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 Soviets 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 Fathers hometown.

kaunus lithuania