Kun. Antano Šmulkščio atsiminimai

ENPriest Antanas Šmulkštys (1886-1951), a graduate of the Seinai Priests’ Seminary, was distinguished as a writer, translator, historian, publicist, political and public figure. His memoirs about the Žiburys society and work at the Žiburys Gymnasium in Marijampolė are published here. The memoirs were written in 1937. The memoirs first provide an overview of the working parishes and the merits of Žiburys in educating and cultivating the parishioners. Marijampolė Žiburys Gymnasium was still operating during the years of the German occupation. A. Šmulkštys was one of the organizers of this gymnasium, and its inspector and Lithuanian language teacher when the gymnasiums started operating. In his memoirs, A. Šmulkštys describes the difficulty of establishing the gymnasium, the organization of science, the obstacles made by the Germans, and the students. The memoirs are also important on a broader scale because they talk about the real gymnasium in Marijampolė, which is called simply Bulota Gymnasium. This gymnasium differed not only in the worldview sense from the Žiburys Gymnasium, but also in the methods of educating students and their behaviour. The memoirs reflect the escorts of the volunteers of Žiburys Gymnasium students to the Lithuanian army and the bullying of the volunteers by the Bulota Gymnasium students. [From the publication]