History-1900+

By Charles Norvil. Please tell us something about your parents – when did they come to the States and where did they met?  My father (Stanley) arrived from Ukmergė, Lithuania in 1912 as a young man, and my mother (Emily) arrived from Panevėžys, Lithuania in 1905 as a small child …

By Judita Bačiulytė and Kazimieras Mizgiris. The history of the treasures of Juodkrantė begins in the middle of the 19th century, when a large quantity of raw amber was discovered near Juodkrantė during a project to deepen a seaway in the Curonian Lagoon, which is known as Kuršių marios in …

Dr. Audrius Plioplys. This June marks the 75th Anniversary of the beginning of Stalin’s deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia. During the night of June 14, 1941, thousands of unsuspecting Lithuanians were awakened from their sleep and arrested for deportation. Many were unable to take anything with them. Crammed into cattle …

Text and photos by JULIE SKURDENIS. THE CURONIAN SPIT (KURŠIŲ NERINGA) IS A 60 mile long narrow finger of forest and sand that separates the Curonian Lagoon (Kuršių Marios) from the Baltic Sea. The northern portion of the spit is Lithuanian. It’s called Neringa after a legendary giantess who supposedly …

Thomas Ginsberg. Finally, around 10 pm on the eve of Lithuania’s independence plebiscite in February 1991, President Vytautas Landsbergis emerged from his inner office at the Seimas, glanced expressionlessly at me and the other foreign journalists in an anteroom, then motioned for us to enter. The momentous day was just …

by Mindaugas Sereičikas. The name of military and glider pilot Gregorius Radvenis and his contributions to the sport of gliding in Lithuania have been unjustly forgotten, since the word which best describes him and his accomplishments is “first.” He was the first Lithuanian to become professionally proficient in gliding. He …

By Helga Merits. Who would imagine that refugees who had lost everything would create a university so soon after WW II in an almost totally devastated city? The story is not widely known, so I decided to make a documentary film about it: The Story of the Baltic University. At …

By LEO ALGMINAS. Soon after Lithuania regained its independence in 1991, I traveled there to see for myself what the country of my birth looked like after nearly a half century of Communism. As a self- employed consultant to a particular segment of manufacturing, I also scouted for ...

By VIKTORAS JAUTOKAS. A confluence of this summer’s Lithuanian song Festival in Chicago and ongoing news reports about North Korea rattling sabers at south Korea and America rekindled memories of my army service in the Korean war. In the trenches, I experienced the good, the bad and the ugly. Enemy artillery …

Personal Memories of World War II, Lithuania, and the Lithuanian Diaspora By VALENTINAS RAUGAS. As a recreational New Jersey wreck diver for ten years, I had the opportunity to do two separate dives on german u-Boat 853. This wreck was a german electric submarine which was sunk on the East …