OPEN ARCHIVES OF KAUNAS

*Judita: *"When I was young I used to live with my custodian in M. Valančiaus Street. There was a market in the old town that was always full of people. Rumours would spread very easily. Therefore, the women that worked in the market soon knew that I was Jewish. However, I was christened according to Christian traditions, so I became a Catholic. The women would warn me not to go back to my real family, because if I wanted to retract the christening and become Jewish again, then boiling milk would be poured down my throat because that is the only way to take the christening back."

*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.

(Operating from 2011 to 2013).

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

*Liucija: *I arrived from the sea coast to study in Vilnius. During the last year, I married a guy from Domeikava. So, Kaunas Castle has become a stop in between Vilnius and Domeikava. And later, between my home and the workplace. Those were deep and poor Soviet times. The bus would leave every our, so if you were late at least for a couple of minutes, you had to wait for the next one to come for another hour. There were no shops around back in those days. So, in winter, you had to stand in the cold tortured by the wind. I sometimes see the same faces from those times, from the bus, but I don't feel any nostalgia for that place. It reminds me of dark times and distress. (2015)* *

*Riddle for our website visitors:*

Sculptor Robertas Antinis sharing his memories about  people of Laisvės avenue and Kaunas (2014).

*Elena:* "While drinking my morning tea, I read an article[https://www.lrytas.lt/kultura/istorija/2017/07/29/news/i-kino-teatra-ne-filmu-o-mesos-ar-teisingumo-paiesku-2075561/] about the old Kaunas movie theatres:" It's incredible, but today in Kaunas, out of almost 40 old movie theatres, only one had survived and is still operating. The rest became ghosts or a place where other activities are being developed. " As I‘ve read those words, an old story came to my mind. I couldn't wait to finish reading and find out what was that small and cozy movie theatre; I was lucky enough to go there once (when I came back, after a while, I didn't find the movie theatre there - there was a court instead). Apparently, the theatre was demolished in 2006, and the court got established here due to its strategically convenient location. Definitely, A. Mickevičiaus Street is in the very heart of the city, and all the important institutions are easily accessible: on the other side of the road - Kaunas interrogation isolator, next to it: Kaunas University of Medicine, where I have studied as well. I remember while looking through a window in a pharmacology laboratory, you could observe isolator‘s post office operations: through a slatted window of the third floor, a rolled paper note tied to a string – slowly moving down, until it finally reaches the window of the second floor. Someone’s hand grabs the note and a few minutes later - ties the answer, pulls the string for a few times, and the message starts traveling up. All-day long: up and down, up and down... And that story about the movie theatre goes like this. Back in 2006, “Vilnius Ghetto“ was released. Since the movie was created by a Lithuanian film studio, and I am really interested in this historical topic, I‘ve decided to go. As I‘ve read in a poster - the film had to be screened in a movie theatre near the university - it so convenient going there after the lecture. I remember it was warm and green. An evening. I took a bus going down the Parodos hill road, got off on Kęstučio Street, turned to Mickevičiaus Street, as I‘ve passed the interrogation isolator - went inside the university. So silent in there. The lecture was canceled. I‘ve crossed the road, bought a ticket, and entered a small, cozy auditorium. It was empty - I could sit wherever I wanted. I chose to sit in the middle of the sixth row. I remember thinking, that I’d never watched a movie being the only visitor in an empty movie theatre. I was ready to enjoy the moment, while a guy came in unexpectedly, a moment later - a girl. That ‘s OK, I thought, they should sit in the last row. They stood next to the entrance. The guy viewed over the auditorium, a moment after – he did hurry to take a seat ... next to me ... in an empty auditorium. I was so surprised, I didn’t say anything, I just smiled with my eyes, while looking at the screen. The girl approached and quietly sat next to him.

*Audronė:* „Katedros šventorius buvo atskirtas plačia tvora, viduje buvo parduotuvytės. Smetonos laikais, pasakojo, buvo vien tiktai religinė atributika, o tuomet, žinau, ir mūsų namų valdybos poskyris. Ir įėjimas iš kampo, didžiuliai vartai. Šaligatvis daug mažesnis, Vilniaus gatvė – tokia suspausta, bet judėjimas vyko ir autobusais, ir priešpriešinis. Eismą uždarė gal 1973 m. Buvo keista.“ (2019)

*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.

(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).

*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)