As 15min stated Renata Mikalajūnaitė, Director of the Historical Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania in Kaunas, A. Stulginskis – a modest man with an unmodest biography – experienced everything together with Lithuania: national revival, the establishment of the state, the flourishing and decline of democracy, state occupation, exile, and return to the violated Homeland.
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According to R. Mikalajūnaitė, A. Stulginskis’s grandson J. Juozevičius comes to Lithuania almost every year. Last year, at the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the 140th anniversary of President A. Stulginskis, as many as 26 descendants of A. Stulginskis from the USA visited the Historical Presidential Palace! These included three grandsons with their families and great-grandchildren.
At that time, the only daughter of A. Stulginskis, Aldona Stulginskaitė-Juozevičienė, who celebrated her 104th birthday, also spoke a greeting from Chicago.
Unfortunately, on December 21 last year, sad news was received – Aldona left our world.
The first years of childhood of the only daughter of A. Stulginskis, born in 1921, were spent precisely in the building of the Historical Presidential Palace in Kaunas.
Strong ties with Lithuania
On June 14, 1941, when A. Stulginskis and his wife were exiled to Siberia, their daughter Aldona was taking exams in Kaunas and avoided a tragic fate.
The connection with the parents was cut off for decades, but the most important instruction written in the last letter from the parents, “never forget that you are a Catholic and Lithuanian,” accompanied Aldona at every step.
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Perhaps that is why the annual desire of son J. Juozevičius to visit Lithuania is not surprising. A mother with deep national convictions raised a family that speaks Lithuanian and nurtures strong ties with Lithuania.
Before Prof. L. Mažylis’s lecture, 15min interviewed A. Stulginskis’s grandson – what draws him to Lithuania every year?
“My wife and I come to Lithuania every year. We have good friends and acquaintances here. It is hard to explain how we, Lithuanian Americans, grew up, how Lithuanian identity was instilled in us.
Our parents’ generation emigrated in 1944 and thought that Lithuania would be wiped out completely, that they were the last Lithuanians. It was their work to make sure that we, the children, would be Lithuanians.
We walk with my wife through the streets of Lithuania – how beautifully the Lithuanian language sounds without that American accent that we hear in America. We really like that,” J. Juozevičius answered the question.
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