Soviet Square

Lukiškės Square, Vilnius, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1975. See Photo 17 here.

Soviet Life

In Lithuania.

Why we don't know much about Stalin.

"Americans might be less receptive because of our own mythology of the Second World War. Anything that detracts from that simplified portrait is often unwelcome. Tales of Nazi horrors inflate the American experience and place American efforts front and center. Discussion of the central role of the Soviet Union, and its 20 million dead, deflates American experience and pushes American efforts to the margins."

"Sonata on Independence"

Today is the 25th anniversary of the day Lithuanians voted to secede from the Soviet Union.

Back to the USSR

Travel posters from Soviet, government-run travel agency.

Federalism contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Said Putin: 

Putin was particularly critical of Lenin’s concept of a federative state with its entities having the right to secede, saying it has heavily contributed to the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. He added that Lenin was wrong in a dispute with Joseph Stalin, who advocated a unitary state model.

(P.S. Stalin is back in fashion.)

"Affection for the Baltic states is common among Russians of a certain age, a legacy largely of the Soviet Union."

Why some Russians seek exile in the Baltic States.

Kremlin Christmas

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, December 1972. My Mom's maternal Aunt Dora sends a Christmas New Year's postcard. We're watching you!

Greetings from the USSR

It's "Creepy Christmas Lenin." Or New Year's Lenin.

"Mission Siberia"

An annual pilgrimage.

Blooming

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, June 1965. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's friend wrote, "We're in our yard next to the flowering fruit trees. I'm with my neighbor and her children."

Recognizable

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1961. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's friend wrote, "Do you recognize the fabric?" We sent fabrics to relatives living behind the Iron Curtain.

A Recovered Image

My Mom's friend Joy sent this photo in the early 1990s.

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1923. This is my Mom.

*     *     *     *     *

 On the back of the photo, Joy wrote:

 Dearest [Irene's Mom],

This is you!

This photo is historical. It was with me in Siberia in my photo album. It endured all of our sufferings along the shores of the Laptev Sea. It was there for all 17 years of the deportation. Then the photo returned with me to Lithuania in 1958, and now it is in America! 1991.

Watching Television

Suburban Chicago, 1960. This must have been one of my paternal Granmother Tatjana's favorite images. She asked my Dad to print multiple copies so she could send it to her relatives.

The red star resurfaces on Red Square . . .

. . . and children, wearing Soviet-era uniforms and carrying arms, participate in the festivities.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin defends the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius pens a response.

ADDED: Full video of the parade here; the hammer and sickle are first visible at 4:53. Here's footage from the November 1, 1941 parade.

A Discussion about Ukraine

Ambassadors from the three Baltic States discuss the crisis on CNN.

Related by Marriage: Eye of Providence

Near Panevėžys, Lithuania, July 1993. Mr. Irene's Dad, his Sister-in-Law, and his niece visit the cemetery in which Stacey is buried.

This was the first trip Mr. Irene's Dad made back to Lithuania after the disintegration of the USSR.

Related by Marriage: Related

Vilnius, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1978. Mr. Irene gets acquainted with his cousin—the daughter of his paternal Uncle Stacey—during his trip behind the Iron Curtain.

An Occasional Visitor

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1973. My Dad's older cousin, Vytas, visits with his niece, Kaunas Nina. Kaunas Nina holds her doggie, Musytė.

Vytas, like his brother Henry, was one of my Dad's older cousins. After Vytas returned to Lithuania from the Siberian Gulag, the regime prohibited him from living in a city. As a result, Vytas could visit Kaunas only occasionally.

Maneuvers

"Russian army holds exercises on Polish and Lithuanian borders."