Juozas Eretas (Joseph Ehret): veikla Lietuvai, sugrįžus į Gimtinę
Joseph Ehret: Lithuanian Activities after his Return to Homeland

Summary/Abstract: The article reviews the life and activities of Joseph Ehret (18/10/1856–13/3/1984) after his return home to Switzerland. During the years 1919 through 1940 he worked in Lithuania, his second motherland, gained its citizenship, but was forced to leave it by the Soviet occupants. Having returned home, prof. J. Eretas proceeded with his Lithuanian activities which unfolded in his public and academic endeavours. He joined the activities of the Lithuanian immigrant community in Switzerland. In 1954 he was entrusted with the responsibilities of a member of the honorary court. Witnessing his wife Ona Jakaitytė’s inability to put down roots in Switzerland and her homesickness, he sought to create the Lithuanian atmosphere in their home, meaning only the Lithuanian language was spoken in his so much treasured family and while away from home, the children used to write letters to their parents only in Lithuanian. Joseph Ehret’ affection for Lithuania and the reasons why he had moved away were disclosed by him in his public lectures in which he tirelessly raised the issue of Lithuania’s freedom. He successfully refuted the prevalent opinion in Switzerland that the Lithuanian refugees were committed followers of Hitler because they had run away from the “kind uncle” Stalin. The professor’s articles published in foreign languages in various magazines consolidated Lithuania’s image in the West that the occupied country will be free in the future. Concerned about the fate of the Lithuanian state and the Lithuanian exile, Joseph Ehret wrote “A Trilogy of Exile”, a study about the lost Balts, Baltic nations and their fate, about the Lithuanian language and its archaic wealth. The study presented his vision of Lithuania’s way out of this situation.

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