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My Father's Neighborhood

These were taken in and around my Grandfather's house, which sits on a hill overlooking downtown. He gathered up his family and left the house over 50 years ago and in the years in between, the house was stolen by the Soviet Union which unlawfully occupied Lithuania until 1991. The free Republic of Lithuania , which is now a member of the European Union, has recognized the legitimacy of claims on property by rightful owners and perhaps someday it will be ours again. Anyone who believes that there is any shred of morality in a communist economy or government should go visit an Eastern European country to see the after effects. To see a larger version of each photo, just click on the picture. Copyright 2005 by Tony Klimas.
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This is walking up Vaizganto Street. The white house on the left belonged to my Grandfather's brother, Petras Klimas who was one of the signers of the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence in February 1918. He was also the Lithuanian Ambassador to Italy and France and was acting Foreign Minister for a short time. When the Soviet’s occupied Lithuania, he was tried for the very serious crime of asking France not to recognize the Soviet annexation of Lithuania and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in Siberia. Upon his return to Kaunus in 1955, he was unable to return to his home and instead, lived across the street with the family of his wife's sister, Barbora Lesauskiene. He passed away in 1969 and is buried in Kaunus. Barbora's Granddaughters, Vaiva and Vita Lesauskaite, live there now with their mother, Valerija. They were kind enough to open their home to me on this trip and thanks to them, I had a very special tour of my Father’s hometown.
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This is walking up Vaizganto Street. The white house on the left belonged to my Grandfather's brother, Petras Klimas who was one of the signers of the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence in February 1918. He was also the Lithuanian Ambassador to Italy and France and was acting Foreign Minister for a short time. When the Soviet’s occupied Lithuania, he was tried for the very serious crime of asking France not to recognize the Soviet annexation of Lithuania and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in Siberia. Upon his return to Kaunus in 1955, he was unable to return to his home and instead, lived across the street with the family of his wife's sister, Barbora Lesauskiene. He passed away in 1969 and is buried in Kaunus. Barbora's Granddaughters, Vaiva and Vita Lesauskaite, live there now with their mother, Valerija. They were kind enough to open their home to me on this trip and thanks to them, I had a very special tour of my Father’s hometown.

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  • This is walking up Vaizganto Street. The white house on the left belonged to my Grandfather's brother, Petras Klimas who was one of the signers of the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence in February 1918. He was also the Lithuanian Ambassador to Italy and France and was acting Foreign Minister for a short time. When the Soviet’s occupied Lithuania, he was tried for the very serious crime of asking France not to recognize the Soviet annexation of Lithuania and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in Siberia. Upon his return to Kaunus in 1955, he was unable to return to his home and instead, lived across the street with the family of his wife's sister, Barbora Lesauskiene. He passed away in 1969 and is buried in Kaunus. Barbora's Granddaughters, Vaiva and Vita Lesauskaite, live there now with their mother, Valerija. They were kind enough to open their home to me on this trip and thanks to them, I had a very special tour of my Father’s hometown.
  • This is Vaiva and Vita’s house right across the street from Petras' house. Unfortunately, they are currently only allowed to occupy one floor of their house since the Soviets turned many of these large houses into apartments and there are other families living both above and below them. The Lithuanian government appears to be working to make things right, and it is hoped that within the next few years they will once again own their entire home.
  • This is from the front porch of Petras' house looking across the street. Petras' son Peter took compensation from the government in exchange for his rightful claim on the houseand the current residents were nice to enough to allow me to take a peak inside .
  • Like many houses, this has been turned into apartments and I was only allowed to walk into the front part of the house. These are the stairs leading up to the second floor in the entry way of Petras' house.
  • And at the top, looking toward the door to the second floor apartment.
  • Vita on the left and Vaiva on the right and their mother Valerija in between. Valerija took care of Petras in his final years and she still takes care of him today, accompanying us to his grave in Kaunus so I could pay my respects. Vita and Vaiva made my trip very special and I am in their debt. They are both academics and doctors and also happen to be more American than perhaps they realize. They believe in freedom and liberty and I am glad to see them finally having a chance to live in a country where these ideals are allowed to flourish.
  • This plaque was placed on the Lesauskaite house to commerate the fact that my Great Uncle lived there for 15 years. They told me he was like a grandfather to them an I am grateful he had such good friends.
  • This is Petras' house from the front balcony of the Lesauskaite house.
  • And another view from across the street.
  • In the front room of the Lesauskaite house is a portrait of Petras, painted by a relative of former Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis. The only photos I've seen of Petras are as a young man, so this it was very nice to see what he looked like as an older distinguished gentleman. His hairline looks very familiar.
  • Just down the street and around the corner is Perkuno street and my Grandfather's house. It must have been a wonderful time before the war came when Adolfus Klimas (my Grandfather) and his young family lived there just around the corner from his brother and friends. I wonder if they had cookouts like we do with our neighbors?? :) As a child, my father played in the neighborhood with Vaiva and Vita's father. That's me standing in front of 'our house' . (nice shot, Vaiva)
  • Walking a little further down the street and looking back at the Casa de Klimas.
  • And from the back yard - hope the people living there didn't mind that I snuck back there to grab a shot.
  • And a bit further down the street - the house looks over a wooded area to the left.
  • Here you can see more of the woods which lead down to a stream and a highway.
  • And a little further down the street.
  • Looking the other way on my Dad's street. One of those houses on the right belongs to an NBA player (from Lithuania of course)..
  • The woods behind the house.
  • And not very far away, near the sports complex, the gym where my Dad may have played volleyball and basketball (by the way - the Lithuanians are basketball nuts... I haven't seen so many hoops and kids playing b-ball since we lived in Indiana - and on TV - non-stop NBA games - hoop dreams, Lithuania style).
  • Azuolynas Park is nearby and has beautiful old oak trees.
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