Live from Lithuania: A Visit to Kaunas By Andrew L. Jaffee, June 27, 2003	Home   Search   Forum   Terms

NOTE: I encourage you to click on the links I provide so you can see pictures of Lithuania, and learn interesting facts about the country.

We took a day-trip to Kaunas (or see this site or this one), the second largest city in Lithuania and traditionally the cultural center of Lithuania. Upon arrival, we parked in the old part of town, where one can still see remnants of 13th century buildings. We strolled to the city's heart: the pedestrian walk-way known as Laisves Aleja ("The Way of Freedom").

12 years after the Russian communists have been thrown out, every storefront on Laisves Aleja is occupied with cafes, restaurants, music shops, clothes stores, shoe stores, etc. We saw hundreds of people strolling, shopping, hanging out under the many trees, or sitting at outdoor cafes. Street musicians were playing. Most young people were showing off either the lastest Euro-American fashions (with a Lithuanian flavor, of course), some were doing the Dead-Head scene, and some were doing the alternative/punk/new-wave/whatever-you-call-it-now thing.

Under communism, Laisves Aleja was still the city's heart, but was much more grim. I remember many fewer shops, and one bookstore peddling only what Soviet censors approved of. Try to imagine going to a bookstore where you can only choose from 3 state-controlled newspapers (pushing the same old nonsense about the next 5-year plan or how happy all the workers were). Try to imagine never being able to find a book by George Orwell (1984), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), or Aldous Huxley (Brave New World)--or just a copy of the Bible, Koran, or Tao Te Ching. In 1972, a young Lithuanian--unable to bear the repression--set himself on fire on Laisves Aleja in one of the first public protests against Soviet rule since the 1950's. One of my cousins remembers 1972 all to well.

He told me how brave Lithuanians flocked to the site of the self-emolation to join the protest against Russian occupation. For days, things were tense and many people wondered what would happen. The Lithuanian communist collaborators and their Russian masters vacillated as to what action to take. Finally they decided to send in Russian troops. The soldiers beat up the demonstrators and suppressed the protests. As we stood today on that same site talking, I could see by my cousin's facial expressions that the memories still haunted him.

Well, those good old Soviet days are gone. On Laisves Aleja today, I could see it in their eyes; see it in the way they dress; see it in how they're making business; see it in the books they can now read; and hear it in the music they're listening too. Lithuanians are free.

[1] Sources: Lithuania in the World, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2003, and The Heritage Foundation.

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