OPEN ARCHIVES OF KAUNAS

*Asija*: “In the evenings, Laisvės Avenue was full of people. Families would go for a walk. It was a magnificent tradition. Lithuanian, Jewish and Russian families were walking in the avenue. The oldest members of the family would be walking in front of everyone else; parents following them and lastly a bunch of children were running after them. Slowly, constantly greeting each other, people passed through Laisvės Avenue and returned home. Women had to have a small handbag and a hat.” (2017).

The first building of Garrison Officers' club during the Interwar period was in a two-storey building designed by an unknown architect at the corner of Laisvės Alėja and A. Mickevičiaus Street (currently the premises of the Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees). When Kaunas became the temporary capital, it required new representative spaces that would allow the development of cultural conversations, so at the officer's initiative, the decision was made to build a new building for the Garrison Officers' Club. Exclusive people participated in the events that took place in the Building of Kaunas Garrison Officers' Club, and it reminded gatherings of bohemians, as they communicated as a separate community with its unique ideology and habits.

In December, 2018 The lions that are protecting the entrance to Vytautas Magnus War Museum commemorate their 85th anniversary.

*Gintaras: *"One detail stuck to my mind from the dismantling of Leninas monument: next to Donelaičio Street, under a tree, I saw an elderly couple, probably of Russian nationality. They held arms and... cried silently. Even though everyone was in good mood, but I felt pity looking at them: they believed him for their entire life, and now, there was emptiness in front of them...." (2014)

*Alvydas Vaitkevičius: *I am sending several photos by a famous photographer from the Soviet times, Stanislovas Lukošius which he gave me before he passed away. Photos feature explanations by Stanislovas Lukošius himself. He had a phenomenal memory and knew about the past of Kaunas in great detail. He wrote the texts himself, even though he was almost blind, so they are not easy to read... Almost 30 years ago, I got an opportunity to speak with him at his home. At that time, he had been blind for maybe 10 years and could not manage the archive of his photos and negatives without help. My son, who was then around 12 helped him at that time. Lukošius was a great patriot of Lithuania and greatly influenced my son's attitude towards history. Lukošius gave these and other photos to my son, but these are of the best quality. Maybe later I will find more... (2014)

*Raimonda Pauzienė (51):* [In Juozas Naujalis Music School] everyone was trained to be a musician. Only several people would not later apply for studies in the conservatory. There was this one girl in my class who strained her arm and went to a different school. Students from other schools used to say that they do not know what to do after studies, but for us it was all clear. Everyone knew that children from Naujalis or Čiurlionis schools were different. They had a different motivation, different extracurriculars, motivation to go to the theatre and concerts. Later they also tried to enrol their children in unconventional schools, because they understood how important like-minded people and friends were. Music changes a person. /.../ [At school], the focus was on music. A year before graduating from school, we basically completed all subjects of general education and practiced for musical exams only. We used to spend most of the time with the teacher of our speciality. I remember my teacher as a specialist with fondness, even though it was a difficult [experience].  However, when I communicate with my pupils, I try to behave in a completely different manner. /.../ [Then] the rules were very strict... You could get a warning for not bringing a handkerchief [to school], for crying during the lectures. My teacher was very strict. And teacher Kumpikienė has remained the same to this day. Of course, now I am thankful for everything, even though sometimes certain things went over the top. If you failed to bring a hair pin or a handkerchief, you got a warning. Your nose was runny, you were crying, because you pitied yourself, since you were embarrassed for not being able to do something, [you got] a warning. /.../ For a child, this school was really too strict. Relationship with teachers was not friendly. Even though our classroom tutor was very gentle. She was a teacher of Lithuanian language, she would bring us to camp by some lake. And others... You could not speak with teachers like you can now. It seems that children can speak to them more.

*Lili Kristina Vaičekauskaitė-Čepauskienė:* The flood of 1946 in Kaunas was a very strong one. The picture shows my mother and me on an ice flow at the corner of Vasario 16-osios and K. Donelaičio streets. After that year, there were no more floods like that.

*Gintaras: *Žalgiris Stadium was not only a place of sports events; people were also interested in the shows by stunt drivers from Czechoslovakia. You can only imagine how running tracks looked after their performances. :) The Soviet government took interest not only in the health of the sportsmen, but sophisticated pastime of the audience as well: next to the stadium (and in a lot of other places in the city), there were glass pavilions with drink vending machines. Here people could chat and discuss episodes from the matches and their results. Fifty kopeks and a glass of cheap wine called rašalas (‘ink, a derogatory term for cheap, poor quality wine) would quickly relax not only the tongue but brain as well... This place to get drunk has been replaced by a Hesburger restaurant, and instead of the stadium, there is MOLAS Shopping Mall. :) (2014)

Menininko Gyčio Dovydaičio dokumentinis filmas-reportažas apie Kaunas 2022 organizuoto Istorijų festivalio 2019 centrą – Ramybės parką (Kauno senąsias kapines) – ir jo kaimynystėje gyvenačius kauniečius.

(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).

*Liucija: *I remember, when my friend and I, we would go to the Picture Gallery to visit the exhibitions. Back in those days, we liked ceramic works very much. We used to buy large vases and bring tiny ones from other republics for ourselves or to give to our friends. Back in those times, food to nourish our souls on weekends were only exhibition halls or theatre. We would bring our children there as well. When the times changed and all sorts of events and travelling abroad became available, we visit picture gallery on a very rare basis. (2015)* *

*A.K.*: Russian Aesthetic Education Centre later received the name of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. It is still operating in V. Krėvės prospect, not far from the shopping centre used to be called Pasimatymas. I guess most of its visitors back then were children from the neighboring Russian school No. 20, even though later I attended the Lithuanian Pilėnai school. Probably it was my father’s initiative for me to attend all these extracurricular activities and have someone to practice my native language with, yet for me it has been (and I hope that it still remains) an exceptional place of artistic education, even though when I look back at this building, sad thoughts come to my mind. This place is like an island among the gray multi-storey buildings of Dainava, where people would create things, while we talked with teachers and fellow students in Russian.