Sixty-Six Years Ago

Lithuanians cherish their history of playing basketball. Basketball games were common forms of recreation in the DP camps. Like other sports, basketball helped the Lithuanian Displaced Persons cement their national identity once their country lost its independence.

Displaced Persons from the different DP camps engaged in basketball rivalries and tournaments. Last night, my friend Kris sent this photo of her Dad, Vytenis, and her maternal Uncle, Al, when they played for a Würzburg camp team:

Würzburg, Germany, March 31, 1946. Kris's Dad, Vytenis, stands in the last row, on the far left, and her maternal Uncle, Al, stands on the far right.
 

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The Würzburg DP camp team on which the two men played won a "runners up" trophy—coincidentally, sixty-six years ago yesterday. Kris explains that the DPs crafted the trophy from old munitions parts dumped near the camp:
 

 
Würzburg, Germany, March 31, 1946. The trophy celebrates the team's status—in the English language.
 
Thanks to my dear friend Kris for making these photos available to me.