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 →
Presentation of Hope and Spirit to the Board of Directors of the Illinois Humanities Council
On January 7, 2012, a busload of historians, who were attending the annual American Historical Association meeting, arrived from the conference in downtown Chicago. I gave them a tour of the exhibit. It was very gratifying to have a professional historical association pay so much attention to this neglected chapter in the world’s history. Continue Reading →
Previously unpublished poem written and sent from Siberia, by a deported Lithuanian school teacher in 1953 Continue Reading →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 →
Zigmas Zarunskis was 14 months old when he, with his family, were deported to Siberia. At the age of 14 years, instead of attending school, he was assigned to work as a lumberjack. While chopping trees, a limb fell down on him, killing him. The photograph was mailed to a relative in Jackson Heights, New York.
Konstancija and Jonas Marmas, with their three children, in the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia
The Marmas family was deported, from their family farm in Griskabudis to work as lumberjacks for 10 years. The uncle of Jonas Marmas was Dr. Vincas Kudirka, the author of the Lithuanian national anthem. Possibly it was because of this familial relationship that they were deported. Continue Reading →
Dobilas Ralys and his mother in Siberia. The letter was written by his sister, Ramune Ralys, and was sent to their uncle, V. Cizinas, in Paterson, New Jersey. In this letter she details some of her own life events upon being exiled to Siberia with her family. She was attending the 7th grade at the time of deportation. In the Krasnoyarsk District’s farm labor camp (kolkhoz) the middle school was located 2 miles away, which she attended until completing grade 10. At that time, she took over the labor tasks of her mother, who was too ill to work.
