Vladimiras Gražulis , Associate professor, dr . Mykolas Romeris University , Lithuania

1. Preserving the traditions of national communities in the new history of Lithuania - the case of the Romanian Cultural Community “Dačia“ Vladimiras Gražulis, Associate professor, dr. Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania Lucija Bartkienė President of the Lithuanian Romanian Cultural Community Conference: Town and Gown 26 October 2007 Lucian Blaga University Sibiu, Romania

2. „Let them come (to our land) with their children, wives and livestock, and allow them to come and go according to their own free will without any interference on our part. (…) we promise that they will be safe and inviolable by any unwarranted claims made by my subordinates.”From a letter written May 23rd of 1323 by Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the people of Central and Western Europe

3. The reinstatement of Lithuania’s independence and itsinternationalrecognition formed opportune conditions for the qualitative growth of the country’s society and itsethnic groups. The altered political situation called for newanswers to the questions: Who am I? Where am I? What will become of my children?

4. 1. Since regaining independence to this day - the road to the revival of Lithuania’s national communities 1.1. Already from the 14th century, the statutes of the Great Duchy of Lithuania guaranteed ethnic, religious and cultural freedom. After Lithuania regained its independence in 1918 - after more than 120 years of coercive existence under the Russian empire - the rights in question were consolidated by the Constitution of Lithuania. That was the first step towards restoration of a harmonious coexistence of various national communities in Lithuania. The pioneers among national organizations were established under the Lithuanian Culture Fund in the first half of year 1988. TheLithuanian democratic movement under the name of “Sajudis“ was established on June 3rd of that same year. The movement encouraged people of various nationalities living in Lithuania to gather and form national communities. Russians, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Jews and the Polish gathered to form cultural societies. Members of such national communities often publicly declared, that they hold Lithuania to be their homeland and associate their present and future with it, and recognize and support the right of the Lithuanian people to form a democratic state ruled by law.

5. 1.2. A national minority law was already in effect on November 23rd of 1989, and a Committee of Nations was instituted under the Government that same year. These were the first and only documents and institutions of this nature in all of Central and Eastern Europe at that time.At the end of year 1989, the department of Nations was established and started forming national minority’s policy, courtesy of which, possibilities arose for swift solutions to questions of cultivation of culture and integration of national minorities. In the autumn of 1989 Lithuanian radio and television started broadcasting shows in Russian, Polish, Byelorussian, Ukrainian and Jewish languages. If before 1988 periodical press in Lithuania was published only in Lithuanian, Russian and Polish, then after the national revival - Jews, Byelorussians, Ukrainians and Germans among others started publishing in their own national languages.

6. 1.3. The greatest influence on the revival period’s political stability and unison in society was the passing of the Citizenship law on November 3rd, 1989. Lithuania chose the humane, so called zero citizenship acquisition. Any foreign-born person was imparted with the right of naturalization in their own right regardless of what goals they had in mind when arriving to settle in Lithuania and how long they had stayed there. They became citizens of the Republic of Lithuania as any other Lithuanians with equal rights and obligations. The absolute majority of the land - 90% of foreign-born people living in Lithuania - decided to become citizens of the Republic of Lithuania.

7. 1.4. The experience of Lithuania purports that the culture of ethnic groups can be preserved through books, manuscripts and museums (Lithuania has a Jewish museum, A. Mickevicius and A. Puškinas museum among others), Vilnius and other cities’ old-town streets, alleys, gravestone monuments, architecture of buildings and most importantly through people’s memories. Currently, most national minority communities are concentrated according to age, sex, profession and hobbies into more than 300 various national minority associations and cultural centres: Russian - 68; Polish - 56; German - 31; Jewish -24; Byelorussian - 23; Tartar and Ukrainian - 19 each, Romany (Gypsies) - 15; Greek - 9; Armenian - 8. Also Bulgarian, Chechnyan, Korean, Lebanese, French, Romanian, Hungarian and people of other nationalities have formed their national communities in Lithuania.

8. 2. Creation of a suitable infrastructure - the precondition for developing activities of national communities 2.1. National community Council The advisory mechanism of organizations that represent national minorities in Lithuania has been created in 1991, when under the Department of Nationalities (currently department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad) the National Community Council was established and provided with rights of a deliberative body. The Council comprises of, according to the principle of proportion, representatives of all national minority associations registered in Lithuania. The term of the Council is three years, and it is currently made up of 29 delegated representatives. The Council participates as advisor and expert in deciding strategic questions regarding national minority cultural development and policy; observes the implementation of laws that regulate national minority rights; analyzes legislation and other acts of law that intend to deal with questions regarding national minorities; and render their observations and proposals to the President of Lithuania, the Parliament of Lithuania - Seimas, the Cabinet, Regional Development Councils, Municipalities and other institutions. It is of vital importance that Council representatives participate in work groups and commissions composed by Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and actively participate in Governmental matters concerning national minorities.

9. 2.2. House of National Communities In year 1991, in pursuit of providing the national minority organizations with realistic opportunities of expanding their practice, the House of National Minorities opened its doors in Vilnius, and became host to most of the national minority organizations. The House of National Communities designs and implements three principal programmes. The first programme heeds sustenance and cultivation of Lithuanian national minority groups’ identity. The second is designed to support Lithuanian national minority organizations in integrating to the country’s public-political life and at the same time preserving their national identity. The third attends to making the House of National Communities a centre for cultural and educational activities. About 3 different events are organized and take place each year: meetings, colloquiums and discussions with guests from the Lithuanian Parliament, foreign diplomats Residing in Lithuania and representatives of various international funds. Discussions regarding Lithuania’s quest to become a member of NATO and the EU were actively frequented by commissioners of the European Council, who analysed Lithuania’s position regarding protection of national minorities and human rights.

10. The activities implemented by the House of Nations established conditions for a collaborative publication with the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad. The “Informational bulletin of national minority communities” was released seven years ago for the first time. It overviews all activities of national \minority organizations and seeks to tackle problems regarding sustenance of national identity and integration into society. There have been 21 numbers of this bulletin published to this day.

11. 2.3. National minority schools - an instrument to preserve national identity and integrate into the life of the state. As history of the development of nations shows, national traditions can be preserved trough language alone, and same goes for national self-awareness. Currently, there are 46 Saturday/Sunday schools in Lithuania: 4 Armenian; 3 Byelorussian; 1 Estonian; 1 Greek; 1 Karaitic; 2 Latvian; 14 Polish; 1 Romanian; 4 Russian; 5 Tartar; 4 Ukrainian; 1 Uzbek; 4 German and 3 Jewish. There are about 900 pupils learning their native language, history of their motherland, religion, literature, music and other disciplines under the domain of ethnic culture in these schools. Unfortunately, Sunday schools are still faced with various organizational problems: 1. Due to a small volume of pupils and the lack of teachers, it is difficult to divide the children into groups according to age; 2. National minority Saturday/Sunday schools usually operate without official registration; 3. There is a lack of teaching materials and methodical literature; 4. These schools function without a system of in-service training for teachers; 5. The question of financing has not as of yet been solved.

12. 3. Lithuanian state support for cultivation of national communities’ cultural heritage. There are over a 100 ethnic minority art collectives of various genres in Lithuania, which organize various events dedicated to introducing the Lithuanian public to the cultural inheritance of various National Minorities. In seeking to promote the greatest cultural inheritance, the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad started organizing an annual contest for Ethnic Minority Organizations’ (NGO). 256 projects were presented for the contest of 2006. “This is our home” - the first festival of Trakai - became an important event for national minority art collectives in 2002. There were performances by Karaite, Tartar, Polish, Russian, Romany, Jewish, Ukrainian and other art collectives of various ethnic backgrounds living in Lithuania. This festival introduces the wide public to the culture of national minorities as well as their customs and traditions, and promotes the public’s interest in cultural heritage of other nations. The festival is gradually becoming conventional.

13. 4. National communities in the history of Vilnius The city of Vilnius and its history are a reflection of various streams of Western and Central Europe’s civilizations, styles, national customs and culture. Places of pagan cults, orthodox churches, catholic baroque and footprints of the Jewish lifestyle testify to the existence of a multicultural city. The contemporary capital of Lithuania was first mentioned in 13th century written sources. Over a few centenaries, it became a mighty and constantly growing city. The rapidly developing Vilnius was open to visitors from East and West, as is revealed by the 16th century Statutes, the last of which was valid until the 19th century. Therefore, with the passing of time, strong communities developed, such as Polish, Russian, Jewish, German and Karaite among others. Every one of them made a unique contribution to the city’s historical heritage.

14. Currently, Vilnius is a city of about 550 thousand inhabitants, among whom almost 42% represent other nations (Polish - 18,7%; Russian - 14%; Byelorussian - 4%). As they are all Lithuanian citizens, the national minorities living in Vilnius play a vital role in the Vilnius scene and the new history. It has become a tradition to elect representatives of national minorities to the Vilnius city Municipality Council; they’ve also become active participants in various educational and cultural events of the city, and have prepared presentations about their historical lands for the city’s populace. The old town - the historical centre of Vilnius is one of the largest in Eastern Europe (360 ha). Vilnius, because of its unique character, has been enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The old-town buildings - of which there are about 1,5 thousand - have endured from various different centuries. All of European architectural styles intertwine here. Although Vilnius is known as the city of baroque, one can also find buildings from Goth, Renaissance and the Modern epochs. It has already become customary, that most national minority communities are annual participants in the “Days of the Capital” - a four day celebration in Vilnius, where they present their national dances, songs and art for the city’s populace.

15. On November 14th, by resolution Nr. 2005/815/EB of the European Union Council, Vilnius was officially declared the European capital of culture; therefore Vilnius is actively preparing to take command of the relay-race of European Capitals of Culture in 2009.

16. 5. The Lithuanian Romanian Cultural Community “Dacia” - present and past The community “Dacia” was founded 18 years ago and unites emigrants from the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Most of community members have been living in Lithuania for 20 to 40 years. According to the population census of 2001, there were 700 Moldavians and 100 Romanians living in Lithuania at that time. Currently, the community unites members from Kaunas, Vilnius, Klaipeda and other parts of Lithuania. Most of the members are Lithuanian citizens that fluently speak Lithuanian. Although the community is of modest size (45 people), the actual fact that it was established is remarkably important in that by getting together, people can preserve their language and traditions. At the time of the creation of the community “Dacia“, the members were most keen on preserving the Romanian language. Families of the community members are composite, because most of the Romanians that have come to live in Lithuania have gotten married to Lithuanians, local Russians, Polish and Byelorussians. Therefore, it goes to say, that members of “Dacia” community may be called “emigrants of love”.

17. From the very first days of existence, the “Dacia” community members have actively participated in the Lithuanian movement of national resurgence. On August 23rd of 1989, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the condemnation of the Molotov-Ribentrop pact, members of “Dacia” together with members of the people’s front that have come from Moldova, stood in the “Baltic Way” in a 2 kilometer strip with their flags and candles. The “Baltic Way” was an act of protest not only against the invasion of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but also of Basarabia - the current Republic of Moldova. After the beginning of the Romanian uprising against the communist regime, members of “Dacia” community requested a mass for casualties of Timišoara.

18. Courtesy of the efforts of all members of the Romanian cultural community “Dacia”, the community is becoming known in its historical motherland, it has been mentionedin periodicals such as: “Literatura si Arta” (nr.47, 2000 m.), “Formula –AS” (nr.524, 2002 m.), Curierul “Ginta Latina” (nr.3, 2004 m.) bei USA Romanian Meridian (nr.476, 2006 m.). After Romania’s accession in the European Union, the Romanian cultural community “Dacia” has augmented with new members that have arrived from Romania and Ireland. Currently, the Romanian cultural community “Dacia”, together with other communities of Lithuanian national minorities, has started preparing for the events of 2009, when Vilnius together with the city of Linz will be European Capitals of Culture.

19. 6. Retrospective of the historical and cultural ties between Lithuania and Romania It is known from history, that Romanian nobleman Alexandru cel Bun was married to the sister of Vytautas the Great - the ruler of Lithuania. That same Alexander cel Bun helped the Polish and Lithuanians in two battles against the Teutonic knights: in 1410 near Grunwald and in 1422 near Malbork. It is notable, when searching for cultural affinity between the two nations, that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Moldovan nation had 300 kilometers of a common border from the end of the 14th century to mid 15th century. In 1452, the castle in Moldova “Cetate Alba” (En: White Castle) was being built by Moldavians and Lithuanians. The book by Henrik Wisner “Janosch Radziwill” testifies that in 1643, Janosch Radziwill was after the hand of the Moldovan Duke’s Vasile Lupu daughter Maria. In 1645, Maria Lupu became the wife of the great etmonas (leader of the joint army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), and received the name of Maria - Lupu - Radviliene and brought along a tremendous dowry - 650 thousand golden coins.

20. Conclusions: • A national community of a modest size can and should organize events that • introduce the country’s history, culture and traditions for the Lithuanian public. • - When preparing cultural projects, it is important to seek close crossovers with • Lithuanian history and culture, and try to compare specific national traditions with • those of Lithuania. • - Members of various national communities, Lithuanian intellectuals and • representatives of the media must be invited to planned events. • - It is important to attract the community’s youth to the various cultural events • organized by the community.