In the photograph are Jonas Sepetys’ nephews and one niece in Siberia, children of his sister Apalione Sepetyte-Vajegiene. Standing, left to right, are Jonas, Petras, Vytautas’ wife Ale, Vytautas, Gene, Vincas and his son Jurgutis standing on the chair. The top letter was written by Jonas Vajega, the bottom one by Antanas Sepetys. Continue Reading →
Elze Zimkeviciene writing from the Kazachinsky district of Krasnoyarsk, to Hedy (Jadzyte) Chinik in Cicero. In these letters she describes her family’s deportation to the high arctic, to the delta of the Lena River, at the Laptev Sea, a part of the Arctic Ocean. She inquires about two letters that she sent by registered airmail which never arrived, and comments that she will only send letters by ordinary air mail. Given the sensitive materials she mentions in the surviving letters, and the active censorship of all mail, one can only guess at the content of the missing registered letters. In one letter she enclosed dried flowers from Siberia. She wrote: Continue Reading →
Elena Lazauskiene is writing from the Yakutsk region of Siberia, searching for her sister Ona. She had received one letter from Ona 3 months earlier. She had written to the indicated address on Griffith Park Boulevard in Los Angeles, but received no reply. She was given the address of Bronius Gleveckas, living in Birmingham, England, by a relative of his. In this letter she is asking for his assistance in locating her sister. Continue Reading →
Algimantas Kuzma, deported to the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia writes to Juozas Gaigalas, living in Chicago:
“Dear uncles, aunts and brothers-in-law; In response to your letter, written on June 1, I answered it immediately after the death of my mother. I enclosed 3 photographs of the funeral, and I wrote rather superficially about life here. But, did you receive the letter? That is not clear. Thus, I do not know whether to write or not. When I receive word that our letters reach you, I will write about everything.” Continue Reading →
The story of the Marmas family was discussed previously in this blog series of letters from Siberia. In the picture, Jonas Marmas sits, flanked by two of his children. He wrote, from the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia, to Alfonsas Lietuvninkas, in Chicago: Continue Reading →
In this letter, Aldona Gedviliene is writing to her husband’s uncle, Bronius Gleveckas, who is living in London, England. She lists items that she received in a package: “2 men’s sweaters, one women’s sweater, 2 pairs men’s wool socks, 1 pair of men’s shoes with fur lining, a men’s jacket, 2 pairs of men’s gloves, 1 pair women’s gloves, one thin scarf, 2 warm scarves, and a women’s wool suit in grey and white colors.” Continue Reading →
Mindaugas Gedvilas, deported to the Yakutsk region of Siberia, wrote many letters to his uncle, Bronius Gleveckas, who was living in London, England. During the war, Mr. Gleveckas had been apprehended and incarcerated in a German concentration camp. It appears that his health was seriously injured during the incarceration, such that when these letters were written, he was basically bed-ridden. Continue Reading →
The first posting in this blog series of Letters from Siberia was from Aldute Sukys, sitting to the right. This posting is a letter written by her younger brother, Juozukas, sitting to the left.
In this letter, Juozukas wrote: Continue Reading →
Kazimieras Janusonis with his wife Agota, and 6 children were deported to work in the same collectivized farm in Siberia. The location of the Bilchirsk kolkhoz was in the northerly portion of the Irkutsk region. Agota wrote letters to her brother-in-law, P. Janusonis, who was living in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In these two photographs, Veronika Norkunas buries her two young children near the city of Barnaul, in Siberia.
In the top picture, 4 year old, Livija-Liucija Norkunaite is being buried. She was born in Lithuania, and died on September 21, 1941, in Siberia. Continue Reading →
