in 1935 Lithuanian schools are being closed in the Vilnius Region and 100 Polish Juzefs Pilsudskis educational institutions are planned to be opened in their place. "Pilsudski had nothing to do with those plans - he was already dead. In commemoration of the anniversary of his death, it was announced that one hundred schools should be built in the Vilnius region, since that land is closest to the marshal's heart. From a formal point of view, that's how it was - his heart was buried in the Rasi cemetery", VMU historian doc. Dr. Dig Antanaitis. Searching for signs of interwar modernism in Vilnius schools - in the LRT PLUS show "Stop lane".
During the independence struggles, every second soldier was illiterate
"General average in Poland and illiterate people in Lithuania around 1923. was almost the same - 33 percent. Unlike Lithuania, every second soldier in the Polish army was illiterate during the independence struggle - soldiers were taught not only to shoot, but also to read. Another problem is that education infrastructure was not created in Russia, so there was nothing to inherit from the empire. Mass education was started by the German occupation authorities, which created schools everywhere, but it is not clear at what level it was then. The pedagogues who invited the peasant children explained to them about gardening. But it was still a kind of beginning of science", says K. Antanaitis.
Lithuanians were not happy with the schools established by the Poles between the wars
in 1935 Lithuanian schools are being closed in the Vilnius region and 100 Polish Juzefs Pilsudskis schools are planned to be opened in their place. Part of this grandiose plan is the elementary school in Bezdonys (1937)
"The opening of the school was at a high level event, which the Lithuanian press hushed up - perhaps because of great dislike, or because of the date - on October 9, the day of the loss of Vilnius was commemorated in Lithuania," says the VDU historian.
Liepkalnis primary school is the most modern in the city
Vilnius, Liepkalnis. The former workers' district and a school is being built right here. The architects of the building are Romualdas Gutas, the then head of the Vilnius Urban Planning Office and his assistant Stanislovas Bukovskis (1939). The school was named after Juzefs Pilsudskis at that time. This was the 100th in the 40 school plan of the aforementioned Pilsudskis. The building was the most modern in the city at the time.
"Architect Romualdas Gutas is a typical modernist, but at the same time atypical. He paid a lot of attention to the relationship between architecture and the environment, how to integrate the object into the landscape. Modernist architects believed that innovativeness in architecture means easy maintenance of the facade, so they did not stick sculptures that would collect dust. R. Gutas used simple modernist solutions that prevailed in Europe at that time. The composition is free, a lot of attention is paid to functionality", says Michał Pszczółkowski. It is true that during the Soviet era, a school for railway workers operated here, and after regaining independence, it was returned to the Poles.
Contemporary Julius Šalkauskas and critic Antanas Smetona
The team of the "Stop lane" show also remembers Julius Šalkauskas, a contemporary, physicist, active publicist, publicist and bright memory, whom they visited 2 years ago. Julius was born and raised Beautiful, his father - one of the most deserving people for Lithuania - a philosopher, pedagogue, the last rector of the interwar Vytautas the Great University - prof. Stasys Šalkauskis.
"My father was very against the nationalists, and the nationalist government in 1930 adopted a law that all youth organizations must be closed, except for the scouts," the man said. Julius Šalkauskas was involved in the sport of sailing, and also taught young people to sail. At the age of 64, he became a sea scout and later headed the Lithuanian Academic Scout Movement.
Once a month at the house of Julius' parents in Kaunas, the intelligentsia of the time gathered - professor Juozas Eretas, geographer and politician Kazys Pakštas, Biržiškas brothers, philosopher Levas Karsavinas or Eleonora Čarneckienė, the wife of the former minister, ambassador in Rome.
"Even my father said in his writings that Kaunas was better prepared for the role of the capital than the Polish-ruled Vilnius. At that time, Vilnius was considered a provincial city, it was not that important for Poles. And Kaunas had its own modernist architecture, which has survived to this day," said Julius.
J. Šalkauskas' father, Stasys, often criticized the presidents who were in power. Kliuvos and Antanas Smetonas. "His first presidency was meaningful. But when the rebels installed him as president, he began to appreciate the gunmen. His reputation began to decline rapidly. At that time, what the nationalists wanted, they demanded from him," said a contemporary about the controversial president at the time.
