Events

By Neal Maloney. On September 7 of this year, at Nanjing Youth Olympic Park Gymnasium, in the second group stage of the FIBA (International Federation of Basketball) World Cup, the score of the Lithuania-France game was 76:74 in favor of France with 31 seconds left. The next thirty seconds were …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Virginija Petrauskienė. The Chicago-based Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture has announced that the 2018 “Man of the Year” is Marijus Gudynas, diplomat and Director of the Department of Lithuanians Living Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania.  Most recently he successfully served as Lithuania’s Consul General in …

Diana Gudaitis Barbera. While wandering through the beautiful Impressionist galleries at Musée d’Orsay in Paris this spring, I was thrilled to discover the museum hosting a very special exhibition “Wild Souls. Symbolism in the Baltic States.” As an American artist whose father was Lithuanian, I was intrigued and excited by …

Dr. Robertas Vitas. The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, hosted a two-day conference commemorating the centennial of the ending of the First World I. Nine scholars presented various aspects of the end of hostilities related explicitly to Eastern Europe. Other than myself and a U.S. army …

Dr. Stasys Bačkaitis. The world sighed a sigh of relief when the horrors of the 1914-1918 war drew to a close. It was identified by the misnomer “Great” and only later given a number when the subsequent War outdid the previous one. The Lithuanian people, like other oppressed peoples, rightfully assumed …

Henry L. Gaidis. A frequently overlooked historic fact is that Lithuania’s Declaration of Independence of February 16th, 1918, did not occur overnight. It was, instead, the consequence of a series of significant events and political developments. This, of course, does not detract from the achievement which the declaration’s signatories brought …