Ateitininkai pirmosios sovietų ir nacių okupacijos metais
Ateitininkai: The First Soviet and the Nazi Occupation

Summary/Abstract: The article seeks to answer the question why did the ateitininkai participate actively in the activities of LAF (Lithuanian Activists' Front), Transition Government, what was their position with regard to the Jewish national minority and the Jewish holocaust. The analysis of the ateitininkai ideology and the ateitininkai ideologists' (Stasys Šalkauskis, Antanas Maceina) thought on patriotism, nationality, activeness, leadership, national minorities, as well as the evaluations of bolshevism, fascism, national-socialism, - all this helps answer the aforementioned questions. The article is divided into two main parts. In the first one the author reviews the main sources and historiography of the issue concerned, whereas the second part is devoted to the analysis of the main object of the entire study, namely, the ateitininkai during the first Soviet and the Nazi occupation. In this part the author touches upon the following issues: prehistory of the ateitininkai, ateitininkai ideology, formation of the underground activities' precedent during the Smetona regime, activities of the ateitininkai during the first years of the Soviet occupation. Closer attention is given to the self-organization activities of the ateitininkai - them joining the LAF, their activities during the Nazi occupation period, and their relations with the Transitional Government. Rather deep scrutiny is given to the ateitininkai reaction to the Jewish holocaust. Some conclusions are drawn on the basis of the ateitininkai relations with the Front of Lithuania. In order to understand the forms of the ateitininkai activities during the first Soviet and the Nazi occupation years it is expedient to analyse the methods of organisation of the ateitininkai in the independent Lithuania. In the aftermath of the 1930-closure of the Ateitininkai Schoolchildren Union (MAS) the schoolchildren embarked on the underground activities. Skills and contacts that ateitininkai managed to obtain during the period of independent Lithuania helped them in the activities during the period analysed in this article. Due to this reason the chronological confines of this article have been expanded to some extent: end of the 3rd decade - 1944 of the XXth century. The ateitininkai organisation, as well as the activities of various personalities (ateitininkai) is the object of this article. Three methods were used in this article - the descriptive one, text analysis ad interpretation method. Author claims that due to inadequate cognition of the possible sources and having in mind the need for additional research, the author refrains from making any strict conclusions, motivating this by the necessity of carrying out some further research. Some conclusions, nevertheless, can be come up with. (...)

• Details
• Contents