Culture

Lithuanian Documentary Film Festival hits Chicago

Vida Kuprys. Chicago recently hosted the best of Lithuanian documentary films. Running from April 24 to May 4, the Lithuanian Documentary Film Festival (LDFF ) was organized by Audra Januškienė, a film connoisseur who also happens to run a successful catering service. Initially, she intended to show only several films …

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I Apologize to Previous Generations

Dr. Robertas Vitas. Our Lithuanian American community has recently suffered the loss of four prominent scholars: Dr. Jonas Račkauskas passed away on March 19, 2018, Dr. Augustinas Idzelis on October 14, 2018, Dr. Benediktas Mačiuika on November 10, 2018, and, finally, Dr. Arūnas Liulevičius left us just a few days …

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History of Annunciation Parish Past and Present

The Church of the Annunciation.

Petras Palys. Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is located at 259 N. 5th Street, Brooklyn, New York. A parish is a community of believers, part of Christ’s Mystical Body, which sustains us through grace and belief. The parish strives to unite the faithful in Christ, to …

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The Reconsecration of the Church of the Annunciation. The Brooklyn church has served the Lithuanian community continuously since 1914

The newly refurbished interior of Annunciation Church.

Raimundas Šližys. For New York area Lithuanians and the entire American Lithuanian community as well, March 24th was a special day. On that date after a yearlong restoration, the historic Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn, NY, was solemnly reconsecrated. Since 1914, when the …

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AN INTERVIEW WITH President Valdas Adamkus

National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame 2017 inductees: U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Stanley Balzekas Jr., former president of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus and Juozas Kazickas (posthumously) represented by his daughter, Jurate Kazickas.

Our Draugas corres­pondent, Vitalius Zai­kaus­kas, met up with President Adamkus in Lithuania and engaged him in a candid conversation about his legacy, the future of Lithuania, and its ongoing struggles. President, we meet again after some two years. Presently we are commemorating Lithuania’s Independence Day this month. Do you have …

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BATUN – BALTIC COOPERATION IN EXILE. How Baltic Americans banded together to stir the conscience of the United Nations

BATUN’s 20th anniversary celebration at the UN in New York. Gintė Damušis is in the second row, 7th from the left.

Sirje Okas Ainso. We, Baltic Americans, victims of World War II and its aftermath, were steadfast in our resolve that one day we will be able to return to a free Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania – lands that the Soviet Union so ruthlessly occupied. We wanted to find a way …

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They came from Vilnius. Digging for Hidden Treasure Finding Lithuanian markers across America

A meeting with local contacts (from l.) Aistė Žemaitienė, Stephen Kwedar, M.D., Susan Eby, Mary Ann Rackauskas, D.D.S., Rick Dunham, Augustinas Žemaitis, Gražina Macius, Sheila Mack, Maureen (Mack) Mueller. Photo by Sandra Baksys

Sandra Baksys. After 25 days and 4,500 miles criss-crossing the Midwest, following upon the heels of a similar expedition on the East Coast last year, Augustinas Žemaitis and Aistė Žemaitienė, both of Vilnius, Lithuania, have visited more Lithuanian-American heritage sites than anyone else in the world. This year’s “Destination Lithuanian …

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The Hippie Movement in Lithuania – Forerunners

Dress rehearsal for the rock opera “Jesus Christ SuperStar” before its premiere on Christmas Day, 1971, in Vilnius.

by Skaistė Plaušinytė. The largest and most significant youth movement in Lithuania during the Soviet period was that of the hippies. This movement, which started in the West at the beginning of the 1960s (in the U.S., Great Britain and Western Europe), reached the Soviet Union as well. The hippies seemed …

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Femme au Foyer – 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas

Found a great blog by Latvian-American Liene Kukainis. It’s called “Femme au foyer” which translates to “woman at the hearth.” For the past several years Liene has been putting together a list of posts each December each having something to do with a Baltic Christmas. Here are the postings to-date …

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Aloyzas Baronas and the Christmas harmonica tale

We received an inquiry at Lithuanian Heritage relating to a very short story written by Aloyzas Baronas, about “Kaziuko Armonika.”  The reader wanted to know where one could find more stories like this to read to children about the magical goings on during the night before Christmas, where animals are …

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