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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
The Soviet absorption of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania during World War II caused hundreds of thousands of Baltic immigrants to come to the West, where they established strong, viable ethnic communities, often in league with groups that had left the region earlier. At first, Baltic publishing and publications centered almost exclusively on nationalistic themes that decried the loss of Baltic independence and attacked the Soviet Union for its role in this matter. In time, however, serious scholarship began to replace some of the passionate outpourings, and a strong, academic field of Baltic scholarship emerged in the West that dealt with all aspects of Baltic history, politics, culture, language, and other matters, regardless of its political or nationalistic implications. Over the past sixteen years, these efforts have produced a new body of Baltic publishing that has revived a strong interest in Baltic studies and has insured that regardless of the continued Soviet-domination of the region, the study of the culture and history of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will remain a set fixture in Western scholarship on Eastern Europe.
1. Gaigulis, Janis, “Ten Years of the Association for Advancement of Baltic Studies,” Journal of Baltic Studies, vol. IX, no. 3 (Fall 1978), pp. 263–266; Arvids Ziedonis, Jr., “On the Advancement of Baltic Studies by the AABS,” Lituanus, vol. 17, no. 4 (1971), pp. 35-43.Google Scholar
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14. Volume X of Archivs (Melbourne 1970) contains several articles on Latvias back to Russia. This tendency, which for the past ten years spread to almost every area, with the exception of the Baltic, ande on Latvian music archives in Australia, see Joachim Braum, “Two Unique Baltic Music Collections,” Journal of Baltic Studies, vol. XIV, no. 1 (Spring 1983), pp. 85-86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Dunsdorfs is Australia's premier Latvian scholar.Google Scholar
16. “A Who's Who of Latvian Organizations,” p. 15; Crowe, “Contemporary Baltic Press,” p. 61; Dreifelds, p. 6; see Emilija Ziplans et al., compilers, Baltic Material in the University of Toronto Library (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978), for information on this library's Latvian holdings.Google Scholar
17. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” pp. 61–62. There is also a Latvian Maritime History Archives in South Wales.Google Scholar
18. Karklis, , Streips, and Streips, pp. 128–129. These authors list 19 national organizations in the United States, as well as hundreds of local Latvian groups., The article, “A who's Who of Latvian Organizations,” pp. 14-15, notes that there are more than 400 large and small Latvian organizations in the United States.Google Scholar
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21. For further details on some of these publications, libraries, and archives, particularly in the United States and Canada, see John F. Cadzow, “The Lithuanian Periodical Holdings in the Kent State Library,” Journal of Baltic Studies. vol. V, no. 3 (Fall 1974), pp. 264-275. Cadzow has also published “The Lithuanian Collection in the Kent State University Library,” Lituanus, vol. 21, no. 1 (Spring 1975), pp. 40-44. A more recent survey of Lithuanian periodicals in the United States is John P. Balys, compiler, Lithuanian Periodicals in American Libraries: A Union List (Washington: Library of Congress 1982). For an excellent history of the American Lithuanian Press, also see his “The American Lithuanian Press,” Lituanus, vol. 22, no. 1 (Spring 1976), pp. 42-53. Equally important is Adam and Filomena Kantautus' A Lithuanian Bibliography (Edmonton; The University of Alberta Press, 1975), with Supplement to a Lithuanian Bibliography, ed. by A. Ulpis et al. (Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 1980). Other studies on this subject include Adam Kantautus' “Lithuanian Materials in United States and Canadian Libraries and Archives,” Lituanus, vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 1974), pp. 20-31; John P. Balys, “Lithuanian Materials Available in the Library of Congress,” Lituanus, vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 1974), pp. 32-41; Franz G. Lassner, “Baltic Archival Materials at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace,” Lituanus, vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 1974), pp. 42-47.Google Scholar
22. Gaida, Pranas, ed., Lithuanians in Canada (Toronto: Time Press Litho, Ltd., 1967), p.27.Google Scholar
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24. Ibid., pp. 218–219.Google Scholar
25. Ibid., pp. 234–237, 266-267, 279.Google Scholar
26. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” p. 65.Google Scholar
27. Ibid., p. 65. Sao Paulo is the center of the Lithuanian-Brazilian community, and once had a Lithuanian consulate. Its archives are located in the Lithuanian consulate in Washington, D.C. Musu Lietuva (Our Lithuania) has published a study of Lithuanian immigration to Brazil. Some of the Lithuanian-Brasilian community's publication are: Lituânia Ilustrada (Lithuania Illustrated) (Rio de Janeiro, 1954), Sousa Santos' 30˚niversario da Invasaoda Lituânia por Tropas Soviēticas (30th Anniversary of the Occupation of Lithuania by Soviet Troops) (Brasilia, 1977), Joseph Ehret, Os Bálticos, os Esquecidos (The Forgotten Baits) (Sao Paulo, 1975), and A Violaçao dos Direitos na Lituânia sob o Regime Soviético 1971-1974 (The Violation of Human Rights by the Soviet Regime 1971-1974) (Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1975), and Brazilijos Lietuviu Žinynas: Compêndo Liturano de Informaçoes (Information about Lithuanians in Brazil) (Sao Paulo, 1973).Google Scholar
28. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” p. 65; Balys, Lithuanian Periodicals, p. 4. Some of the Argentine-Lithuanian community's publications are: S.E.R. Monsenor Vincentas Brizgys, Las Condiciones Religiosas en Lituania Bajo la Ocupacion Ruxo-Sovietica (Religious Conditions in Lithuania under Soviet-Russian Occupation) (Buenos Aires, 1975), Joseph Ehret, Los Bálticos Olvidados (The Forgotten Baits) (Buenos Aires, 1974), Ernesto J. Parselis and Juan Carlos Grosso, eds., Lituania: Historia, Arte y Cultura (Lithuania: History, Art and Culture) (Buenos Aires, 1968), a commemorative edition on Lithuania, and Spanish editions of Revista Baltica (Baltic Review).Google Scholar
29. Until recently, Columbia had a Lithuanian consulate.Google Scholar
30. Dr.Kučas, Antanas, Lithuanians in America, trans. Joseph Boley (Boston: Encyclopedia Lituanica, 1975), p. 61; Algirdas M. Budreckis, compiler and editor, The Lithuanians in America 1651-1975 (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publishers, Inc.), p. 155. Lithuanians scholars differ over the exact number of Lithuanians in the United States. John P. Balys, for example, criticized the low sampling percentages, particularly in areas with a heavy concentration of Lithuanians, as an indication that the 1970 census was wrong when it indicated that there were only 330,977 Lithuanian-Americans in the United States. See Balys, “American Lithuanian Press,” pp. 42-43. Kučas also disagrees with recent census statistics, which Budreckis attributes to the fact that government officials “do not take into consideration persons beyond the second generation.” Kučas, pp. 60-61, Budreckis, p. 156. For more information on the history of Lithuanians in America, see Aleksandras Gedmintas, “Organizational Relationships in the Development of the Binghamton Lithuanians Community,” Journal of Baltic Studies, vol. XI, no. 4 (Winter 1980), pp. 215-324; Vytautas Gavelis, “Descriptive Study of Educational Attainment, Occupation, and Geographical Location of Children of Lithuanian Displaced Persons and of American Born Parents who Attended Immaulate Conception Primary School in East St. Louis from 1948-1968,” Lituanus, vol. 22, no. 1 (Spring 1976), pp. 72-75; Raymond G. Krisciunas, “The Emigrant Experience: The Decision of Lithuanian Refugees to Emigrate, 1945-1950,” Lituanus, vol. 29, no. 2 (Summer 1983), pp. 30-39; David Fainhanz, Lithuanians in Multi-Ethnic Chicago until World War II (Chicago: Lithuanian Library Press and Loyola University Press, 1977), and Robertas Selenis, “Lithuanians in America: A Historical Sketch,” Lituanus, vol. 17, no. 4 (Winter 1971), pp. 44-58.Google Scholar
31. Balys, , “American Lithuanian Press,” pp. 46–52; Budreckis, pp. 157-159. Budreckis states that there are two dailies, one twice weekly, three weeklies, three biweeklies, and three monthly newspapers. He also lists nineteen academic journals, four specialized journals, and a number of organizations that promote Lithuanian studies. For an excellent bibliography on the history and output of the United States' Lithuanian community, see Balys' Lithuanian Periodicals in American Libraries.Google Scholar
32. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” p. 63.Google Scholar
33. Ibid., p. 65. Crowe, “The Balts,” pp. 44–45.Google Scholar
34. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” p. 64.Google Scholar
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38. “The Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Sciences (Rom),” Lituanus, vol. 19, no. 4 (Winter 1973), pp. 71–72.Google Scholar
39. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” pp. 63–64; Crowe, “The Baits,” p. 48.Google Scholar
40. Vardys, V. Stanley, The Catholic Church, Dissent, and Nationality in Soviet Lithuania (New York: East European Quarterly/Columbia University Press, 1978), pp. 320–321. Many of the above have not been published in the West. Others are cited in Balys, Lithuanian Periodicals.Google Scholar
41. Crowe, , “Contemporary Baltic Press,” p. 62; Balys, “American Lithuanian Press,” pp. 48-52. There are two Lithuanian Protestant publications in the United States, Mūsu sparnai (Our Wings), the journal of the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church (in exile), and Svečias (The Guest), the Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran magazine.Google Scholar
