Verona, Wisconsin, November 2011. Poppy considers Baci as she awaits the guests' arrival.
November 30, 2015
Entertaining
Verona, Wisconsin, November 2011. Poppy considers Baci as she awaits the guests' arrival.
Holiday Window
Chicago Loop, Illinois, December 1962. We used to dress nicely to go shopping downtown.
My outfit was red, and the coat featured a rabbit-fur collar.
November 29, 2015
War Room
When my Dad was a Displaced Person, he collected several folders of reproduced art prints. The subject matter of the prints is primarily related to World War II. Some prints also are representative of the German inter-war Expressionist movement.
Schweinfurt, Germany, about 1946. This piece is by Willi Geiger.
Schweinfurt, Germany, about 1946. This piece is by Willi Geiger.
Related by Marriage: Three Gents
Evanston, Illinois, about 1984. Mr. Irene and two of his housemates return to their old living quarters as they ready to attend a wedding.
November 28, 2015
Castle Park
Erlangen, Germany, about 1946 or 1947. Here's another postcard Mom saved from her medical-school days. This is not the same park Mom frequented.
November 27, 2015
Performance
Suburban Chicago, November 1964. A group from our Lithuanian school stages an early holiday performance.
November 26, 2015
November 25, 2015
Related by Marriage: After the Meal
Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, November 1965. The family poses in the kitchen of Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents' home. The group just finished the Thanksgiving meal, and all celebrate a visit from Uncle Ignas.
Standing: Mr. Irene's Dad, Uncle Ignas, Mr. Irene's Mom, and Mr. Irene. Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather, Stanley, sits at the table.
Thanks to Mr. Irene's Los Angeles Cousin for making this photo available to us.
November 24, 2015
Grading
River Forest, Illinois, November 1975. A teacher at my high school uses the time between classes to review a few papers.
November 23, 2015
Exchanging Portraits (Part 56)
Dresden, Germany, 1944. A cousin of Mr. Irene's Dad adjusts to life as a Displaced Person.
November 22, 2015
November 21, 2015
The Site of the Exhibit
Schweinfurt, Germany, December 1946. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, kept this photo among her mementos from the cultural exhibit.
November 20, 2015
Candid
Brooklyn, New York, October 1950. Although Dad hadn't started his photography hobby in the early 1950s, he already had an eye for candid shots.
November 19, 2015
Roar
Brookfield Zoo, November 1966. Here's a photo that makes me laugh. This fellow looks like a human in a lion suit.
Resettled
Brooklyn, New York, about 1954. This is the photo my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, used for her first American passport.
November 18, 2015
A Closer Look (Part 55)
November 17, 2015
Authorized
Buxtehude, Germany, March 28, 1948. This document certified my Dad's role as a Boy-Scout leader at the Schweinfurt Displaced Persons camp. I suspect Dad secured the certification for his travel to the Isarhorn Jamboree.
November 16, 2015
Related by Marriage: Wall Art
Evanston, Illinois, about 1977. Mr. Irene and his dorm hallmates celebrate their paint job.
November 15, 2015
Exchanging Portraits (Part 55)
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Leipzig, Germany, December 13, 1944. My Mom's friend wrote:
Oh how we could use some luck,The friend's imagery derives from a winter incident Mom recalls. The barracks in which Mom stayed had no central heating.* Mom kept a vase on the window sill. Once, although the water in the vase froze overnight, the flower kept blooming.
if only a little
if only as much as
the blooming flower on the window ...
*Mom would heat an iron before going to sleep, and she placed it on the mattress so the bedding warmed.
November 14, 2015
November Scamper, in Three Takes
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Verona, Wisconsin, 2014. It's easy to blend in here.
November 13, 2015
A University Street
Erlangen, Germany, about 1946 or 1947. This postcard features a scene from the medical-school campus.
November 12, 2015
November 11, 2015
A Remembrance from Mr. Irene
My Dad passed away very peacefully Friday evening, November 6, 2015, in the consoling company of his family.
He suffered a number of complications after breaking his leg last December. After some strong and stable months in the Spring, he succumbed to a severe bone infection and ultimately, sepsis.
Dad lived a life filled with the joys of hard work and devotion to his family; enlivened by Lithuanian wit and humor; and strengthened by an optimistic, American heart.
He suffered a number of complications after breaking his leg last December. After some strong and stable months in the Spring, he succumbed to a severe bone infection and ultimately, sepsis.
Dad lived a life filled with the joys of hard work and devotion to his family; enlivened by Lithuanian wit and humor; and strengthened by an optimistic, American heart.
Like so many of
his countrymen, Dad escaped the fierce advance of Soviet troops through
Lithuania by escaping into Germany and then Austria in the final year of World
War II. In the years immediately after the end of the war, Dad and some of his
immediate family lived as Displaced Persons (DPs) in camps established by the Allies in Germany. It was an atmosphere of chaos, danger, and uncertainty.
Lithuanian and
Polish nationals living in DP camps in the American zone near Frankfurt were
invited by the U.S. Army to apply for support security roles guarding both
German and American assets. Dad enlisted in the Lithuanian canine patrol corps
and was assigned to the U.S. base camp at Kaiserlautern. (That camp would grow
over the years into NATO headquarters. The last photo below shows my Dad in
1948 sharing a laugh with visiting U.S. Army brass. It's my favorite image of
Dad from that time.)
From that post,
Dad observed the start of the Berlin Airlift after the Soviets blockaded that
city. He did nightly patrols around the forest surrounding the camp. His
devoted partner was Arno, a loyal and beautiful German Shepard. Dad checks up
on Arno (at Arno's barracks) in this first photo (from 1947) below. Dad is 19
years old in that photo.
Dad celebrated his
21st birthday by sailing past the Statue of Liberty into New York Harbor aboard
the USS General Hann. In the second photo below, taken just after the immigrants
had disembarked from the ship, you'll see Dad (second from left) with
white hair—encrusted in sea salt as he paced the outer decks. Within hours, Dad
was on a train to Chicago to begin his new life in America under the kind
sponsorship of an uncle who had emigrated from Lithuania in the 1920s.
Shortly after
their arrival, my Dad and his older brother, my late Uncle Ignas, were drafted
for service in the Korean War. The third photo below shows a farewell outing
for Ignas (center) in October, 1950 in Chicago's Grant Park. My Dad stands on
the far left. One year later, Dad was drafted for U.S. Army service at Camp
Irwin in the Mojave desert east of Los Angeles. He served as a tank instructor,
running daredevil maneuvers in the endless sand dunes.
Before President
Truman left office, he determined that foreign nationals who had served in the
Korean conflict were to be granted U.S. citizenship upon their honorable
discharge.
Dad returned to
Chicago in 1953 and worked in manufacturing jobs until his retirement. By 1959,
our family had moved to Melrose Park, where Dad worked for Benjamin Moore and
Co producing paints and stains for the next 35 years. In the penultimate photo,
Dad stands front of our Melrose Park home, circa 1965.
Thank you, Dad, for you service—not only to your adopted country but to your family until the day you breathed your last. We love and miss you more than you could imagine.
Thank you, Dad, for you service—not only to your adopted country but to your family until the day you breathed your last. We love and miss you more than you could imagine.
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November 10, 2015
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