Išeivijos parama Kovo 11-osios Lietuvai: pagalbos kryptys ir išskirtinumai

LTLietuvių išeivija turi beveik 130 metų teiktos pagalbos Lietuvai ir jos gyventojams tradiciją. Tai, be jokios abejonės, siejama su išeivijos patriotinėms nuostatomis ir sentimentais savo senajai Tėvynei. Straipsnyje bandoma apibendrinant aptarti paramos rūšis ir mastą, įvertinti paramą akcentuojant jos formas bei specifiką tam tikrais laikotarpiais, ypač skirtą Kovo 11-osios Lietuvai, t. y. Lietuvos Respublikai po 1990 m. Atkreiptinas dėmesys į sustiprėjusią išeivijos pagalbą Lietuvos kultūrai, švietimui ir aukštajam mokslui. Kovo 11-osios Lietuva, jos tam tikros gyvenimo ir veiklos sritys sulaukė išeivijos profesionalų (profesūros, švietimo darbuotojų, administracijos atstovų, karininkijos, verslininkų ir kt.) patirties sklaidos kuriant šiuolaikinę, modernią Lietuvą. Drauge į Lietuvą buvo perkeliamas išeivijos sukauptas kultūrinis ir dokumentinis paveldas, kuris mokslininkams tampa rimtu pagrindu tirti lietuvių diasporos užsienyje kultūrinį gyvenimą bei pasiekimus platesniame užsienio lietuvių visuomeniniame kontekste. Raktažodžiai: Kovo 11-osios Lietuva, lietuvių išeivija, išeivijos materialinė parama, parama Lietuvos aukštajam mokslui, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, parama Lietuvos kultūrai, knygų siuntimas į Lietuvą. [Iš leidinio]

ENReviewing 130 years of assistance that the Lithuanian diaspora extended to the Lithuanian homeland, we clearly see its increase both in quantity and in quality. The high points of this assistance occurred on the two occasions that Lithuania reestablished its independent statehood in the 20th century. The greatest assistance was extended during the first five years of these two periods of independent statehood: from 1918 to 1922 and from 1990 to 1995. The reestablishment of the Lithuanian state was an emotional stimulus for the diaspora to support their own homeland and that of their fathers and grandfathers. But not all members of the diaspora were similarly gripped by this patriotic feeling. Money-wise the greatest assistance was given to the Lithuania of March 11, that is, to the Lithuanian state and its inhabitants following 1990. This material, financial, and partly cultural and professional assistance, coming over several decades from both the older and the newer émigrés, amounted to more than 10 billion dollars. The major Lithuanian immigrant organizations were actively involved in this provision of material aid. The diaspora also contributed large amounts of time and energy carrying out propaganda actions on Lithuania’s behalf. It is almost impossible to put a dollar figure on the volunteer efforts of the diaspora; and the money and gifts left in Lithuania by Lithuanians living abroad and coming to Lithuania as tourists also remains unregistered. This support, if a method to evaluate and express it in dollars were found, would amount to a multimillion sum. Very important was and is the aid extended to higher education and to academic scholarship in Lithuania. Scholars and professors from the emigration helped Lithuania’s institutions of learning and education to reject essentially the Soviet ideology and system. Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) was re-established on a Western model.Professors Algirdas Avižienis and Bronius Vaškelis from the U.S. served as VMU’s first Presidents (Rectors). A large number of academic representatives of the diaspora taught there during the university’s first decade. One half of its reconstituted Senate consisted of professors and scholars from the diaspora. VMU became an example for other Lithuanian institutions of higher learning to follow. Professors from abroad not only gave lectures, participated in conferences, and provided advice on organizing study programs, but also sponsored scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students, organized visits by young scholars to foreign universities and learning centers, and donated their specialized libraries and personal archives to VMU. Collecting books and volumes of periodicals and sending them to the libraries of Lithuania is another way the diaspora is helping. Both separate individuals and immigrant organizations have been involved in this. The largest shipment of books and periodicals sent from the U.S. to Lithuania was organized by the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center in Chicago, headed by Professor Jonas Račkauskas. The shipment consisted of about a million and a half units in a variety of languages. The diaspora also provided invaluable assistance to reforming the Lithuanian educational system on the basis of the A.P.P.L.E. program. Vaiva Vėbra-Gust was the person who organized this assistance. In a period of 25 years Lithuania was visited by 453 mostly non-Lithuanian lecturers from the United States and Canada who shared their experience with Lithuania’s teachers of whom a good 50 per cent adopted the Western educational practice. All together 187 projects were financed thereby successfully implementing the idea of regional Lithuanian education centers and further improving the system of education in Lithuania.A new undertaking involving masses of people is the transfer to Lithuania of the heritage of cultural values and documents assembled in the diaspora. The paintings, sculptures, and other collectibles created in the emigration now came to enrich Lithuanian museums, libraries, and public institutions. These valuables are becoming the source of new research seeking to understand the cultural life of Lithuanians in the diaspora and their endeavors to strengthen their Lithuanian identity. Keywords: the Lithuania of March 11th, Lithuanian diaspora, the diaspora’s material assistance, aid to Lithuania’s higher education, Vytautas Magnus University, aid to Lithuanian culture, sending books to Lithuania. [From the publication]

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