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TABU? OF CONTENTS Statement of Thesjs

1

Purpose and Project Description Architecture and Memory

28
29-31

Introduction Baltic Tribes in the Area of Present-Day Lithuania

2 3-5

Case Study 1 Case Study 2 Case Study 3

32-34 35-36 37-38 39-46 47-49

Unification of Tribes Grand Duchy I listoric Lithuanian Architecture The Twentieth Century:

6-12
Site Analysis

13-17
Program Conclusion

50
51-55

The Era of Enlightenment The Era of Terror The Road to Freedom

18-20
Endnotes

21-24
25-27 Bibliography 56-59

STAIKMFJNT OF THESIS An Architectural Documentation of the Lithuanian Spirit

Lithuanian cultural awareness, fostered by the longing for freedom and self-determination, has been the source of strength for Lithuanians, from ancient times and Paganism, to modernday Christianity. Religion and culture forged and defined a national consciousness, a national Spirit, that prevailed over material obstacles that sought to destroy it. The twentieth century has been an era in which the Lithuanian Spirit held steadfast, even as it was threatened and severely tested. At the turn of the century, the Lithuanian renaissance movement fueled the efforts of Lithuanians to overcome Tsarist Russian occupation and establish a nation-state. During this period, known as the era of Enlightenment, Lithuania achieved the status of a highly regarded nation in Europe. However, as a consequence of World War II, Soviet Russia invaded and occupied Lithuania for half a century. The Lithuanian Spirit, manifest in the perseverance of its people, liberated Lithuania, once again, in 1991. In present-day Lithuania, however, many young people have been brought up in an era of heavy communist propaganda, and there is concern that future generations come to understand and remember their history. Presently, there is no architectural monument/memorial in Lithuania intentionally

designed to depict twentieth century achievements and the atrocities imposed by a brutal foreign occupier. It is therefore appropriate to propose the design of a memorial for Lithuania's citizens, as well as visitors, that would display historical elements pertaining to the trials of the culture, with emphasis on the twentieth century, and, most especially, information previously hidden from the public. The proposed memorial will include an urban park, information center, and specialized research library. Architecture has the power to evoke human emotions and memory. This can be accomplished by the application of certain conceptual issues, metaphorically relevant to societal changes of Lithuania in the twentieth century, to methods of design historically significant in Lithuanian architecture. These conceptual aspects of the design will include layered structure, transparency, openness, closure, light, darkness, and procession. Together with the physical elements of the design, such as landscape and building materials, they will contribute to the richness and symbolism of the memorial. In the symbolic setting of Lukiskiu Square, a prominent open urban park in the capital of Lithuania - Vilnius, it will be a fitting memorial for a country and a people who seek to remember, and honor, its Spirit.

INTRODUCTION

As in the words written by the Lithuanian national poet, Bemardas Brazdzionis: .../ looked for my homeland In the darkest of nights. Where cov you? Whew are you, Lithuania? Does your heal still beat, burned with pain? Do you live? Do you survive? ...I reached out my hands into the black sky... ...My eyes glimmer with bitter tears, Am you there? Are you still there, Litltuania? And from the darkness, and from the night, and from the shadows, She answered, "I'm still alive! Beneath the ground you stand on... I'm still alive, son don't you see?" "I'm still alive, left behind in darkness," the suffering sky answered me. "I'm still alive!" (he waves fmm (he depths of the Sea, resounded at her shores. "I'm still alive!" like the painful echo of a song, Comforted by the Heavens...'

Before attempting to describe or explain me design of this proposed memorial/research facility for Lithuania, it is necessary to set forth the unique characteristics and complex history of Lithuanian national consciousness that constitutes the Lithuanian Spirit. This investigation highlights the events that have influenced Lithuania as a society and culture through the centuries, culminating in the major and most recent events of the twentieth century. The communist occupation, which lasted fifty years, was an era of repression and terror, which, paradoxically, strengthened the Lithuanian Spirit as it survived the most difficult struggle it has ever endured in its long history. My research begins with identifying the characteristics of this ancient culture and the development of its religious and intellectual core: Early pagan culture, European influences, the establishment of a Grand Duchy, and the cultural and intellectual achievements that led to its standing as a highly respected nation-state. The subsequent partitions, loss of nationhood, cultural repression after 1863, and brutal Soviet occupation with its religious and intellectual persecution violently oppressed the core of Lithuania's ethnic identity. However, mis core was so strong that it was able to endure, and it brought forth an idealism and renewed sense of nationhood which finally prevailed over the oppressor. The longing for freedom, deeply grounded in the consciousness of all Lithuanians around the world, never faltered during Lithuania's captivity.

BALUC TRIBES IN THE AREA OF PRESENT-DAY LTIHUANIA

Lithuania is a European country, situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, To the north it borders with Latvia, to the west with Byelorussia, and to the south with Poland. This region is comprised of 3,000 glacial lakes and numerous rivers, of which the two major waterways are the Nemunas and Neris rivers. The first inhabitants to have settled in this area approximately 10,000 years ago belonged to the Aistian (Baltic) Tribes of the Indoeuropean family; The Aistians possessed a uniquely distinct culture from other Indoeuropean tribes, such as the Slavs, Germanic, and Roman. This group of tribes migrated north, toward the Baltic lands from areas in western Asia, near the Caspian Sea. Some of the tribes were the Selonian and Latgallian (ancestors of Latvians), the Sudovian-Yatvygian (ancestors of Prussians), and the Lithuanian. What made them distinct was their Sanskrit language and pagan religioa Because of their persistent nature, it seems that other Indoeuropean cultures failed to influence or alter, the less accessible Aistians for many centuries. It is thought by linguistic researchers that the Lithuanian language is the oldest living language left in the modern world; Also, Lithuanians were the last people to be Christianized in Europe (1387), and still retain pagan elements in traditions observed presently.

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The earliest written source mentioning the nature of the Aistian people was found in Germania (98 A.D.), authored by the Roman historian, Tacitus. He wrote about their productive agrarian lifestyle, their admiration for amber, and their pagan religioa The pagan belief system for the Lithuanians consisted in worship of gods found in nature. This personification of nature explains why Lithuania's cities, sites, and waterways were named after descriptions of natural phenomena, flora and fauna, as opposed to commemorative names. The most powerful deity was the god of thunder, "Perkunas," envisioned as a strong man with a long beard, his head adorned with flashing flames, his hand holding lightning bolts. He was also associated with the strongest of trees, the mighty oak More gentle, god of the Spring, "Patrimpas," was pictured with a wreath of wheat and rye on his head, and guardian of a fruitful livestock and crop. To please Patrimpas, it was customary to keep a serpent in the crop fields. Other deities were the goddesses of earth,"Zemyna," and of fire, "Gabija." [In a ceremonial room in Vilnius University, dedicated in 1992, are larger-than-life mosaics depicting these pagan deities.] Amber, or prehistoric tree sap found on the Baltic shores, was thought to have mystical associations with the power of healing because of the minerals in its composition. The more transparent amber was believed to have captured energy from the sun.

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A deep faith in the afterlife existed among Lithuanians. Death was only a transitional point in a spiritual journey to a world of the souls. A belief in reincarnation also existed. Traditional stories and songs, sung to this day, tell of women and men turning into trees, snakes, and birds. Communication with the souls of loved ones was just as important after their passage through death. Related to this belief is a folk tale which describes the mystical character of an ancient harp-like musical instrument, the "kankles," still played in concerts of traditional music. Traditionally, kankles were hollowed out from one piece of wood, taken from a tree near the burial ground of the deceased The player plucked or strummed the strings, and the soft sounds that resonated, captured melodic sounds from the soul of the deceased. These pagans did not build temples or structures because their gods existed outdoors, in nature. In order to worship them, under the open sky, they constructed stone fire-altars. The altars were used to support the eternal flame, guarded by maidens at all times. Sometimes they were used for sacrificial offerings. Typical housing structures pertaining to this era, dating from 100 B.C. to 700 A.D., were recently excavated in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania This settlement consisted of simple square buildings ( 4 x 4 meters), constructed of horizontally placed log walls, clay floors, with stone stoves in the comers.

UNIFICATION OF TRIBES - GRAND DUCHY

During the time of Paganism, the area inhabited by Lithuanians was divided by regions with estates, each governed by a duke. Contact with other cultures and Christendom was limited; therefore, it was not until the beginning of the current millennium that two German military orders attempted religious and territorial conquests of the remote regions. They were the monastic military Order of the Teutonic Knights, and the Order of the Knights of the Sword (Order of Livonia). Aware of the threat of foreign invasion, a native duke, Mindaugas, succeeded in uniting all of the Lithuanian duchies and formally establishing Lithuania, as a country and kingdom under his rule (1236). In the same year, at the "Battle of the Sun," the Lithuanians conclusively defeated and eliminated any possibility of future attacks from the Knights of the Sword.2 To make peace with the Teutonic Order, Mindaugas privately agreed to convert to Latin Christianity in 1251. He crowned himself King of Lithuania in 1253, officially accepted by Pope Innocent IV. Historically, he has been dubbed, "Mindaugas the Wise," for not only was he a successful defender and negotiator, but during his reign, he brought Lithuania to the forefront of other central European countries. The reign of Mindaugas ended with his and his family's assassination in 1263 by opponents of his baptism (an act which demonstrates how strongly many Lithuanians wanted to preserve their ancient traditions), even though as mentioned in the chronicles of the Teutonic Knights, he did return to paganism before his death.3

At this time, cities made their emergence in Lithuania, Vilnius its ethnographic center--, among these. Mindaugas had ruled from castles in Kernave and Trakai (a "modern" castle - fortress, very similar to Magdeburg Castle in Germany) but also lived in a castle in Vilnius, already a large community, with merchants who traded with Volynia, Russia, and Arabia, Mindaugas regarded Vilnius as his future capital.4

Part of its historical character is rooted in legends, the most liimous of which tells of Duke Gediminas, the future Grand I )ukc of Lithuania, who was intrigued by the site's beauty while hunting by the Neris and Vilnia rivers. After a successful hunt, he dreamed about a mighty iron wolf howling from the top of a nearby hill. This dream inspired him to build a castle on this very hill and transfer the royal capital from Trakai to Vilnius. Vilnius from then on was the official city from which future Grand Dukes ruled.5 Grand Duke Gediminas was very religious. As a true pagan leader he requested that a shrine-like stone altar be constructed at the western base of the hill (the site of the assumed cathedral built during the reign of Mindaugas) where animals were to be sacrificed to the gods, and prominent deceased nobility were to be cremated.

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I )uring Gediminas's reign a famous battle, reminiscent of Masada, took place at the castle-fortress of Pilenai, in which it was evident that Lithuanians desperately sought to save their paganism. In this struggle with the Christian Teutonic Knights, the Duke of Pilenai instructed a fire to be ignited by the villagers, inside their fortress, so they could destroy themselves and their families, sacrificing their lives in the name of Perkunas. When the knights reached the charred remains of the fortress, they were so shaken by the villagers' intense defensive spirit - to rather die than accept a foreign religion, that they turned back and did not continue the campaign.6 Honor has been given to Gediminas, not only for the establishment of Vilnius as the royal capital, but also for bringing the city to maturity, making it well known to foreigners. He did this by encouraging trade and culture, inviting merchants and craftsmen to come to the city.

After his death in 1341, there followed a dynasty of his descendants who ruled Lithuania until 1572. During the reign of Jogaila, in 1387, Lithuania was officially baptized into the Catholic rite, and the formation of an organized Church in Lithuania began. Jogaila decided to embrace Christianity because it would be beneficial to Lithuania's relationship to its neighbor - Poland. The Poles were Roman Catholics who had a deep interest in joining the thrones of both countries in order to strengthen their common defenses against the emerging aggressive Eastern Orthodox Russians. Jogaila later left Lithuania to become King of Poland, and in 1392 the Lithuanian throne passed to Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, one of the most popular rulers in both Lithuanian and European history.7

Vytautas had a primary goal: to create a strong and independent Lithuanian nation. He did so by expanding the Lithuanian sphere of influence in Europe, through territorial expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: annexing lands east, parts of Russia, the Ukraine, to the far shores of the Black Sea.8 During his reign he brought cultural and religious diversity to the Vilnius regioa For instance, after the battle with the Tartarian Golden Horde (1397-1398), Vytautas brought 380 Crimean Karaim families and several thousand Tartar warriors to Lithuania He gave these Turkic tribes the land and freedom to exercise their traditions and Islamic religion in established communities, with proper schools and mosques. Among the Karaims were educated doctors, high officers in the army, and state administrators. Today - six hundred years later, some 280 remain, having preserved their ethnic religion and language.9 Vytautas also welcomed Jews, persecuted in other European countries. Jewish communities had flourished in Vilnius and eastern Lithuania as well, contributing to the richness of Lithuanian society and its economic growth. With the aid of the Poles, Russians, Tartars, and Czechs, Lithuanians under Vytautas defeated the German Teutonic Knights, at the battle of "Zalgiris." This struggle, which took place on June 24 (feast day of St. John) 1410, was the final blow to the Order, which, after 500 years, ceased to invade Lithuanian territory. Vytautas then proceeded to baptize lands on the Baltic Sea coast, which until then had remained pagan.10 Shortly before being crowned King of Lithuania in 1430, Vytautas died The unstable relationship between Poland and Lithuania lingered oa Beginning in 1413, with the Horodlo Pact, though the countries had separate territories, they * occasionally had common monarchs, descendants of Gediminas.11
9

'llie.sc monarclis were religious leaders as well, as Lithuania was being strengthened and influenced by the Catholic Church, (ir.nul IXike Kazimieras, also King of Poland in the late liflccnth century, had several sons of whom one was Cardinal hidrikas, and another Kazimieras -- was eventually i-uiionized patron saint of Lithuania. Originally, Kazimieras was to be sent to the throne of Hungary, like his brother, who ruled the Czech and Hungarian thrones. Kazimieras, however was more interested in remaining in Lithuania, living a devoted Christian life. 'Ilic sixteenth century marked the progressing intellectual growth of the nation. Vilnius had eventually become the printing center for Eastern Europe. Lithuanian Law, "Lietuvos Statutas," was first published in 1529. Lithuanian publications emerged having ties with corresponding religious growth (in 1547, the first book published in the Lithuanian language using Gothic letters was Mazvydas's Catechism, a guide to Christian principles).12 The close of the sixteenth century saw the death of the last ruler descended from Gediminas, Zygimantas Augustas, in 1572, and the beginning of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. Before his death, Zygimantas agreed to give Poland the territories of Kiev and Volynia, for its support in defense against Orthodox Russia. In 1569, the two countries signed the Lublin General Union Act, which established their commonwealth, where each retained separate territories, government officials, armies, schools, and legal systems. Lithuania's Grand Dukes were now foreign: French, Hungarian, Swedish, and German, elected by the nobility of the commonwealth.

During the time of Reformation in Germany and other Western European countries (1517), the nobility studied in German universities, where they grew attracted to Lutheranism and Calvinism. Reformed schools began to emerge in Lithuania as a consequence. This influenced Duke Radvila to donate a printing office to Jesuits in Vilnius, in order to help prevent the expansion of Calvinism and Protestantism.13 Vilnius Academy, later Vilnius University, was founded in 1579, in another effort to strengthen the Catholic Church. It was the first major cultural and educational center in Eastern Europe and the first university established in all of Northern Europe.M Grand Duke Stefan Bathory accorded the right to grant baccalaureate, master and doctorate degrees. The chancellor, was appointed by the Provincial of Lithuanian Jesuits. Knowledgeable foreign scholars were invited to teach there. Many worked in behalf of Lithuania, studying its past and language. Although most lectures were held in Latin, Lithuanian was used in the theology department. Eventually, Vilnius University became the citadel of Lithuanian nationalism. It embodied the distinct and historically Lithuanian character. Lithuania's history and ancestry were held in high regard. Tribute was given to Lithuania and Vilnius during ceremonial occasions, where the Grand Duke's coat of arms was displayed. Public speakers addressed students as "juvenus Gediminis," or Gediminas1 youth.15

10

Eighteenth century Vilnius experienced greater diverse religious growth, when Lithuania played a central role in the cultural and spiritual development of the Jewish community in Northeastern Europe. Hebraic and Talmudic studies flourished around 1720-1797, reaching their highest development under Elijah Gaon. Their love of the Torah, published in Vilnius, was shown in their esteem for its study. Vilnius was dubbed, "Jerusalem of the North." Lithuanian Jews of the Vilnius region and in the boundaries of Lithuania, were not chassidic and were distinct from Byelorussian or Polish Jews in both the linguistic and cultural sense.16 Vilnius University at this time also grew in diversity among students from various levels of society. Professors formed beneficial societies to encourage and help finance the enrollment of sons of peasants and commoners. It was these students who, with this opportunity, published many works in the Lithuanian language. The end of the eighteenth century marked the end of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. Three partitions occurred (1791, 1793, 1795) during a time of uprisings, when foreign nations took advantage of the opportunity to divide up Poland and Lithuania among themselves.17 Vilnius University became the stronghold that helped Lithuanians to hold fast to national consciousness and Catholicism throughout the proceeding century.
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I Jthuanians came to realize they were at the brink of disaster, after Napoleon had retreated from Lithuania, in his war with Tsarist Russia. As a result of the 1814-1815 Conference at Vienna, Russia occupied Lithuania.18 Regardless of foreign occupation, Vilnius University continued to expand its resources in medicine, history, and the arts, while promoting patriotic sentiment and the preservation of cultural traditions as a front against tsarist efforts to Russify Lithuania by force. Unfortunately, the tsar closed the university completely in 1842, and confiscated its assets. This cultural persecution intensified in 1864 as noted by the banning of Lithuanian books, language, and closing schools, and religious centers other than those that were Russian Orthodox.19 This suppression ironically fueled the fire of the Lithuanian national renaissance and stimulated the growth of rural literacy. Students and professors from the university published underground Lithuanian literature. Among mem were Simanas Daukantas, who wrote the first Lithuanian history book, and Adomas Mckevicius, who rose in fame for his patriotic poetry. Bishop Motiejus Valancius was responsible for the secret establishment of "schools of the hearth" teaching in individual homes - and the distribution of literature that educated children about their language and Catholicism.20 Dr. Jonas Basanavicius published the first Lithuanian newspaper, "Ausra," in 1883. This awakened feelings of many other patriots; Vincas Kudirka, inspired by "Ausra," published his own newspaper, "Varpas." Kudirka's greatest accomplishment as an author was a poetic work, later to be chosen as Lithuania's national anthem. These prominent historical figures represented the persistence of Lithuanians overcoming human rights violations.

Patriotic student societies from the university also went underground and continued to grow. Three purposes of these societies were to foster love of their homeland, of education, and of morality. If caught by the Russian secret police, they were dismissed from their jobs, sent to overcrowded prisons, or exiled. Although religious rites were banned, by the end of the nineteenth century, Roman Catholics remained the majority, the population of the Vilnius region was 86.6% Roman Catholic.21 Because of the efforts of the Lithuanian renaissance movement, and a New World Order that emerged from the destruction of World War I, the dream of Lithuania's rebirth as an independent nation became a reality on February 16, 1918.

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IHSTOKIC LITHUANIAN AROflTECrUKE During the first attempts of Russification, and the birth of national consciousness, it became necessary to educate Lithuanian children about their rich ancestral history. Historic architecture, a witness to the past, is part of Lithuania's spiritual treasure. Vilnius is a prime example of a city with unique historic architecture. Archeological findings in Vilnius had shown that the earliest castle on the Hill of Gediminas had been constructed during the early thirteenth century. Made of wood with field stones, clay and limestone mortar, it was encompassed by a sharppointed wooden fence. The lower castle, at the base of the hill was also made of wood, with a stone tower as part of its defensive wall. This tower had later been rebuilt on top of its original foundation and used as a bell tower for the cathedral. The beginning of the use of masonry was during the second half of the thirteenth century. One of the characteristics of Lithuanian or Baltic craftsmanship was found in alternating rows of stone and brick elements, which typically consisted of high bricks, "brauktines," with grooves made by fingers or tools, molded to help bind them with mortar. Another quality of early Baltic-Gothic (Baltic-Wendian) masonry consisted of a unique method of bricklaying. It required alternating two bricks lengthwise with one brick crosswise; the Gothic method alternated one lengthwise with one crosswise.22 These structures were later reinforced with stone by Vytautas.

13

Layering was a major element in historical Lithuanian architecture. When buildings were devastated by fire, they were reconstructed on the foundations of older structures, such as the Cathedral of Vilnius. Its first structure was built on the site of the courtyard of the Lower Castle, previously the former site of Gediminas1 pagan worship site.23 Due to four fires that razed the building each time, the cathedral was repeatedly rebuilt upon remnants of older cathedrals. It had become customary that rulers and prominent nobility were entombed beneath the existing cathedral, in labyrinthine chambers, made of walls and arches of the earlier spaces. The style of each cathedral changed through the centuries as well - from Gothic to Baroque to the present-day classical Grecian style, built by LStuoka- Gucevicius in 1778. The present bell tower of the cathedral, originally part of the Lower Castle's defensive wall, was also rebuilt upon layers of earlier foundations. Vilnius is also famous for its legendary secret underground passages. As said by historian, Marijus Blynas, "Maty of UK secrets of Vilnius are locked beneath its surface, in the old underground passages.' The mysteries of these channels lay behind many sealed-off entrances, rooms, and recesses during the course of war time and occupations.

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Lithuania's monumental structures reflect the history of its society through the ages. Lithuanian culture, however, is also reflected by folk architecture found in the traditional villages and homesteads of common class society. Linear streetvillages formed during the Hide Land Reform, "valakai" reform, declared in 1557. Religious wayside wooden crosses and decoratively carved "chapel posts" marked the crossroads of these villages. The homestead plot consisted of two yards: the front yard, between the farmhouse, stable and granary, and the back yard, including the barn, kiln house, shed, vegetable garden, and sauna. Typical dwellings were constructed of twelve to fourteen tiers of logs placed horizontally. Some had hip shaped roofs, sloped to four sides at approximately fortyfive degrees, thatched with rye straw, then covered by earth and moss.25 Wooden building ornamentation was everywhere: Embellished on roof gables, edgeboards, window frames, doors, and logcornering, it illustrated images of flora, fauna, and ancient pagan symbols such as sun shapes and serpents. The joints of exposed rafters on pitched roofs were carved, at their end pieces, with animal motifs, usually horses' heads or horns. (These symbols are still very strong in Lithuanian consciousness. After Lithuania regained its freedom, hundreds of new, intricately carved oak crosses with the old Christian/Pagan motifs sprang up all over the country, and are sometimes used in place of cemetery monuments.)

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Although hundreds of monuments were destroyed, especially during tsarist and Soviet occupation, the historic remains of structures in Vilnius, speak of Lithuania's rich past Gediminas Castle, a Tartar mosque, the Cathedral, and a Jewish cemetery. Layers of change are the result of the repeated rebuilding of its architecture and of its society, each time more fortified than before. They, together with Lithuanian folk architectural motifs, tell a story about the cultural myths and religious beliefs, carried on from pagan times through Christianity, to the present day.

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17

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The Era of Enlightenment At the onset of World War I, Germany, while warring with Russia, invaded and occupied Lithuania. During this time, Lithuanian national consciousness had outpoured to every comer of the country. In spite of foreign occupation, in the fall of 1917, the Vilnius Conference was held, consisting of patriotic Lithuanian activists from the Tsarist era. The twenty member Lithuanian Council, "Lietuvos Taryba," was voted in, with Antanas Smetona as its president. A virtuous leader, educated in philosophy and law, he initiated plans for an independent and democratic Lithuania with Vilnius as its capital. Influenced by the renaissance newspaper, "Ausra," the council drafted the Declaration of Independence on February 16, 1918. This declaration, immediately supported by major countries such as the United States, rejected the historical concept of Lithuania remaining a Grand Duchy, and opted for the proposition of a democratic national state, based on the union of its ethnographic regions. A poem, written by Kudirka, was chosen as the National Anthem, and Lithuanian was the official national language.26 Not too long thereafter, Germany also accepted Lithuania's independence and retreated from its territory, except for the Baltic region known as Lithuania Minor. At this point, as Russian Bolsheviks threatened to invade, a Lithuanian volunteer army was organized, and victoriously expelled the Bolsheviks in 1919. Vilnius, however was lost to Poland from 1920 to 1931, a violation of a treaty signed between the two countries at Suvalkai, prior to this event.27

The capital was temporarily moved to the second largest city, Kaunas. The Lithuanian government, consisting predominantly of members from the Christian Democrat Party, was formed in the image of the western democratic model, with three main branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Smetona, a member of the Nationalist Party, was voted Lithuania's first president. During his leadership and his successors - Alexandras Stulginskis (Christian Democrat) and Dr. Kazys Grinius (Farmer's and Social Democrat Party), Lithuania reached high levels of intellectual growth and achieved a highly regarded status among powerful countries, while it became a member of The League of Nations in 1922.
18

liven though it was a smaller country than before, western nations took note of its rapid organization (a matter of twenty years) and development of agriculture, trade and commerce after the terrible destruction of World War I. Its economic and cultural prosperity evolved through advances in land and educational reform, as well as trade and technology, enhancing the quality of life for its citizens. The process of rebuilding Lithuania began with the Land Reform Act of 1920, which divided up land previously owned by nobility, and provided 140,000 new farmsteads. Land for schools, hospitals, and public parks was also provided. The private land owners rebuilt and modernized devastated buildings on their property, and rehabilitated their orchards and crop fields, as advised by specialized agronomists. Since the society was primarily agrarian, as an export nation, it ranked second largest in the world's linen exports, and second to Denmark in its dairy exports.28 Technical improvements in transportation and engineering resulted in beautified cities, other than Vilnius (which fell back to second class level under Polish occupation). Many hospitals were built, accommodating the finest sanitary conditions, with more knowledgeable medical personnel. Teclinical elements such as electricity, water utilization, and canalization were introduced in most cities. The heart of the nation's prosperity was its educational reform, an imitation of Western school models. The Ministry of Education supervised the developments of preschool, primary, secondary, and collegiate schools, both in urban and rural settings. All children were required to attend school levels up

through high school, and thousands had the opportunity to study abroad, becoming part of the West/East cultural synthesis. One-third of the educated population were women.29 Theological and specialization institutions were organized to increase the variety of specialists. An important asset to the city of Kaunas, the University of Vytautas the Great, was founded in 1922. Other higher education establishments in Kaunas included the Veterinary Institute, the Music Conservatory, Art Academy, and the Catholic Academy. Klaipeda also had the Music Conservatory and the Institute of Trade and Commerce. Military studies were taught at the Military Academy of Vytautas the Gi'eat. Major youth organizations included the Christian Youth Association and the Lithuanian branch of the world-wide Scouting Organization. Sports teams in basketball and tennis became internationally renown.30 Publications in the twenty year period increased to twice as much as the amount from 1547 to 1918. A variety of 17,000 types of Lithuanian literature were published.31

19

Culture also culminated as seen in the popularity of opera, music, and art. Kaunas, and eventually Vilnius, both had metropolitan operas. Composers, secretly active during the Tsarist occupation, conducted their music, featuring folk themes. Among the most famed was the artist-composer, Mykalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, considered a visionary, and much admired in Germany and Japan today.32 National Commemorative Song Festivals were held regularly. Educated Lithuanians gained international exposure as they travelled to other countries. Ties made with the American Lithuanians remained strong. They donated a generous gift to the Kaunas Military Museum, a "Liberty Bell" engraved with the words: O ring through the Ages for the Children of Lithuania Those not worthy of Freedom are Those who do not defend Her!33 Religious education in Lithuania was diverse, but predominantly Roman Catholic. It was important for the government to establish a separate Catholic Church Province accepted by the Pope. In 1926 the Pope promulgated the independent Lithuanian Province. Lithuanian religious minorities such as Jews, Muslims, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants carried on their traditions and rituals freely, alongside the Catholic majority. Jews and Tartars always had contributed loyally to the good of the nation, by volunteering to serve in the army, working in the Parliament, becoming specialists, and learning Lithuanian besides Hebrew and Kipchiac-Turkic languages.34 The twenty years between 1918 and 1939 served as a testament of immense prosperity for the Lithuanians. Their free and open society enabled them to learn from other cultures and use their knowledge to greatly improve their quality of life. This era has been noted as Lithuania's Era of Enlightenment. Many of the contributors to this enlightenment became national martyrs during the second world war and subsequent foreign occupation - the most severe and terrifying era of all, which lasted half a century. This was the greatest test for the survival of the Lithuanian Spirit which it has ever endured in history.

20

'Hie Era of Terror

I lie end of Lithuania's independence and the beginning of systematic ethnic genocide came as it fell victim to Nazi (iermany and Soviet Russia during World War II. The illegal Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 (a violation of mutual nonaggression treaties and international law) sealed the fate of Lithuania and led to the invasion by the Soviet Army. In 1940, an organization to defend the freedom of Lithuania, the American Lithuanian Council was formed in the United States. The month of June 1940, dubbed "June of Terror," shook the nation. Although initially 700,000 Lithuanians were marked for extermination, due to disruptions of the war for the Bolsheviks, 40,000 were rounded up in crowded cargo wagons without water, food, light, or air, and were deported to labor camps in Siberia or far east to Kazakhstan. Many died on the way, some because of the intolerable cold and malnutrition. Jails were filled with "political prisoners" - wealthy or poor men, women, children, elderly, and invalids (anyone who did not honor Stalin as their "Father."35 Of these, some 15,000 were Jews.35 From 1941 to 1944 Nazi occupiers exterminated 95% of the Jewish population. The aims of the Nazis were not accepted by Lithuanians, who rejected their rule as inconsistent with the norms of civilization and national independence. Thus they refused to form an SS Legion to fight the returning Red Army, in view of the fact that Soviet occupation was as undesirable as the Nazi one. Instead, a resistance movement against the German regime emerged in 1943, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (SCLL), which presented an official letter of protest to Germany, referring to their atrocities. The Germans then deported hundreds of well known Lithuanian religious and scholarly leaders to the Stutthof concentration camp, and other forced labor camps.37

As the German army retreated in the summer of 1944, the Soviet Army began the second and final occupation of Lithuania. Over 60,000 inhabitants, having already experienced the horrors of the first Soviet occupation, fled to the West, seeking asylum abroad. Most refugees lived in displaced person camps in West Germany. Amidst the internationalist and communist propaganda fed to officials supervising these camps, who urged them to return to "their" countries, Lithuanians held on to their principle of keeping their culture alive by organizing schools for religious and ethnic activities.38

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(The SCLL continued to function outside the "iron curtain" and in their 1949 Lithuanian Charter, established the World Lithuanian Community - responsible for educational and cultural development.) Five years later, the first wave of 27,804 refugees migrated to the United States, aided by the United Lithuanian Relief Fund, founded in 1944 in Chicago.

21

While Lithuania was closed to the outside world for the following five decades, emigres around the world (Canada, the United States, Australia, Great Britain, South America, West Germany) expanded Lithuanian communities with schools and parishes, and just as in earlier times, held fast to their native culture and traditions. Behind the iron curtain, military units of the Lithuanian Resistance Movement waged a tenacious guerilla war against Soviet military and secret police. From 1944 to Stalin's death in 1953, 50,000 partisans were killed. It was the largest and longest organized resistance movement in the Soviet Union.39 After that, an underground resistance movement continued to work.
A 60MMANC? Of PAKT IM WHUAMIA

This entailed collectivization of private farms and destruction of many traditional street-villages. Individual homes were reconstructed into several apartments, forcing families to live in one or two bedroom units. Typically they were told in the middle of the night to "relocate elsewhere," in buildings resembling halfway houses with poor living conditions. Historic monuments, such as castles and defensive walls, were disassembled for material that was used in road paving, many were used as dumping grounds for waste.40 The Soviet administration established an intelligence agency, the KGB, to monitor the private lives of Lithuanian citizens, and to seek out "dissidents" - anyone whose behavior was not in compliance with the new regime's ideas. Foreign correspondence, which only began after 1953, was documented and opened routinely. International phone calls were routinely interrupted at sensitive points, so as not to allow influence from Western news. Foreign radio information was intercepted. Apartments were bugged. Dissent was repressed by job dismissal, house searches, questioning under torture, harassment, and beatings of family members by "hoodlums," actually staged by the KGB, before resorting to imprisonment or deportation.41 Repressions in Lithuania's education system involved intense Communist propaganda and Russification. Vilnius University was used as a tool for Atheism. Books published during independence were banned immediately, and wholesale "cleansing" of libraries resulted in removal of all Western literature from public access. The history of the nation was rewritten by KGB officials, dismissing the fact that the Republic of Lithuania was formed in 1918.
22

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This alien Communist system, imposed by a brutal occupier, eliminated an individual's liberty and right to selfdetermination. Lithuanian farmers were forced to form kolkhozes, or massive half-feudal farms.

Instead the youth was educated to believe the anniversary of the republic was actually when the Soviet Republic was formed, in 1940. By 1980, the population below the age of 40, who had no experience of independence and Stalinism, was brought up restricted to only Communist distorted propaganda. Unfortunately, corrective education at home was limited by fears of being eavesdropped on while challenging the historical version backed by the KGB.42 All students attending school were forced to take preparation classes for joining the Komsomol and the Pioneers, communist youth organizations. One mild method of persuading people to take communist oaths was to make available material goods, such as food, clothing, and better living conditions, since they were extremely scarce, to its members. Certain educational specialties (law) were restricted to party members. Russification was entrenched in the society, not only by colonization, but also by the imposition of the Russian language, literature, and theatrical arts. The names of streets for example, had been renamed using Russian names written in Russian letters. Freedom of speech was severely banned. The Soviet campaign against the Lithuanian culture aimed its focus on the Catholic Church, the uniting moral force for the culture. Most churches were turned into museums, stockyards, or assembly halls for atheistic lectures. Religious services were prohibited. Clergy who refused to denounce the Pope and accept Marxism faced deportation to prisons in Russia, or execution. By 1954, the number of priests decreased from 1,451 in 1939, to 741.43

During the 1960's, anti-Semitism grew in the Soviet Union. One of the first signs of Jewish nationalism in the entire U.S.S.R. was in Lithuania. The movement gained strength and even established ties with the Lithuanian resistance. In 1968, twenty-six Lithuanian Jews in Vilnius wrote a letter to the leader of the Lithuanian Communist Party requesting permission to leave for Israel. Israel expressed its knowledge that anti-Semitism originated not in Lithuania, but in the center of the Soviet Union - Moscow.44 The Soviet attack on the Catholic clergy intensified in the 1970's. During this time, the most popular underground journal smuggled to Lithuanians abroad was The Chronicle of The Catholic Church in Lithuania, consisting of ten volumes and translated into English, Spanish, and French. First published in 1972, Communist atrocities against human rights were documented in great detail by clergymen. It also revealed candidates prevented from entering seminaries and confined to psychiatric wards.45 Nijole Sadunaite, a Catholic nun who contributed to works published in the chronicles, was arrested in 1974 by the KGB, interrogated, and deported to a hard labor camp in Siberia, Two well known descriptive books authored by her were A Radiance in The Gulag and In The Eyes of The KGB. She promoted the philosophy of many Lithuanians that Truth and Hope would overcome evil.46 Religious persecution was intensified after the 1983 crackdown on dissident activity under Premier lurii Andropov: former head of the KGB. Two of the most outspoken leaders of the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Movement and members of The Catholic Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Believers, A. Svarinskas and S. Tamkevicius were arrested and deported, while the deaths of two other members were arranged by the KGB in 1985.47

23

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As the result of Communist persecutions of Lithuanian intellectuals and religious dissidents, from 1944 to 1991, approximately 850,000 Lithuanians died at the hands of the KGB. Altogether, over one million Lithuanians, at least a third of its population (2.9 million in 1941) had sacrificed their lives from the start of World War n, to the end of the Soviet Regime.48 Yet these Lithuanian victims represented just a portion of the total number of victims of communism around the world, estimated at over 100 million.49
24

The Road to Fteedom The road to regaining freedom intensified in the late 1980's, when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to Soviet leadership and proposed his policy of openness, "Glasnost." In 1987, the jubilee year of Lithuania's Christianity, Lithuanian bishops began requesting permission from Moscow to publish a new Lithuanian translation of The Scriptures. Even at this date, in times that were changing, Moscow denied permission. 1988 was the beginning of many Lithuanian restructuring movements. Peaceful protests and rallies, in the three Baltic republics (Lithuania-Latvia-Estonia) were led by prayer and song to end five decades of violent suppression; they came to be known as "The Singing Revolution."50 One of the first massive commemorative rallies occurred on August 23,1988, when 250,000 people gathered in Vilnius to call for the reinstallment of the Lithuanian language and military, and to condemn the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 - the focal point of their movements. A month later, 100,000 Lithuanians witnessed for the first time hi fifty years, the Lithuanian tri-colored flag being hoisted up on the highest point in Vilnius, Gediminas Castle. Coincidentally, the flag raiser, V. Zemkalnis, at 95 years of age, had raised the flag there with the Lithuanian army in 1919.51 The month of October 1988, marked the long-awaited victory for religious rights in Lithuania. Priests, cardinals, and bishops (secretly appointed by the Pope), such as Cardinal J. Stepanavicius, were finally released from more than twenty years of exile, and were allowed to return to Lithuania.

One of the Soviet Union's largest Catholic cathedrals, the Cathedral of Vilnius, was reopened. A procession of 20,000 people, dressed in folk costumes, walked to the cathedral's first Mass at the break of dawn, after a night filled with rallies. The service was held by Cardinal V. Sladekevicius, who used the metaphor of the seed to symbolize the Lithuanian Spirit:
It starts to grow under the snow. Be patient. Await change. The seed is growing and you will see the flower when the Spring comes.52

Numerous political, cultural, and ecological organizations emerged to express a nation-wide rebirth of democracy and self determination. The largest popular movement, "Sajudis," voiced its demand for independence on February 16, 1989. It was led by a literary and music scholar, Vytautas Landsbergis, who was thought of by some as the manifestation of the prophetic legend that the spirit of Vytautas the Great would someday rise again and defend Lithuania. After winning the majority seats in the Parliament during elections in 1990, "Sajudis" reestablished Lithuania's independence on March 11, 1990.

25

Unfortunately, the most feared Soviet military units, the "OMON" troops sent by Gorbachev, waged an unbalanced war (Lithuanians remained unarmed) against Lithuania's institutions, through economic blockades, military aggression, seizures of governmental and media buildings, and murders of progressive government employees.53 During the following eighteen critical months, Lithuanians did not falter, even when the troops viciously attacked and killed thirteen unarmed civilians, who were defending Lithuania's radio/TV transmission tower and parliament buildings, on "Bloody Sunday," January 12-13, 1991.54

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26

The proposes of this project are:

Project Description:

1. To commemorate and honor innocent Lithuanians whose human rights, national independence, religious freedom, intellectual freedom, cultural heritage and lives were destroyed by Lenin and his communist followers; to honor those that contributed to its independence and its cultural survival

~ Memorial / Public Park The design of the memorial is intended to effectively symbolize the history and future of the immortal Lithuanian Spirit. The landscape will be integrated within the design of the buildings, responsive to the significant historical elements of the site. ~ Information Center Exhibition areas will be used for display of Lithuanian cultural historic information from 1918 to the present. An assembly space adaptable for future films, lectures about human rights, and exhibitions is also included.

2. To inform and educate visitors to the memorial about the Communist reign of terror and the significance and extent of the resistance movements

3. To research and investigate the historic components of the national consciousness of the Lithuanian people, and the effects of the intense government control over these components

~ Archives 4. To serve as a permanent reminder: to the citizens of Lithuania of their moral strength and determination; to the world, that no nation should ever have to endure this kind of tyranny This will be a public research center housing KGB archives, information on individual Lithuanian victims, international documents concerning Lithuania's occupation, and office space for its staff and specific research organizations.

28

ARCHTIECIUKE AND MEMORY A memorial, as defined in dictionary terms, is something such as a monument, designed or established to serve as a remembrance of a person or event; pertaining to, or in memory.57 Architecture is not simply an enclosure of meaningless space. Christopher Egan, an architecture professor at the University of Texas clearly expressed the relationship between architectural and human memory:
Memory, the source of meaning, is structured in Icy ers...There is a parallel between the layered structure of human memory, and the layered structure of architectural meaning...architectural meaning is born of the memory of space. For architecture to move us, it must speak through the built work, in (fie spatial language of architecture.58

Architecture can be used to evoke human emotions powerful feelings, triggered by meanings, which are rooted in memory.59 The cultural memory of the Lithuanian people throughout their history has always been closely identified with their religion. Therefore, my focus in proposing the design of a memorial is to express effectively, in architectural methods, the important link between God and the human sector (culture) of the Lithuanian people as a natioa The most recent events in the twentieth century have shown the strong persistence of the "Spirit" of Lithuanians; in advancements during independence and in resistance to repressions during foreign occupation. These are the layers of cultural memory that make up the Lithuanian Spirit.

29

The major architectural conceptual issues of the design: Layered Stiucture: reminiscent of the layers of historic Lithuanian monuments and layers of folk motifs (built up from Paganism to Christianity) Transparency and Translucency: referring to the visible, yet not accessible freedom, as seen from inside the invisible "iron curtain," during Soviet era; the sense of paranoia induced by hidden surveillance of the KGB; the traditional religious image of immortal souls Openness vs. Closure: the morphosis resulting from serf-determination in an "open" society, to captivity being "closed" to the outside world, to regaining independence - the recovering of "openness" light vs. Darkness: light refers to freedom and independence -the pre-war Era of Enlightenment and advancement; darkness refers to the grim era of Communism and hidden history; the metaphor of truth as light and the saying, "The truth shall set you free..." - shedding light on previously hidden history to educate the public and Lithuania's future generations Procession: movement from space to space; entrance birth of the national renaissance; descent into the subterranean level - a metaphor for the underground resistance movement as well as the hidden KGB operations; ascent into higher ground - the road to liberation

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of the design:
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Landscape: public outdoor space, reflecting ancient ties between man and nature in an urban setting Materials: combining modern building material (glass, concrete, steel) with significant traditional elements (stone, masonry, wood - oak and birch, iron)

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31

The following case studies are examples of monumental architecture projects which address several key issues relevant to the conceptual aspects and methods for the proposed memorial in Lithuania: CASE STUDY: 1 Proposed Project: The Danteum Architect: Location: Giuseppe Tenagni Rome, Italy
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At the eve of World War n, the Danteum project was to be a monumental building designed to be a temple to the greatest of Italian poets, especially the works of Dante who was the primary source for the justification of Italian fascism.60 This building was to house a museum and library of Dante's works, and its major spaces were designed to reflect the three canticas of the Divine Comedy. Terragni was inspired by both the ancient history of the Roman Empire as well the modern Italian unification ideas, as depicted in his architectural motifs. Since the site, originally intended for the use of the National Party Headquarters, was across from the Basilica of Maximus - an important symbol of ancient Rome and its close ties with Christianity, he chose to adapt geometric principles found in the plan of this basilica in his own desiga His tie to ancient Roman history was the use of the golden-section rectangle with overlapping pure squares as the organizational elements in the plan.

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The sequence of spaces, and the transgression between them (the Inferno, the Purgatory, the Paradise) correspond to the pilgrimage described by Dante. Terragni opted for a more abstract than literal interpretation of this journey: ...through the balancedproportion of its walls, ramps, stairs, ceilings, the play of its ever-changing light from the sun above, can give...the sensation of contemplative isolation, of removal from the external world..61 The trip to the Inferno requires the visitor to descend to a space beneath the earth, "...a void formed under the crust of the earth and through some seismic disorder..."62 Part of the sensation of being burdened with pain is provoked by structural details, such as the columns, of which their thicknesses are proportional to the weight supported by them. By climbing a long ramp, the visitor reaches the room of the second cantica, Purgatory. Although the same in shape and size of the Inferno, the ambience is distinctly different; A "sensation of comfort" is achieved by the plentiful sunlight, outpouring through sufficient openings in the ceiling, "...calling his attention to the sky again, but framed by geometry..."63 To reach the most sacred space, the room of the third cantica Paradise, the visitor proceeds to climb up a narrow stairway (the same width of the entrance of the building), "...symbolizing the soul's difficult ascent to Paradise."64 Terragni's progression from "dense" to "framed" to "open," metaphorically represents Dante's experiences in the Inferno, the Purgatory, and the Paradise, respectively.
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This ascending journey, gradually leads to the space for depicting the "New Roman Empire Imperio."65 In Terragni's word's: This room of fundamental spiritual importance...can be interpreted as the central nave of a temple, dominating and giving light to the minor spaces. The reference to the theme is clear: The universal Roman Empire that was envisaged and forecast by Dante as the ultimate purpose and the only remedy for saving humanity and the Church from disorder and corruption.**

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The Danteum project requires the visitor to journey throughout the three spaces devoted to the canticas, while sensing the varying qualities of darkness, light, openness and closure. Terragni also addresses the issue of procession by metaphorically placing the Inferno at the lowest level, Paradise at the highest, so that one has to consequently descend into darkness and ascend into light. This transformational passage from one space to another, along with the structural details, enable the visitor to experience the transitions in spacial form as described by Dante in literary form.

34

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Project: Memorial for the Deported Architect: GH Pingusson I x)cation: Paris, France 'Ihis is a memorial dedicated in 1962 to the memory of 200,000 French people who died at the hands of the Nazis. Its focus is "a refuge of silence," designed as an underground crypt, integrated within the embankment of the Seine River, on the lie de la Cite, with the historic Notre Dame in its background.67 Hie emotions evoked by its architecture (the heavy enclosure), as in the use of dense concrete, made of French stones, imply the sense of imprisonment without possibility of escape. As the visitor approaches the site, he descends into a sunken enclosure with high walls (reminiscent of a prison yard), isolating himself from all views of other surroundings. The only openings are an iron grille, with a limited view of the Seine, and the open sky above. Opposite the grille, the visitor follows the major axis to a hexagonal crypt, where the eternal flame of remembrance is carved into the earth. It is an illuminated gallery containing the Tomb of the Unknown Prisoner. A long, narrow corridor leads from the center of the crypt, lined with 200,000 little lights representing each of the prisoners, and at the end of its axis is a single light, never to be seen by the inmates, but a powerful symbol of their future hope. The lateral wings of the crypt contain urns with the ashes of victims from fifteen concentration camps.

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35

Empty prison cells are also depicted here. Hie concrete material varies in patterns and texture, the more rough surfaces evoking the sense of "crushing power." The walls are monolithic with the absence of joint details, paralleled to the atmosphere of prison. Some walls are engraved with intense expressions of resistance, love and pain, as conveyed by the prisoners.68 This study of Pingusson's memorial indicates the richness of architecture when reflected in poetic form. Without being literal, it achieves the purpose of promoting solemn emotion and memory. The visitor is emotionally moved by the architecture, as he physically moves through the narrow passages, feels the prison-like qualities, and views the visual spaces. Pingusson used concrete as his primary physical element, to express the physical burden of the imprisoned. He varied its textural motifs within each space in a subtle manner, as a way to attract the observer's attention to structural and symbolic details of the memorial.

36

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I lie children's memorial is dedicated to the 1,600,000 Jewish children who died. Once inside, the visitor is surrounded by an atmosphere filled with mirrors that reflect thousands of candlelights, individual eternal flames, representing each child. It gives an overwhelming sense of the massive quantity of innocent, gentle lives lost. I he entrance to the third building, the space exhibiting the eternal flame, is composed of heavy doors made of dense iron. I his material is associated with the oppression imposed on the Jews by the Nazis, and their struggle for liberation from captivity. Once inside, the room is cold and dark; the only light shines from the eternal flame, carved into the ground symbolizing their hope. Names of the camps are displayed on the ground around the flame, uniting them together in the common space. Landscape is integrated around the premises of these buildings. Trees were planted on the hillside, representing non-Jewish people in various European countries who saved Jews. A variety of sculptural elements are dedicated to survivors of the 1 lolocaust. While the enclosed exhibit spaces commemorate the many deaths in captivity, the outdoor gardens metaphorically symbolize the liberation of the survivors. Yad Vashem is an example of a memorial designed in stages, with several theme-related buildings. The interiors of these spaces are dark, correlating to the darkness in captivity. The only sources of light in the spaces such as the Children's Memorial and Eternal Flame, are the actual representations for the victims - the lights from the flames.

This symbolic importance of light is achieved when there is such a contrast between total darkness and a singular light source. Representational architecture need not be made literal to provoke emotion; it can do that by simple plays of light/darkness and openness/closure.

38

SITE ANALYSIS 'Ihe site I have chosen to design a memorial for the Lithuanian Spirit is Lukiskiu Square, a neglected open space, in the symbolic center of the capital city of Lithuania, Vilnius. Its size encompasses three hectares (approximately 322,800 sq.ft.), bordering Gediminas Prospect on the North. Gediminas Prospect is a prominent avenue, with the historic Cathedral on the east end and the Parliament building at the west end. This avenue significantly represents the link between Lithuania's glorious past (the Cathedral/Gediminas Hill), and the modern day evolution of society, from independence to captivity to liberation and a free society (the Parliament). The urban setting surrounding the square itself includes both governmental and commercial use buildings (see figure/ground map, p. 40). However, the most meaningful of buildings are the Church of St. Jacob and Philip (an example of persecuted national religious identity) and the former Lithuanian KGB Headquarters (the prime source of national human rights violations), with the square between them (see map p. 41). < $3^$5ai y--^&&$!t&

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The mosque was there until 1861, when the Russian tsar razed it, leveling the area, making it a public space used as a market place. As a result of Tsarist oppression, Lithuanians staged the National Revolt of 1863 at the square.69 As a result of the brutal suppression of the protest by Russian officials, the site served as a stage for 185 public executions.

During the Soviet occupation, in 1952, the Communist government commissioned a bronze statue of Lenin, 3.70 meters in height, to be placed in the center of the square, on a rectilinear red granite base, 7.35 meters in height.

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Adjacent to Lukiskiu Square on the south side is the Church of St. Jacob and Philip, built in 1690, with the Dominican Monastery ensemble, bordering on the banks of the Neris River. Since the Soviets campaigned to annihilate religion, especially Roman Catholicism, the church was closed to the public and used to store supplies of the Vilnius Opera and Ballet Theater. The monastery was renovated for use as a hospital for Soviet dignitaries. On May 3, 1992, the church, amidst its renovation, was reopened and consecrated. The monastery, now back in the hands of the Dominicans, is partially still used as a hospital.

Across the street from the square stands the former KGB Headquarters building, originally commissioned by the tsar in 1890 to be used as a court house of the Vilnius Province of the Russian Empire. When Lithuania regained Vilnius, it housed the Ministry of Justice (1939-1940). During Nazi occupation, the Germans used it for their gestapo police offices. From 1944 until 1991 it was the center for all of Lithuania's KGB operations. Their offices housed an immense set of files on post-war activity, including information on the Lithuanian resistance from foreign countries. The second floor was dedicated to monitoring and telephone listening devices, wired to homes and institutions throughout Vilnius. The third floor, where inmates were interrogated, housed a map of various locations of deportees, political prisons and hard labor camps in the U.S.S.R. Captives not deported yet, were held in nonhygienic cellars.

Examples of the types of KGB cells:

-"The Box," a room without light, just wide enough for a single person to stand in, was used to hold prisoners for hours before they were processed.

-Cell no.49, about eight meters square, held approximately twenty prisoners at a time, who were not allowed to sleep between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and had to sit facing the door at all times. -Prisoners were allowed to exercise in an outdoor walled-in compound ten minutes a day, furnished with benches, but were not allowed to touch them. -Any kind of noncompliance led to immediate execution or the punishment cell, flooded with freezing water. -The torture room, thickly padded with brown burlap, was used for beatings or execution. Prisoners were brought there in a black straight-jacket. -It is assumed that an underground passage led to an extension of cells, or perhaps chambers used for the disposal of executed prisoners, located underneath Lukiskiu Square.

45

The cellars of the KGB were temporarily opened by former political prisoners, as The Museum of Ethnic Genocide from 1993 to 1995, the first of its kind in the former Soviet Empire. At the present, however, the area is being renovated for mechanical use to heat the upper floors of the building, now in the hands of the Appellate Court of Vilnius. Fortunately, the existing KGB archives continue to be organized and researched by the Commission for the Investigation of KGB Activity in Vilnius, headed by former inmate Balys Gajauskas, who encourages public interest in this matter. The organization is seeking a place with proper exhibition spaces and research labs for future display of these archives.71 As Juozas Aleksiejunas, also a former prisoner said, 'We must work here to tell people whet happened. If not us, then who?'*2

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* EiitnuKe Lobby Cumulation distribution Infonnation desk * Commercial Book Stow Storage Toilets Telephones A. Permanent Exhibition Topics of Artifacts:

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I. MKMORIAL AND PUBLIC PARK 'I he design of the memorial is intended to effectively symboli/e the history and future of the immortal Lithuanian Spirit. Its location is Lukiskiu Square, a historically symbolic .'.ilr, in I he heart of the urban setting of Vilnius. This square, one of several urban parks in Vilnius, is to continue to serve as a public gathering place, as it has been throughout its existence as an open space within this city. While it will also be ics|xm.sivc to the significant historical elements found in monumental Lithuanian architecture, such as a court-like green ;,|xicc surrounded by built forms. This memorial is planned to exist on several planes, in both above ground and subterranean levels, allowing for the landscape design to retain its "greening" character for the city of Vilnius. II. INFORMATION CENTER 'Ihis area is to display representative exhibition spaces, used for the display of historic twentieth century information from 1918 to the present. In addition to areas devoted to the past, there is a space devoted to future events, such as lectures on human rights, conferences, changing exhibits

2000 sq.m.

1. Era of Enlightenment -National Renaissance -Education and Land Reform -Democracy; cultural & religions freedom 2. Era of Terror WoiidWarU -Soviet pmpaganda -Legislation -Soviet deportations -Displacement, exodus -Confiscation of private pmperty -National resistance

47

Post-War Occupation -Installation of KGB -Partisans

-Ethnic extermination, martyrs -Prisons, Harassment -Atheism, worship of Stalinism & Leninism -Religious resistance -Undergivund Literature -Resistance of Lithuanians abroad 3. The Road to Freedom -A cry for self-determination -Glasnost, "Tlie Sitting Revolution" -Martyrs in the final Soviet crackdown -International efforts of Lithuanians to call for world attention -Regaining independence

III. ARCHIVES

This is a public research center, housing KGB archives, information on individual Lithuanian victims, international documents concerning Lithuania's occupation, and office space for its staff and specific research organizations. It is planned to be located in underground levels. This is intended to be a metaphorical response to the fact that the information provided was previously hidden from the public, to the given historical character of Vilnius' subterranean chambers, and to the assumed underground connection between the square and the former KGB headquarters building, across from the square.
* Entrance Vestibule Information desk Toilets

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B. General Rim Reviewing Area continuous screening of films from each period of the twentieth century; related to film library

40 persons

A. Library (books/journals) Computerized reference Librarian's office copy area reading area (30 seats)

300 sq.m.

C Conferences and Events Space for conferences, spontaneous events, and accommodating changing future cultural and religions exhibitions

400 sq.m.

B. Film, Slide, Audio 400 sq.m. Library Reviewing rooms for film and slides: hvofor individuals one for fifteen jTcrsom Tape listening booths (3 @ 2 sq.m. each)

48

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(ONCIAJSION In investigating Lithuania's ancient past, it is evident that the piescnl-day Lithuanians have maintained the spirit of their ancestors; their cultural and intellectual development has always been closely identified with their religious beliefs, from Paganism to Christianity, and the longing for freedom, selfdetermination, and nation-hood remains immutable. During the Soviet occupation, Lithuanians were stripped of IHnnan rights. The essence of their culture was threatened by ini|x)scd Russification. Today, young people in Lithuania have liccn brought up in an era of heavy Communist propaganda, and there is concern that future generations come to understand and remember their past. It is therefore, appropriate to think of a memorial for its citizens, as well as visitors, which would demonstrate and display elements of twentieth century history, especially those elements previously hidden from the public. It is evident that architecture has the power to evoke human emotions and memory. This memorial, serving as a link between the spiritual and the temporal, will also speak of I .ithuania's cultural memory, its past, present, and future. I propose the design of a memorial/research park, to commemorate the trials of the Lithuanian people as a culture their Spirit, which was sorely tried but which did, finally, prevail. It will be a monument to their self-determination to survive, their love of freedom, theii tragic and terrible suffering endured for these values, and finally, the quiet but wonderful victory over those who would have denied all of these precious gifts, the triumph of good overcoming evil, the triumph of hope.

While funding for the memorial may take several years, and will require coordination among several groups: archivists, city planners, architectural historians, and Lithuanian organizations such as the Partisans groups, the Political Prisoners League, and the Commission for the Investigation of KGB Activity, its planning can be started. Like Yad Vashem, the design can unfold over a 10 or even 20 year period, calling on the talents and contributions of Lithuanians all over the world. In a symbolic setting such as the one proposed, Lukiskiu Square, it would be a fitting memorial for a country and a people which seek to commemorate its Spirit.

50

ENDNOTES

-Sofija Jonyniene, Tevu Salis. 9th ed. (Chicago: U.S. Lithuanian Culture Fund, 1964) 253.
3

Algirdas M. Budreckis, Ph.D., ed., Eastern Lithuania: A Collection of Historical and Ethnographic Studies (Chicago: Lithuanian Association of the Vilnius Region, 1980) 23. "Ibid., 70.
5 6 7

V. Daugirdaite Sruogiene. Lietuvos Istorija. 6th ed. (Chicago: TERRA, 1960) 70. Jonyniene 264.

Sruogiene 97.

"Romuald Misiunas and Rein Taagepera, The Baltic States: Years of Dependence 1940-1990 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: U of California P, 1993) 3. 'Mykolas Firkovicius, "Karaims in Lithuania," Baltic News. March 1994: 34-35.
10

Sruogiene 101.

"Ibid.
l2

Budreckis 383. ibid., 390.

13 14

Ibid., 377.

I5 I6

ibid.

lbid., 642-643.

51

l7

Sruogiene 249.

'"Ibid., 262. "Ibid., 284.

20 21

Misiunas and Taagepera 7. Budreckis 637.

^Ibid, 57. ^Ibid, 28.

24 25 26

Ibid, 71. Ibid, 402. Sruogiene 312.

"Budreckis 483.
28

Sruogiene 350.

^Ibid, 357. ^Ibid.

3l

ibid, 355. Ibid, 356.

32

33 34

Ibid, 358. Ibid, 361.

52

35

J.K. Valiunas, Serving Lithuania (Southampton, New York: Valiunas', 1988) 26. Budreckis321. Valiunas 36. J. Malskis, "Displaced Persons," Lecture on Political Science, St. Kazimieras Lithuanian School, Cleveland, 1986.

36 37 38

"Lithuanian American Community, Lithuania. (Chicago: Lithuanian American Community, 1989) 7. "Budreckis 250.
41 42 43 44 45

Misiunas and Taagepera 209. Ibid, 208.

Ibid., 125. Valiunas 93-94. lbid., 205-206.

^Nijole Sadunaite, personal interview, Cleveland, 9 March 1990.

47

Misiunas and Taagepera 300.

48

Budreckis 588.

"""Honoring the Victims of Communism," The Washington Times 27 Aug. 1995: B2.
50 5l

Jeanne Marie Laskas, "The Singing Revolution,"_Life_Apr. 1991: 79.

-"Amziams Lietuva su Vilniurai!," Dirva 13 Oct. 1988: 1.

"Stephen Handleman, "Soviet Authorities Let Lithuanian Cathedral Reopen," Toronto Star 25 Oct. 1988: 1.
53

"Lithuanian American Community, Lithuania (Arlington, Va.: Lithuanian American Community, 1994) 7.
M

Ibid. Edmundas Simanaitis, "Egzekuciju Kamera - Muziejui!," Djrva 7 Sept. 1995: 3.

55

^Ina Navazelskis, "Heroes, Villains and History," The Baltic Outlook Nov. 1993: 11.
57 58

"Memorial," The American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd. ed., (Boston: Hougliton Mifflin, 1985) 785.

Christopher 1C Egan, "Layers of Memory and Layers of Meaning," Lecture on Constructing Meaning Through Structure, Enclosure, and Articulation, Catholic University, Washington, D.C., July 1995.
59

Ibid.

^Thomas L. Schumacher. The Danteum: A Study in the Architecture of Literature (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Architectural P, 1985) 20.
61 62 63

Ibid., 29. Ibid., 31. Ibid.

"Ibid., 32.
65

Ibid., 33.

""Memorial for the Deported, Paris." Architectural Design April 1963: 194. ^Norman Pressman, "Pingusson's Legacy: The Genius of a Little-known French Modernist is Revealed in His Two Key Works," Forum June 1971: ^Vida Girininkiene, "Lukiskiu Aikste - Atstatykime Istorine Tiesa," Vakarines Naujienos. no. 80-81, 6 April 1990: 9790-9791.
54

71 72

Simanaitis 7. Lisa Trei, "The Dark Face of History," The Baltic Outlook August 1994: 19.

r r r

55

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