Šiauliai in Postwar Period – History of Šiauliai

Šiauliai and Sąjūdis Activities

Šiaulių TIC — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:54:18 +0000

From the very beginning, Šiauliai community with the representatives of local intellectuals took active part in the activities of the initiative group of Lithuanian reform movement Sąjūdis. After little more than a month when this group was formed, on July 22, 1988, the first event of Sąjūdis was held: a meeting in the Sundial Square, rallying a lot of people from Šiauliai and all over the area. The event called for sovereignty of Lithuania, introduction of democracy, it condemned the cruelty of Stalinism times, monetary donations were collected for the construction of the monument to Povilas Višinskis, a prominent member of the Lithuanian national movement and language conservator, it was urged to take care of the Lithuanian language and restore the historical truth. Like in all other cities, Šiauliai Sąjūdis community mostly focused on the Lithuanian language and ethnic culture, and put their main efforts into freedom and independence of Lithuania. For that purpose, meetings were held in the city, discussions in the classrooms of higher education institutions took place. In October, 1988, one of the most prominent events of the first year of Rebirth was organised in Šiauliai – the Language festival, aimed at paying attention to the situation of the Lithuanian language that severely suffered during the years of occupation. On October 12 of the same year, the city council granted a status of a public organization to Sąjūdis movement of Šiauliai city. After five days, the founding conference of Šiauliai groups of Sąjūdis movement was organized in Šiauliai drama theatre. The conference elected the representatives of the future Seimas, discussed the main issues, and decided to publish the publication of the city’s Sąjūdis movement. On December 12-22, the Lithuanian drama festival ‘Atgaiva’ was held in Šiauliai, presenting performances based on the prohibited drama works of Lithuanian emigrants, which were banned during the years of occupation, to the audience. Stage art was accompanied by a series of lectures, delivered by culture, science and public figures, such as the future signatory Romualdas Ozolas, historian Liudas Truska. August 23, 1989, the day that went down in the history of Lithuania as The Baltic Way day, was celebrated by Šiauliai people particularly loudly: organizing theatrical events in the city’s streets and Pergalė Square (later renamed as Prisikėlimo Square), sneering at the Nazis and Bolsheviks, who one after another occupied Lithuania in the Second World War. After these events, the city quickly emptied – all went to The Baltic Way action.

The systematic activity of Šiauliai Sąjūdis movement led to shrinking numbers of pro-Soviet persons and members of the Communist Party of Lithuania from the ranks of Šiauliai city council. They were pushed by the representatives of Sąjūdis, their delegated and supported persons. People close to Sąjūdis movement began to lead the city council. Mindaugas Stakvilevičius, Donatas Morkūnas, Romualdas Ozolas, Virginijus Kačinskas, Kęstutis Lapinskas and Algimantas Sėjūnas were elected by Šiauliai people to the Supreme Council and became the signatories to the Act of March 11, which announced the fact of the Restoration of the Republic of Lithuania.

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Baltijos kelio diena Šiauliuose.

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Baltijos kelio diena Šiauliuose.

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Baltijos kelio diena Šiauliuose.

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Cultural Life

Šiaulių TIC — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:51:20 +0000

A significant contribution to the formation of the regional cultural centre in the city was made by Šiauliai ‘Aušra’ Museum – the institution around which cultural life was revolving during the interwar period and during the war. The Museum continued its educational and cultural mission in the post-war period too. The end of the war and five years after it became the years of trial for this institution. Even a few caches in the city, where cultural values were hidden, were bombarded. Cultural values kept in these caches were severely damaged, especially those that were hidden in St. Peter and Paul’s Church, in ‘Gubernija’ brewery. The very building of the Museum also burned down, so there was no place to return the evacuated values after the war, for that reason they were plundered, destroyed or gradually declined due to poor housing conditions. The Museum had to exist without any premises. It was a very difficult period. The office and part of the surviving exhibits were moved to Peliksas Bugailiškis’s house. Later, the Museum was given the building of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, where the remaining exhibits were stored.

In 1955, the Venclauskiai house became the new refuge for the Museum. In 1966, the Museum regained its former building, which housed it from 1933 until the battles in the city during the Second World War. From then on, rapid expansion of the institution began. The Museum gets several buildings one after another, which become its divisions. In 1967, Žaliūkiai windmill,which was built in 1880 and belonged to Danieliai family, was transferred to the Museum. In 1976, the Museum was supplemented with Šiauliai Division of Photography Art Society of Lithuania, founded by photographer Antanas Dilis, which becomes the Photography Department of ‘Aušra’ Museum and since then has been called the Museum of Photography. In 1985, the house of poet Jonas Krikščiūnas-Jovaras also goes to ‘Aušra’ Museum.

Around 1978, there were 77 libraries in Šiauliai. The central library system, children’s library were established. Most of the larger institutions and organizations had private libraries. Povilas Višinskis Public Library, founded in 1951, became the city’s important cultural centre. In 1978, it was moved to new, much more spacious premises because both the fund of books and other publications as well as the numbers of readers and staff were growing. In 1989, the library already employed 119 people. The new library offered excellent conditions for organizing various events.

In 1946, in the former People’s House, Šiauliai City Culture House was established. It had 3 halls, 13 rehearsal rooms, a reading room. More than 500 events were held annually. It was a place for rehearsals of ‘Jovaras’ ensemble, the symphony orchestra, ballet, ballroom dances, children’s drama clubs, the veterans’ choir, the puppet theatre, and the Esperanto club.

During the Soviet period, the drama theatre continued to operate in Šiauliai, raising a number of prominent theatre personalities. In 1953-1989, there were 5 cinemas in Šiauliai: ‘Tiesa’(founded in 1956), ‘Palydovas’ (1961), ‘Saulė’ (1966), ‘Laikas’ (1978) and ‘Dainai’ (1979).

In 1965, the Department of Drawing and Handicraft, established at the Pedagogical Institute, was a great impetus to further development of art in Šiauliai. Later, this department grew into the Faculty of Arts, which rallied all the artists of that time of the city. In addition to this department, in 1967, the Children’s Art School was founded. The exhibition period started: art exhibitions were organized both in the Exhibition Palace (currently Art Gallery) belonging to ‘Aušra’ Museum and in the Culture House, the Engineers’ Chamber. At that time, the artists’ community was formed, which not only participated in art exhibitions but also created monumental decorative art works, theatrical scenography, playbills, posters.

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Zubovų rūmai (čia buvo įkurtas Dailės fakultetas).

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Titnago spaustuvė Šiauliuose.

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Šiaulių dramos teatro pastatas.

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Education in the Soviet Period

Šiaulių TIC — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:49:48 +0000

In 1951, the schools destroyed during the war were rebuilt, but in the beginning there were not enough places in them, later the situation began changing. The level of educatedness in the city grew first due to the strengthening facilities and resources, the growth of which was financially supported by local enterprises. The building trust, the road construction enterprise, the factory of precision machine tools, the bicycle factory, the television factory, furniture factories were just a few enterprises contributing to the support. Schools began growing rapidly, the existing ones were growing and expanding, and at the end of the ninth decade, there were 22 schools in Šiauliai.

Higher education and higher vocational education in the city were provided by the Pedagogical Institute, Šiauliai Faculty of Kaunas Polytechnic Institute, the Pedagogical School, the Higher School of Music, the Polytechnic and the School of Medicine. Since 1948, two-year teacher training institutes were started to be set up in Šiauliai, which trained teachers not only for the city but also for the whole country. There were a lot of talented teachers in Šiauliai, who trained future education specialists, who later used to go to work to places where they were needed most – to Klaipeda and other cities. The Higher School of Music, transferred from Klaipėda, educated music teachers, who rallied to school ensembles and orchestras, successfully performing in various places, or would become singers, laureates of various vocal competitions.

All schools actively participated in the city’s social life, growing talented educators, musicians, ensembles and singers, such as the chamber choir ‘Polifonija’, originally the students’ choir that grew into the professional choir; the Chamber Orchestra of Šiauliai Conservatory, which turned Šiauliai into the cultural centre of Northern Lithuania.

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Aušros muziejaus nuotr.

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Aušros muziejaus nuotr.

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Aušros muziejaus nuotr.

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Industrial Situation in the City

Šiaulių TIC — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:46:55 +0000

In 1950, there were already 27 enterprises in Šiauliai – only by one third less than before the city’s bombarding during the Second World War. The most distinguished were representatives of leather, textile and knitwear products. These were leather factories and plants: ‘Elnias’ (the former Ch. Frenkelis’s factory, restored after the war; the enterprise was equipped with the first conveyor in Lithuania and it quickly became the largest in Šiauliai), ‘Batas’, ‘Stumbras’ (the former brothers’ Nurokai factory). The factory ‘Elegant’ (in 1945, reorganized into ‘Verpstas’) dominated the knitwear industry. The leading factory in the textile industry was the flax processing factory ‘Linas’ (the former ‘Semlin’ factory). All of these enterprises were related by the Soviet nomenclative attitude to the nationalized industrial property, common in the whole Soviet Union: constant shortage of raw materials, plunder in the very enterprises using one’s position, and waste of funds, effecting quality of working conditions and tools.

Food industry recovered rapidly because meat production company ‘Maistas’ almost did not suffer during the war and transported its products to all Soviet Union. The sweets and confectionery factory ‘Rūta’ also quickly recovered after the years of the war. Having established economic relations with trade partners in the whole world, it began to grow rapidly again. The starch-syrup factory ‘Gliukozė’, established in the premises for storing linseed oil of the former enterprise ‘Ringuva’, was the most important enterprise of this kind in Lithuania, offering its products to the whole region: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Kaliningrad. The brewery ‘Gubernija’, the oldest industrial enterprise of Šiauliai, the origins of which are said to date back to 1665, when it operated as a brewery of Šiauliai manor, was almost completely destroyed during the war but managed to recover and started fully functioning. Most of the production was sold in Šiauliai city and county; and the smaller part, in other cities of Lithuania.

In the post-war period, metal processing and machine manufacturing industry was formed in Šiauliai, although until then there were no machine manufacturing enterprises. The manufacturing of bicycles began growing: upon forfeiture as the spoils of war against the Nazi, the Soviets transferred the bicycle factory from Germany and equipped it in Šiauliai; later, it was renamed as ‘Vairas’. Initially, it suffered from the poor supply of raw materials and the never-ending construction of the enterprise; later, it became known as the manufacturer of bicycles for teenagers ‘Kregždutė’ and ‘Ereliukas’, which were transported to all Soviet Union and some foreign countries. Another, new industrial sector – gypsum production – started developing in ‘Alebastro’ factory. There were also other industries, such as fuel and energy, brick, peat, typography, cardboard and other factories as well as enterprises providing services. Generally speaking, most of the enterprises founded at that time were created in the places of enterprises that had been operating in the interwar period.

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Alaus darykla „Gubernija“.

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Televizorių gamykla.

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Batų gamykla.

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Šiauliai in the Soviet System

Šiaulių TIC — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:42:06 +0000

In the city’s general plan, developed in the beginning of the 7^th decade of the 20^th century, Šiauliai was designed as an industrial and cultural centre of Northern Lithuania. During the Soviet period, the city began to grow rapidly. From 1952 till 1979, its territory doubled (from 35,3 to 69,6 sq. km). This was due to the decision to connect Zokniai Airport and vicinities to the city and rapid growth of residential, industrial and commercial buildings around the bicycle factory ‘Vairas’. One after another, villages Lieporiai, Dainiai and other were connected. This way new residential areas and the southern part of the city, which in the length of time started to be called the southern area, began to develop. Population grew even more rapidly: from 32,2 thousand in 1949 to 145,6 thousand Šiauliai residents in 1989. The city became the centre of land transport and military air transport of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the Second World War and the subsequent repressions left almost empty ranks of the city’s intellectuals. The majority of them either moved to the West, the European countries and America or was deported to the depth of the Soviet state. The education system was stuffing pupils’ heads with the communist ideology. After Stalin’s death, in the sixth decade, education matters began improving. The problem of illiteracy was almost solved, and the overall level of educatedness rose significantly: from 12 per cent of persons with higher, secondary and special education in 1959 to 65 per cent in 1989.

Šiauliai in Postwar Period – History of Šiauliai

Šiauliai and Sąjūdis Activities

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Cultural Life

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Education in the Soviet Period

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Industrial Situation in the City

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Šiauliai in the Soviet System

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