Fribūro universiteto lietuvių studentų "Rūtos" draugijos kronika

ENThe Lithuanian student priests at the end of the 19th century – the beginning of the 20th century chose the Catholic University of Freiburg most often. This university had the merit that one could study at it hiding under a pseudonym. That was convenient for the clergymen, because the official authorities of the Russian Empire did not allow clergymen to study at universities abroad. Initially the Lithuanian students joined Polish student societies. However, when the national conflicts and differences became clear the Lithuanian students in 1899 formed a separate society, to which they gave the name Rūta (Rue). This society after changing its name in 1915 to Lituania remained active until 1934. The members of the Rūta society wrote a chronicle. They wrote the chronicle for not the entire period of the society’s existence, but until 1907. For acquaintance with the later period of the society’s existence the minutes of the society’s meeting have survived. Not one author, but several students wrote the chronicle’s text. Now the chronicle of the Rūta society is stored in the archive of the curia of the archdiocese of Kaunas. The chronicle fixes the facts not only of the inner life of the Rūta society, but also the events of the public life of Lithuanians. One of the most interesting moments fixed in the chronicle is namely the attitude of the students themselves to the relations of Lithuania and Poland and the attempts to start relations with the political activists of the Polish emigration. They saw the Lithuanians and Poles as inseparable nations, united by a common history. Also interesting is the attitude of the University of Freiburg students to the issue of the independence of Lithuania.The members of the Rūta society were not yet thinking about the political independence of Lithuania, the cultural work of the nation was more important for them. One of the first steps of a public nature was the desire according to their means to contribute to the participation of Lithuanians in the world exhibition in Paris. After the death of Bishop Antanas Baranauskas, they cared that a Lithuanian would be appointed as the new bishop. The priest members of the Rūta society cared for the Lithuanian women, who were studying in Switzerland and were preparing for convent life. They did not remain indifferent to Lithuanian emigrants, tried to help the Lithuanians of London in establishing a Lithuanian parish. The chronicle writes about the Polonization of the Lithuanians of the Liepoja parish, about the introduction of Lithuanian Masses in the churches of Vilnius. The national problems in the parishes of the Seinai diocese were touched. The Freiburgers vigilantly observed events in Lithuania; the recovery of the Lithuanian press, they were worried about the Lithuanian casualties in the Russian-Japanese War, noticed the visit of the tsar to Suwalki in the autumn of 1904, collected data about the revolutionary events of 1905–1907. [From the publication]