Diaspora

“Destination Lithuanian America,” the five-year-long heritage mapping project, is coming to a close. This January, project director Augustinas Žemaitis added his last 100 discovered heritage sites to the 750-site compendium. The map covers Lithuanian-American churches, cemeteries, clubs, monuments, museums, and locations otherwise falling under the rubric of “Lithuanian heritage.” It …

By Kendall Svengalis. LITHUANIAN HERITAGE September / October 2021 Over the course of its 112-year existence, Draugas (The Friend), the Chicago-based Lithuanian-Catholic newspaper, has bene ted from the contributions and tireless efforts of several hundreds of editors, writers, and staff members. Beginning in 1918, its operations, both administrative and editorial, …

By Mary-Lou Weisman. LITHUANIAN HERITAGE March / April 2021 For more than half a century, writer and cartoonist Al Jaffee has been gleefully putting a premature end to the innocence of American youth in the pages of MAD, this country’s first popular satiric magazine. Suddenly, parents were hypocrites, teachers were …

Two Brothers Went to War, Only One Came Home Neither Is Forgotten Sandy Baksys. Some 80 years ago, Julius and George Sneckus went to fight for their parents’ adopted homeland in World War II. The only children of first-wave Lithuanian immigrants Petronele (Nellie) Matukaite and Jurgis (George) Charles Snieckus, the …

By Izida Petravičiūtė von Braun In 1978, in the journal Lituanus, Professor Stasys Goštautas of Boston University, wrote about Petravičius and his art as follows: “Never since the delightful graphic art of the primitive and anonymous artists of the eighteenth century, has Lithuanian art exhibited such a pure and candid …

Audronė (Audrey) Kižys. What do you really know about that guy who once lived down the block? Especially if he’s older and your paths didn’t usually cross. He seemed like a regular guy growing up in the 60s and 70s on Chicago’s southwest side, in the Lithuanian enclave known as …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …