DRAUGAS NEWS Lithuanian World Wide News in English

By Henry L. Gaidis This August commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the start of World War I, one of the bloodiest in history. During the four-year conflict, over nine million combat- ants and seven million civilians died, and the struggle resulted in the demise of several great nation- states. The …

By ALEX VITKUS. Lithuanians claim to have gone global. They now live in all corners of the world, bar one – that vast stretch of earth that is beyond everyone’s grasp – Antarctica. Except for an odd research station or temporary expedition hut, Antarctica has no permanent structures, no towns, no …

By RIMAS ČERNIUS. “No Home To Go To” was developed by the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in collaboration with the Chicago Estonian House, the Latvian Folk Art Museum, and the Lithuanian Emigration Institute of Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. On August 24, 2014, the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture …

By DR. STASYS BAČKAITIS. Last month representing the Lithuanian American Council as part of the Central and Eastern European Coalition (CEEC) delegation, I met in separate meetings with California Congressman Adam Schiff and Matthew Armstrong Governor of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The purpose of the meetings was to address …

By Vitalis Zaikauskas. Angonita, who first came up with the idea of the Baltic Way? It is hard to give a definitive answer. In May of 1989 it was discussed at the Second Baltic Assembly. I believe that it may have been the Estonian delegation that first suggested the idea. But …

People in the eighteenth-Century Grand Duchy of Lithuania travelled considerably, but the routes of their journeys were very much determined by the estate they belonged to and their social status. Peasants could only travel within the lands of their seigneur, occasionally visiting relatives owned by neighboring landlords. Petty nobility made …

By Daiva Markelis. Wendell Mayo, a native of Corpus Christi, texas, is an accomplished american writer. over one hundred of his short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, including Yale Review, Harvard Review, Missouri Review, Boulevard, Prism International, and others. he is the author of four short story collections. …

By VITALIJUS ZAIKAUSKAS. It is July 2014 and it has finally arrived –– the National Lithuanian Song Festival. It takes place in Vilnius in Vingis Park, a site which has become identified with the first massive gatherings demanding freedom some twenty years ago. But today we are here to celebrate. We …

Interview (1988) by George Hodak. 75 years ago, Lithuania hosted the European Basketball championships in Kaunas and won. Part of this success can be attributed to Frank Lubin (Pranas Lubinas), one of the greatest basketball players the us produced in the days before professional basketball. he started his big-time career …

Kristijonas Donelaitis describes how the 18th Century Lithuanian spent his summer By VILIUS RUDRA DUNDZILA. Kristijonas Donelaitis’ epic poem, The Seasons is divided into four parts, each focusing on a different season of the year. Each part describes the joys, toils and foibles of Lithuanian peasant life at that time …