OPEN ARCHIVES OF KAUNAS

*Vitalijus: *I remember Romuva from my childhood. A very long time ago, when my brother and I were little, we saw Phantomas here. Behind the cinema, there was an ice-rink, and we would go there to have fun with other children. Cinema was not an expensive entertainment option back then. It would cost 10 kopeks for children, and evening screenings, the most popular ones, would cost 70 kopeks. The room was divided into areas: more expensive in the front and less expensive in the back.

1 photograph Povilas (first to the right) and Vandas (second to the left), Tarnauskas, restaurant "Versalis" shareholders, festive visit to Nemunas. 4th decade. From the family archive of Ludza Riaukienė.

*Alma: *Some time ago, this university was called Kaunas Polytechnic Institute and the campus was built only around 1975.  Specific dorms were designated for students from specific faculties and they would not be mixed. Different floors were divided for ladies and gentlemen. The discipline was strict. There was a lot of stress for students, when at 8 in the morning, someone would come to see if they have left for the lectures, and whether some rascals stayed in and slept. A few of us would go: laboratory assistants, rector or superintendent and, of course, the correspondent. Back then, we did not know the word 'journalist'.  The journalist was from the paper 'Tarybinis mokslas' (The Soviet Science).  He would travel with some old camera, thrown over his shoulder.  If he found someone sleeping, he would publish it in the paper immediately and the paper would travel around and be pinned on all notice boards in dorms and faculties. It is nice to remember what discipline it has been, when students would go to study wearing jackets, skirts, costumes and hats. Also, a lot of students would come from Latvia and Estonia. It is nice to notice the former students from Latvia still coming to see the dorm where they lived 20 or even 30 years ago. (2014)

*Alvydas (50):* When my then-future wife was studying in Kaunas Polytechnic Institute, we would often walk around the Oakwood Park... We made several photos there...:) (2014)

*Asija*: “When the family got too big, we received a room in Laisvės Ave. 1A (currently Laisvės Ave. 3). The apartment had 5 rooms, each housing a different family. The rooms were separated by glass doors. Each side followed their own way of living. This “transparent’’ life continued for a long time, as covering the doors or building a wall were not affordable. Those doors made the apartment authentic and beautiful.”

*Audronė*: ,,Gyvenau ir ligi šiol gyvenu name, kuriame yra ,,Medžiotojų užeigos“ restoranas. Papuoliau į visai kitą aplinką. Iki 1953 m. augau Žaliakalnyje, ten – žalia, gražu, o čia papuoliau tiesiai ant bruko. Bet žinot, kaip vaikui – labai greitai viskas pasikeitė. Kiemai – pilni vaikų, butai buvo komunaliniai, tai tų šeimų – daug, vaikų – daug; nesudarė man jokio didelio skirtumo. Tik tas, kad Nemunas šalia. Buvo daug draugų, daug šurmulio. Kai paskaičiuoju, kažkur apie trisdešimt kieme. O dabar nė vieno nėra. Žaidimai būdavo labai šaunūs: aišku, policininkai ir vagys – ir apimdavo visą pusę senamiesčio: pilį; eidavom nuo vieno turgaus iki kito turgaus. Senamiesty jų buvo trys: vienas, kur dabar prie Pilies autobusų aikštelė, stotis; kitas, žuvies turgus skvere – ten, kur dabar pastatyti namai; ir trečiasis – Gertrūdos ir Gimnazijos gatvių kampe. Iki dabar Rotušė pakeitė savo veidą tris kartus. Pirmiausia buvo smėlėta didelė aikštė. Priešais Jėzuitų gimnaziją buvo slėptuvės, turbūt likusios nuo Pirmo pasaulinio karo. Slėptuvės ir purvina, medžiais apsodinta aikštė. Vėliau dalį medžių panaikino, dalį – pasodino ir padarė vidury didžiulę klombą, pačioje Rotušės aikštės viduryje. Į ją takai ėjo nuo kiekvieno kampo - tokia žvaigždės forma. Buvo suoliukai, aišku, buvo ir pavėsio. Po to išklojo šitą grindinį. Tai – jau trečias Rotušės vaizdas. Pati Rotušės aikštė buvo, galima sakyti, ketvirtas turgus. Aikštėje buvo priemiestinė autobusų stotis, aplinkui visur stodavo autobusai. Ties kiekvienu kampu stovėjo po gazirovkės vežimėlį, kaip mes sakydavome. Prekyba vykdavo iš rankų. Kur dabar stovi Maironio paminklas, buvo benzino kolonėlė. Maironio name, pirmame aukšte, buvo vaikų darželis. Aš jo nelankiau, bet daug mano klasiokų lankė.

(Saulius Eduardas Pauliukonis, actor of Šiauliai Drama Theatre, former actor of Kaunas Pantomime troupe, who worked in Kaunas Drama Theatre with director J. Jurašas and in Kaunas Musical Theatre).

*Neringa:* Yesterday, while driving from Vilnius to Kaunas, I saw the “new” sign of the city of Kaunas and realized that the old sign was a really special place. We would stop next to it every time we came back from Vilnius, even if relatives from America came to visit us. This was the first stop after Vilnius Airport, where we would all take photos with guests we haven't seen for a long time (or saw for the very first time). Even though the sign was a relict of the Soviet times, but compared to the “new” one, it had certain image and uniqueness to it. From my childhood, I remember those steps up to the sign and the red brightness of its background, that would contrast to the light blue summer sky. In this picture, it's me, my mother, and guests from America: Debbie and Ramutė in 1993. (2014)

*Gintaras: *In Vilniaus Street, next to the underground passage, there is a building with niches, in which three little sculptures were placed. Unfortunately, they did not stand and entertain the passers-by for a long time. They were vandalized one night. It was around 1988, I don't remember for sure. But a place is never empty, and these three beauties occupy this place right now :) (2014)

*Gintaras Vitulskis: *The first victory. At the end of the 20th century, St. Gertrude's Gothic church became endangered. Not only was it turned into a warehouse, but there was also an idea to put it into a bag, so to speak: to build a multi-storey building in J. Gruodžio Street. In 1988, rapid construction of a building intended for the use of K. Požėla District Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania was started. It was supposed to appear in the lot next to the cemetery adjacent to the church and dating back to the 15th–18th centuries. The intention was to throw away the bones, and the church had to be quietly demolished. But the openness was the new trend (Gorbachev's glasnost) and the civic self-awareness of the residents of Kaunas awakened in time to prevent this. After a long fight, the victory has been achieved: the construction was stopped, and the building was demolished. In a picture captured in October 1989, we can see the Church of St. Gertrude and the end of demolition of the said building. The third photo was taken in September 2014. (2014)

*Lili Kristina Vaičekauskaitė-Čepauskienė:* If someone is collecting historical material, there is an interesting episode. Photo (see photo No. 2) pictures mother of the Lithuanian partisan Kazys Veverskis (pseudonym Senis). Our family became acquainted with her under very interesting circumstances. This one time, my mommy went to the post office to run some errand and found a crying woman there. She came to send a parcel to her relatives imprisoned in Siberia, but she could not write their address. Then my mother brought her home to Vasario 16-osios Street, and my father packed everything nicely, wrote down the address and posted it for her. And this acquaintance was the one that lasted. I remember this woman visiting us for many years in relation to this matter. I called this woman my granny Veverskienė. (2014)

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