XX a. Lietuvos istorijos aktualijos mėnraštyje „Akiračiai“ (1988–1995 m.)
Important Issues of Lithuania’s History (the 20th century) in the Monthly „Akiračiai” (1988 – 1995)

Summary/Abstract: The article is prepared on the basis of the presentation given in the conference of May, 2008 which was dedicated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the journal “Istorija” / “History”. The article presents Lithuania’s most important historical issues in the 20th century and their evaluation as discussed in the émigré monthly journal “Akiračiai” (1988–1995). What made this monthly different from earlier published Lithuanian émigré periodicals was the fact that it united authors of different ideologies; it was apolitical and open to different opinions and issues if only they had something to do with crucial problems concerning the life either of émigré or the Lithuanian nation. The monthly “Akiračiai” has been published in Chicago for 37 years, and only in 2005 its publication was transferred to Lithuania, where it is being published up to now. However, there are noticeable differences between the journal published in émigré and in Lithuania. In addition, many former contributors passed away. The editorial board and co-authors of the monthly “Akiračiai” were the first to critically evaluate works published in émigré which dealt with painful events in the 20th century Lithuania’s history: Lithuania’s occupation, Jews’ tragedy during the Second World War, the uprising of June, 1941, Lithuania’s Provisional Government, the deportation of Lithuanian people. Archival documents or historians’ publications prepared on the basis of these documents denied some myths of Lithuania’s history which sometimes were consciously created by émigré authors. This way the editorial board helped to demythicize some historical events as well as contributed to the formation of critical and open society both among émigré and restored Lithuania’s society. This is what historian Saulius Sužiedėlis missed at the end of 1991.

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