Albert J. Gustaff

Laisve Comes to America

Albert J. Gustaff is a retired assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. He and his wife, Leona, were in Siauliai, Lithuania, teaching English as a Second language in 1992 at the invitation of the Prefect of Siauliu Pedagoginis Institutas.

The Laisve statue in Kaunas.

The elegant monument stands on Laisves Aleja in the Garden of the War Museum in Kaunas. A tall white stone pedestal supports the bronze angel, which was first displayed on February 16th, 1928. She carries the Lithuanian flag over her right shoulder. Her right hand holds broken manacled chains as she strides forward with majestic gracefulness to celebrate freedom. She is the Lithuanian Statue of Liberty.

A beautiful engraving of this meaningful statue will be given as a gift to each person or group who donates $100.00 or more to the project of the Books for Lithuania.

The life of Laisve has been both tragic and triumphant. She has been tortured, mutilated, and almost, but not quite, demolished. The inhabitants of Lithuania would not permit her to disappear. With enormous courage and hidden strength they have sustained her to this day.

The eminent Lithuanian sculptor, J. Zikaras, designed the statue and pedestal to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the date independence was obtained from Czarist Russia.

The monument survived its first bloody occupation as a result of the enactment of the infamous German - Russian pact in 1939, when those two countries divided Poland and the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia between them. The bronze angel survived the German occupation in 1941. In 1944, after three years of fierce and deadly battles with the Germans, the Soviets reoccupied Lithuania once more.

The engraving of the Laisve statue is a unique reminder of your precious gift to help transport books to the Lithuanian youth.

In 1950, Communists ordered the statue to be destroyed. The pedestal was shattered beyond repair. Devoted Lithuanians managed to hide the statue and the original drawings of the sculptor in a museum in an inconspicuous corner of a small gallery, where it was undetected for thirty-nine years.

In 1988 winds of freedom began to blow in response to Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika. A large number of Lithuanians from many different walks of life and a few Communists formed a movement, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sajudis, to consider a limited form of self-government. The movement, which became known as Sajudis, was very popular because it began to make demands for full freedom. To win back support from the people the Communist party restored February 16, 1918 as Independence Day.

One year later, on February 16th, 1989, thousands of Lithuanians gathered in the War Museum Garden and cheered as Laisve was unveiled and stunningly reappeared. Citizens, who have remained unknown throughout the years, had reconstructed the pedestal using the original notes of Juozas Zikaras, the designer.

By 1990 Sajudis became sufficiently powerful to take control away from the Lithuanian Communist party. Vytautas Landsbergis was elected chairman of the Lithuanian Supreme Council. On March 12 he issued a proclamation of Independence, which led to serious threats and repression by the Soviet Union against the country. The Soviet Union became alarmed with the developments in Lithuania. It tried to reverse itself, but it was too late. They launched an unsuccessful coup d'etat in Vilnius on January 12th and 13th, 1991 against unarmed civilians who were guarding the TV tower only with their bodies. Unfortunately, 15 Lithuanians gave up their lives and 500 were wounded.

Lithuanian-Americans in the United States of America did not stand idly by and watch. A concerned group marched to the Capitol in Washington D.C. to raise their voices in demonstration before the President, Congress, the world, and to fight for the emancipation that their mother country sought.

George Ward, an eminent engraver who has designed for the White House and the American Government, designed and executed a lovely gold engraved figure of Laisve that was adopted by the Free Lithuania Committee as their symbol.

Today, Lithuania is free but it will take many years for it to become a working democratic and prosperous nation. Many educated persons in government and business require knowledge in Economics, Political Science, Business Administration, Ethics, and International Trade. Those skills were either ignored or not taught in the Soviet educational system.

The engraver, George Ward, has again offered his beautiful work of art to Lithuanian-Americans and others who will support the Books for Lithuania, and donate $100.00 or more to the success of its venture.

Books for Lithuania will provide English textbooks at all levels to teachers who will prepare the youth to gain future access to a world where the English language is utilized. It will help Lithuania to achieve democracy, prosperity, and the ability to hold on to the freedom gained through so much torture and bloodshed.

We are grateful for the enthusiastic response to our first request in Bridges (Issue 9/98) and to the many who have generously given to this worthy cause. To attain the goal of $7,000 to send the 17,000 collected and packed books on their way to Lithuania, we are repeating our request.

The 12" by 18" gold engraving of Laisve, the Lithuanian Statue of Liberty, will be given as a gift to those who donate $100 or more. The artist signs each engraving. A donation of $50.00 provides English books for about 18 classrooms, but any amount would be gratefully accepted.

Please help us pray for the success of Books for Lithuania. The English books collected would be of tremendous value to the youth and nation of Lithuania.

Your donation is tax-exempt when you send it to;
Lithuanian Human Services Council, Inc.
Re: Books for Lithuania/ B. Jasaitis
2711 West 71st. Street
Chicago, IL 60629

Photos: A. Gustaff