually put together a more comprehensive overview and presentation here in VilNews.

Category : Featured black / Lithuania in the world

Would you like to join me to the Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland?

Mon, 23rd April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13364(0) Comment2012-04-23+13%3A36%3A210df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13364

Linas Johansonas,
LTnews.net Editor-in-Chief

Linas Johansonas, chief editor of Ltnews, think we were too negative in our article about the tomb of President Smetona, where we used the title "No flowers for Smetona." Linas believes that the tomb is visited and honoured by many. To convince us of this, he invited me to Cleveland so I can see with my own eyes.

He also thinks there is more I should do while in Cleveland…

***

Aage, after you visit President Smetona's grave in Cleveland, make sure you visit Cleveland's historic Lithuanian Cultural Garden :)

Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland Ohio

The Lithuanian Cultural Garden was dedicated October 11, 1936.

Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland Ohio
www.clevelandpeople.com
Photos from the Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland Ohio - statues of Vincas Kudirka, Pillars of Gediminas, Jonas Basanavicius, Fountain of Biruta , Maironis

Checkout some of my photos from the LT garden in this photo album http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1046292712242.2009191.1073375623&type=3

Lithuanians
Photos by: Linas Johansonas
By: Linas Johansonas

http://www.facebook.com/groups/52628882669/

Friends of the Lithuanian Cultural Garden of Cleveland
"One of Cleveland's Cultural Gardens, sponsored by its foreign born citizens. The Lithuanian Cultural Garden is laid out in the form of a huge lyre, which symbolizes the Lithuanians' love for music. The stone work depicts three stages of Lithuanian history. The bust in the center is that of Dr. Jonas Basanavicius, Lithuanian liberator."The Lithuanian Cultural Garden also features busts of Maironis (poet/writer) and Vincas Kudirka (author of Lithuania's national anthem), the Pillars of Gediminas (Gedimino Stulpas), and a fountain dedicated to Lithuania's Grand Duchess Birute.Dedicated in October 1936, the Lithuanian Cultural Garden extends from East Boulevard down three levels to Martin Luther King Boulevard. According to Clara Lederer, in Their Paths are Peace , the "original design was drawn up in Lithuania by Professor Dubinecras, and was modified to fit the boulevard topography by the City Plan Commission of Cleveland." The Lithuanian Cultural Garden’s choices of sculpture reflects how much questions of national identity played into the construction of many of the gardens. ~Dr.M.Tabeau
http://www.culturalgardens.org/federation.aspx

After you visit the LT Gardens, you can stop at the Lithuanian Club at the Lithuanian Community Center for a Svyturys…

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150236615690337.344774.356431370336&type=3

Lithuanian Community Center - Cleveland, Ohio

Category : Front page / Lithuania in the world

Sat, 21st April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13327(1) Comment2012-04-21+13%3A22%3A460df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13327

Antanas Smetona
Lithuania's famous
president who ended
his days in the U.S.

Antanas Smetona golfing in Michigan at the Tabor Farm after he came to the U.S. in 1941, escaping from the Soviet invasion of Lithuania in June 1940

1st President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. Also last President of interwar Lithuania, from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940

President Antanas Smetona is now interred in the Crucifixion Mausoleum in All Souls Cemetery, Chardon Road, Chardon Township in Geauga County, Ohio, USA

Antanas Smetona (August 10, 1874 – January 9, 1944) was the most important Lithuanian political figure between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was also one of the famous ideologists of nationalism in Lithuania.

Lithuania was occupied by Soviet troops in 1940. After the USSR presented an ultimatum to Lithuania in June of that year, Smetona proposed armed resistance against the Soviets. The majority of the government and the commanders of the army did not concur with this proposal, and Smetona turned over the duties of President to Prime Minister Antanas Merkys, and on June 15 he and his family fled to Germany, and then on to Switzerland without surrendering his powers.

In 1941, Smetona emigrated to the United States, and lived in Pittsburgh and Chicago before settling in Cleveland, Ohio in May 1942 with his son Julius' family. While in exile, he began work on a history of Lithuania and on his memoirs. Smetona died in a fire at his son's house in Cleveland, on January 9, 1944, and was buried there. His wife Sofija died in Cleveland, on December 28, 1968, and he also had a daughter, Birutė.

In 1975, his remains were moved from Cleveland's Knollwood Cemetery mausoleum to All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Ohio.

Category : Featured black / Historical Lithuania / Lithuania in the world

No flowers for Smetona

Sat, 21st April, 2012 - Posted by 0df53x21 - 13312(13) CommentNo+flowers+for+Smetona2012-04-21+12%3A47%3A280df53x21http%3A%2F%2Fvilnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D13312

Ohio crypt holds remains of first Lithuanian President,
yet he has been forgotten here in a Mausoleum tucked
away in a Catholic Cemetery east of Cleveland, USA.

By Frank Passic

There are no flowers at his crypt, although the Mausoleum is filled with them on the vaults of others nearby. He was the President, yet you would not know that by reading the simple inscription found upon his nameplate. His image was on a coin, a banknote, various stamps and medals. Yet he has been forgotten here in a Mausoleum tucked away in a Catholic Cemetery east of Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

His body has already been moved once since his death. But his remains haven’t been taken back to Lithuania since Lithuanian independence was restored, unlike the remains of his counterpart, President Kazys Grinius’ were. So his remains lay here in Ohio, far away from the country he loved and served.

Category : Historical Lithuania / Lithuania in the world

OPINIONS

Have your say. Send to:
editor@VilNews.com

My worldviews
broadened up and now I
was not fitting any
longer into the
Lithuanian realm. It
made me feel lost,
confused...

By Rugilė Šablinskaitė
Brussels - Belgium

For many years I have been questioning where my home is. It is quite tricky to define home in this globalized, rapidly moving world where people are so used to traveling and changing their locations within the matter of hours. However, home is this important place where we find security, inner peace and get out of our turtle's armor.

I left Lithuania when I turned 18. Inspired by my mother's stories of her youth years in a new city with new people, I also wanted to experience this time of "golden student years". Being from Vilnius (the dearest city to my heart till this very day), the only option I saw for myself was moving outside of Lithuania. So, my destination was the UK. There, for the first time in my life I felt homesick. For the first time I realized the weight and the value of the word Motherland (or Fartherland, if you prefer). I learnt about the cultural differences, systems of values, traditions, etc. And I started missing something 'mine'... When Skyping with my mother, she first started calling my changing feelings and worldviews nationalistic till it turn into a bit of chauvinistic ones. I impatiently waited for my holidays in Lithuania to come, to unite again with 'likeminded' (the idea that was planted in my soul) people, my fellow countrymen... However, when I got back to Lithuania, unfortunately, no miracle happened.

* * *

Greetings from Toronto

By Antanas Sileika,
Toronto, Canada

Toronto was a major postwar settlement centre for Lithuanian Displaced Persons, and to this day there are two Catholic parishes and one Lutheran one, as well as a Lithuanian House, retirement home, and nursing home. A new wave of immigrants has showed interest in sports.

Although Lithuanian activities have thinned over the decades as that postwar generation died out, the Lithuanian Martyrs' parish hall is crowded with many, many hundreds of visitors who come to the Lithuanian cemetery for All Souls' Day. Similarly, the Franciscan parish has standing room only for Christmas Eve mass.

Although I am firmly embedded in the literary culture of Canada, my themes are usually Lithuanian, and I'll be in Kaunas and Vilnius in mid-November 2015 to give talks about the Lithuanian translations of my novels and short stories, which I write in English.

If you have the Lithuanian language, come by to one of the talks listed in the links below. And if you don't, you can read more about my work at
www.anatanassileika.com

http://www.vdu.lt/lt/rasytojas-antanas-sileika-pristatys-savo-kuryba/
https://leu.lt/lt/lf/lf_naujienos/kvieciame-i-rasytojo-59hc.html

* * *

Hi, I am 18, I left
Lithuania two years ago

By Cassandra Myhre

Tromsø, Norway

August 2013 was a time full of changes. It was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I did not know what to expect or look forward to. The only thing I was certain of was the pain and the complete and utter disappointment I felt when I left my friends and everything behind in Lithuania, moving to my father’s home country Norway. My name is Cassandra (18) and this is my story.

I was born grew up in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and I absolutely adored the city. I danced ballet for 13 years in the “National Opera and Ballet Theatre”, I played the piano for 9 years, I had lots of friends at school and I was engaged in various activities. When I think about what I achieved in Lithuania I get a warm and a tender feeling inside. The memories I have are absolutely beautiful and very precious to me.

When I was 6 years old, I started going to a private school. It was hard for me, because I went to a French kindergarten before that. I cannot say that I was bullied, but I do know that many kids said things about me behind my back. I always felt like I was the outsider, but frankly, I did not mind. I remember once, one of my classmates was bullied so I took her hand and told her that I would be there for her. However, everything changed in 3rd grade when I became best friends with a new girl in class. It was fantastic. I did not know what friendship was and I could not believe how fun it was to have someone I could talk to and simply spend time with even outside of school! We were best friends until 7th grade when I decided to change school. My friend did not want to leave my side, so she did the same. It was amazing, I mean, we were so close that we even changed schools together. But all good things come to an end. She decided to get some new friends and once again I was left behind. It was horrible. I never felt lonelier. But what I did not know was that my classmate Greta would become one of the most important people in my life (she is my best friend until this day).

* * *

CONSIDER RETIRING IN LITHUANIA?
Dear VilNews readers,

Rimantas Aukstuolis (see below) believes there are many Lithuanian-Americans who would like to retire in Lithuania, while Gintautas Kaminskas thinks "the shocks" you have to expect makes such an idea less attractive.

I think Rimantas is right that moving here for retirement is a good idea and that you may well enjoy many, many years in your home country's warm embrace. At the same time I give Gintautas right that there are obstacles that could easily topple such plans.

I do therefore offer, hereby, to help anyone who plans to retire in Lithuania. I have lived here for 20 years (I'm originally Norwegian), and I must say that I most of the time have been very pleased and happy.

I've managed to get through the problem areas Gintautas refers to, and I have an infinite number of good friends and interesting tasks that make life here extraordinary interesting and attractive.

I am ready to share my many experiences with you who would like to move here or just visit for shorter periods, and I am willing to tell you which experts you should seek advice from, being it within legal, health care or other fields.

I can also help you to find a new home.

Call me or write me if you find this interesting. To retire in Lithuania is a brilliant idea, and I promise to help you getting things in place in an excellent way.

Warm Regards,
Aage Myhre
Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com
____________________________

Makes me wish I were old enough to retire...:)
The Baltic looks MUCH calmer in this photo than it did when I was there in July 2007...Makes me wish I were old enough to retire...:)
Jenifer C. Dillis
____________________________

My impression is that many of us Lithuanian-Americans have thought about the possibility of retiring in Lithuania

Rimantas Aukstuolis
Dear Editor,
I enjoy reading VilNews and, VilNews seems to touch on, if not already delve into, a variety of issues which are relevant to someone who may wish to retire in Lithuania. It might be interesting for much of your readership to more sharply focus on specific retirement issues such as comparisons and advantages of retiring in Lithuania, vs. the US. This seems to be evolving as a hot topic in the US as many baby boomers face the reality of high living costs (particularly healthcare) and diminished pension resources.

Detailed and systematic comparisons of living costs, tax issues, health care and real estate ownership might even result in significant "foreign investment" into Lithuania by foreign, especially US retirees. My impression is that many of us Lithuanian-Americans have thought about this possibility. I know several who have taken action. Perhaps such "dreams" should be encouraged with facts, experiences, even government incentives. Thoughts?
Rimantas Aukstuolis
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
____________________________

Trying to retire in Lithuania is in for not just "a shock", but a number of shocks

Gintautas Kaminskas
Rimantas Aukštuolis asks for other readers' on the possibility of retiring in Lithuania. Well, I tried to (2008-9). I'm deliberately not going to go into specific details of my case (that's personal), but I have to say from my experience that any Lithuanian-American (and it's not just Americans, don't forget that there are Lithuanians in other parts of the world, too) who tries to retire in Lithuania is in for not just "a shock", but a number of shocks. By the way, I happen to speak fluent Lithuanian (I am a professional translator). That certainly helps in some ways, but it's no help against the myriad of problems confronting present-day Lithuania, which are mostly to do with the lingering Soviet mentality ("naglumas - antra laimė").

Living costs are lower there, but the health care system is a nightmare. You won't even get the health care you're entitled to as a Lithuanian citizen without paying bribes, and as a foreigner you're "fair game". Real estate ownership? Make sure you have a very good lawyer. Government incentives? Which Government? The Lithuanian Government? As the kids say these days: "LOL". From the lowliest local or State government officials right up to some Seimūnai (Members of Parliament) and Cabinet Ministers - corruption reigns. They enter Government "service" asking not what they can do for their country but what they can get for No. 1. (For anyone not familiar with the English idiom - No. 1 is "moi", me, myself, I - and my family and friends and clan to some extent.) That's the reality. You only need to follow the Lithuanian media to realise that what I'm saying is the truth and no exaggeration.

Just for the record, I am still in love with my native land and would still love to live there: theoretically (lengthy visits will have to suffice). It's green, beautifully uncrowded, lots of nice lakes and streams, and I have no problem with the climate, not even in winter. It's wonderful to meet thoughtful Lithuanians and to communicate with them in our native language. But .... see above.
Gintautas Kaminskas
____________________________

An issue for elderly seeking to reconnect with families and younger professionals who seek to participate in the economies

Tony Mazeika
Relocation back to Lithuania will only be an issue for elderly seeking to reconnect with families and younger professionals who seek to participate in the economies. The vast majority of "diaspora" have citizenship from their adopted nations like the US, Canada, Australia. Ironically, the real issue is the continuing alarming emigration of young educated from Lithuania to the UK, US, Canada, etc. The numbers are a threat to the developing economy and future political stability of Lithuania. That void could be made up with people within the EU including Muslims.
Tony Mazeika
California
...
I can only hope that we all will work together I was raised to have a very positive view of our ancestral homeland, and hope that we can avoid polarizing Emigres and Lithuanian citizens. I have always felt welcome when I visit, but have personally never attempted to do business. This could be a difficult process, and one that creates tension. I can only hope that we all work together for a successful and sustainable economy.

Jurate Kutkus Burns,
Florida, USA...
“We have met the enemy and he is us!” Dear Editor
There has been a lot of negative commentary in Vilnews recently from some of your readers and even from Regina Narusiene in the recent piece about the need for change in attitudes toward what the Lithuanian diaspora can do for the country and what volunteerism can do within Lithuania. I guess I don't disagree at all, however…

Sitting here on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland I'm reminded of the battle flag of Commander Oliver Hazard Perry, USN during the decisive battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. On the blue flag were the words "Don't Give Up the Ship" which he had to transfer from his sinking flagship to the sistership, Niagara. Commander Perry ultimately won that battle against the Royal Navy and altered the military balance on the Great Lakes. In his report to superiors he stated "We have met the enemy and they are ours".

To all my Lithuanian friends and friends of Lithuania I exhort "Don't Give Up the Ship" . And especially to my Lithuanian friends I quote the "Pogo" cartoon paraphrase of Perry " We have met the enemy and he is us!" Maybe our modern Lithuanian example of heroism needs to be Bishop Valancius who came to the conclusion that in the mid 19th century Lithuanians needed to sober up before they came to any national reawakening or effective resistance to Russian domination.

Dealing with Russian occupation, as difficult as it was, may have been easier than dealing with ourselves. But we have sort of been here before, haven't we? Onward!

Rimantas Aukstuolis,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA ...
The 2nd FBI Director (1912-1919)Lithuanian-American Alexander Bruce Bielaski was born in Montgomery County, Maryland. He received a law degree from George Washington University in 1904 and joined the Department of Justice that same year. Like his predecessor Mr. Finch, Mr. Bielaski worked his way up through the department. He served as a special examiner in Oklahoma where he "straightened out the court records" and aided in the reorganization of Oklahoma's court system when the Oklahoma territory became a state. Returning to Washington, Mr. Bielaski entered the Bureau of Investigation and rose to become Mr. Finch's assistant. In this position he was in charge of administrative matters for the Bureau. At the end of April 1912, Attorney General Wickersham appointed Mr. Bielaski to replace Mr. Finch. As chief, Mr. Bielaski oversaw a steady increase in the resources and responsibilities assigned to the Bureau....
Lithuania needs writing in EnglishI am positive that Lithuania - not only the expats who live there - need writing in English. A lot of it. As much as possible, really.

The presence of a vibrant expat community, which is closely linked with Lithuanians or half-Lithuanians (if I may use this term), who have spent many years overseas and had been exposed to Western culture, is critical as an ultimate mind-opener.

I have always been going against the flow in that I said good things about the Lithuanians who go abroad for a year, for five years or even for good. In Lithuania, it is often seen as a disaster and an exodus of biblical proportions with similarly apocalyptic implications. I see it as a natural part of being a free country. Even if it leads to some transformations that may even be irreversible, such as compromises over what is seen as Lithuanian ethnic purity (which is an artificial and doubtful construct anyway, in my view) or a changer of the Lithuanian identity, emigration is good because it opens the mind and creates new patterns of thinking. It opens up angles which people have not thought about. It changes the way that parts of the society interact with each other and their relationship with the government, the establishment, the educational elite....
How US journalists helped stop Russian tanks in VilniusHow much more blood would have been shed in Lithuania, had news about the Soviet aggression not reached the outside world? In commemorating January 13, US journalists still wonder why the Soviets did not expel them from Vilnius....

CONSUL GREETINGS

TODAY: From Carl Thomas Carlsten in Telemark, Norway

VilNews is hereby inviting the honorary consuls of Lithuania around the world to write commentary articles. What we want to learn more about is what characterizes the cooperation between Lithuania and the area the consul represents. We would also like to know more about the consul's connections with Lithuania, and we are eager to listen to his or her thoughts and opinions on current topics and news from Lithuania.

First to write, is the Honorary Consul of Lithuania to Telemark County in Norway, Mr. Carl. Thomas Carlsten.
Click here to read his article...

It is unbelievable what you have accomplished - created the best English language news forum about Lithuania and Lithuanians. Simply amazing!!

Vytautas Sliupas, P.E. Burlingame, California, USA

I will read you much and often

I try to follow all the English "press" from the Baltic Times to alfa.lt "English".
FINALLY I discover you! AND..... you place an article on Feb 16th Lithuanian Independence on the FRONT PAGE and feature an absolutely marvellous "historical" section. BRAVO! Its about time! All too often "historical" news and commemorations in Lithuania seem to be taken for granted - as if everyone there wasn't interested or already knew about it. The fact is most of us are STARVED for this kind of information and even regular English speaking tourists need historical perspective to truly appreciate Lithuanian culture - if only to help understand a tragic and fragmented history.
I will read you much and often. I own a flat in Vilnius and just returned to the USA after spending a month there. I will visit you next time I am in town.
Edward Kestas Reivydas,
M&R Americana Insurance Service Inc Santa Monica, California, USA

Far away from home, we need a publication different from the mainstream news

Congratulations with VilNews! Far away from home, we need a publication different from the mainstream news portals, which are often permeated with negative attitude and serving narrow, short-term interests. Your interest to history and the international dimension of Lithuania has made your previous publications a very engaging reading. I trust VilNews will remain enthusiastic, honest and insightful. Please rest assured that you have a dedicated reader in Africa.
Paulius Kulikauskas, Nairobi, Kenya

Informative and well-balanced news forum

Your dedication to this e-magazine is remarkable. Thank you for providing such an informative and well-balanced news forum.
Jurate Burns, Destin Library Director Destin, Florida, USA

Excellent presentation and wealthy content

Congratulations - excellent presentation and wealthy content of your new VilNews !!
Best regards from Chicago - Jonas Pabedinskas

Labai gerai, graziai ir idomei sudetas

Excellent publication. You folks have outdone yourselves. Labai gerai, graziai ir idomei sudetas.Aciu Labai,
Rimantas Orlauskis , aka Orlauskas (Colorado), USA Retired: US Forest Service, Girninkas

I greatly appreciate you courage

A hearty congratulations on launch of your new e-publication! I've already read parts of the first edition, and I look forward to future instalments. While I enjoy every bit of VilNews, I greatly appreciate your interest and courage in publishing articles on tough subjects. My connection with Lithuania? My grandfather emigrated to the US from a small village near Siauliai in 1912, and today I find myself as a member of the board of directors for the Auksuciai Foundation.
Ted Shapas, Alamo, California

Lithuanian events around the world

One of the most important events ever for the Lithuanian American communities took place in Washington in 1990, in a protest against Soviet policies concerning the Baltic States.

The event calendar will be constantly updated, showing what goes on of meetings and events within the different clubs, chambers and organisations dealing with the Lithuanian diasporas around the globe.
Each organisation will be presented by logo, address, email, telephone – and of course the name/time of the event in question.
Therefore:

Please contact us with details about YOUR event!

Write to: zilvinas.beliauskas@VilNews.com

Information for Lithuanians staying or living abroad

The following website gives you an overview of emergency numbers you can call – wherever in the world you are – to police, fire service and ambulance.
http://www.sccfd.org/travel.html

Lithuania's Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts around the world

http://www.urm.lt/index.php?1366094069

Famous international Lithuanians

This column will bring stories of Lithuanians who have done some remarkable work outside their home country - some historical legends, others living individuals who have achieved honour and dignity in the arts, business, politics, etc. We start the series with the story of Alexander Bruce Bielaski. Few, even in Lithuania, know the story of the man who played such an important role in starting FBI, the U.S. federal police force, 100 years ago.

Section 7: LITHUANIA IN THE WORLD

No LT leaders called to say they love me

How Chicago became Lithuania’s second capital PLUS EARLY 20th CENTURY LITHUANIAN-AMERICAN SOCIETY TOKENS OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Rūta Šepetys and Ellen Cassedy Probably our relatives brushed shoulders in the marketplace

“Why do you love Jews so much?”

US-Lithuanian Jews play many key roles

Ona Šimaitė: Righteous – and Human

A visit to our Homeland through the eyes of 12 American-Lithuanian women

Saluting the Lithuanians of Brockton, Massachusetts

The 14th Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival!

Boston Lithuanian Cultural “Subatvakaris” – 50 years

US-Lithuanian Facebook sites do a superb job!

Would you like to join me to the Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland?

Antanas Smetona Lithuania's famous president who ended his days in the U.S.

No flowers for Smetona

OPINIONS

No LT leaders called
to say they love me

How Chicago became
Lithuania’s second capital
PLUS EARLY 20th CENTURY LITHUANIAN-AMERICAN
SOCIETY TOKENS OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Rūta Šepetys and Ellen Cassedy
Probably our relatives brushed shoulders in the marketplace

US-Lithuanian Jews
play many key roles

Ona Šimaitė:
Righteous – and Human

A visit to our Homeland
through the eyes of 12 American-Lithuanian women

The 14th Lithuanian Folk
Dance Festival!

Antanas Smetona
Lithuania's famous
president who ended
his days in the U.S.