Do Lithuanians want to commemorate Piłsudzki?

Vilnius local government examines the proposition to place a plaque beside the mausoleum of Mother and Heart of Son on Rossa. The comitee is supervised by a vice-chairwoman famous for her anti-Polonism rhetoric of the conservative party, vice-chairwoman of sejm, Irena Degutienė, while the previous councillor of Vilnius and later perrenial editor of „Valstybės žinios” is the author of the idea.

(‘Journal of Laws’) Mintautas Daulenskis.

Even Lithuanian media has noticed that the propostition of conservatives might become once again an object of rough discussions between Poles and Lithuanians in the period when tense international situation needs the strengthening of the reciprocal cooperation. A discussion caused by another controversial initiative of conserwatives anccidentially (?) is timed to coincide with the meeting of Lithuanian and Polish prime ministers, Donald Tusk and Algirdas Butkevičius, in Brussels and with the visitation of Ewa Kopacz and Bogdan Borusewicz, the Marshals of Sejm and Senat.

We would like to remind as well, that in the previous week, also not without an inspiration of the conservative Right, in Lithuanian media anti-Polish hysteria was unleashed. Lihuanian newspapers and Internet portals threatened Lithuanians with ‘Polish authonomy in Vilnius region’ in imitation of this in Crimea. It remains unknown, whether it happened by an accident, but this hysteria in media coincided with visitation of Cezary Grabarczyk, the Marshal of Polish Sejm, in Lithuania.

According to most, not only Lithuanian, experts and analysts, kindling of those strifes in Polish-Lithuanian relations weakens the partnership of Lithuanian and Poland and is beneficial for Russia, especially in a current complicated international situation.

“In this way, the discords between two nations are being kindled, which basically do not exist, but someone really needs them. This is politicking, primitive politicking, but people who deply cogitate are able to understand everything and to perfectly separate the wheat from the chaff”- those words, what is surprising, belong to Irena Degutienė.

In this way, three years ago she commented on the activities of Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, The Union of Poles in Lithuania and many other organisations defending Polish education. However, Degutienė has not changed her mind since then. After the visitation of the vice-marshal Grabarczyk in Lithuania, she reproached Polish activists once again for harming the Polish-Lithuanian relations with their actions. What is more, the vice-chairperson of Sejm accused Waldemar Tomaszewski, the chairperson of Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania and the MEP, of harming Polish-Lithuanian relations with malice afterthought.

“He works at sb’s behest and this harms our relations with Poland” – conservatist Degutienė declared a week ago.

Meanwhile, the Sejm commision managed by the conservatist politician proposes to Vilnius local government a take out of context quote of marshal Piłsudzki , which – as it is explained in argumentation – expressed his remorse for his attitude towards Lithuania.

The quote on the plaque will be in Lithuanian, Polish and English language and will come from the book of Piłsudzki published in 1933 in Warsow.

“My dear, beloved Vilnius, you were made a capital – it has to be stated directly – not by a Polish hand, but through an effort of the grand nation of Lithuania, when during a fierce and great fight it struggled with the whole surrounding world, including Poland. Through an extraordinary will of Lithuanian pegan heroes, who were at that time building a great country from sea to sea, from famous Moscow walls till the very murky shores of the Vistula – throught a will of knights Kiejstut and Olgierd, great in their touching alliance as well as throught a will of Witold and Jagiełło, who were great in their historical strifes – raised those walls, placed the fundaments of our city, their capital” – conservatists propose to write in on the plaque beside the mausoleum on Rossa.

A secretary of Sejm commision and a lecturer of the department of communication at the University of Vilnius, Andrius Vaišnys, during his conversation with media admited that not everyone may like the idea of placing this inscription on the plaque, however, he emphasized, “it is not the reason not to place it there”.

“She (the speech) is beautiful. I also advocate it because the researches investigating this period as well as some of the Piłsudzki statements make us think that at the end of his life he might have understood that he had made a mistake” – Vaišnys’ declamation written in „Lietuvos žinios” daily newspaper.

Local-government Comission of Names, Memorials and Plaques consiedered the proposition of the Sejm commision, but did not approved it totally. As we were informed by chairperson of metropolitan commision and a councilwoman of Vilnius, Daina Urbanavičienė, the idea is good, but the realization not really.

– Our commision proposes to find a different form of commemoration – informed councilwoman of the city.

Nevertheless, the final decision concerning this case will be made by the council of Vilnius.

Source: http://kurierwilenski.lt/2014/04/01/litwini-chca-upamietnic-pilsudskiego/

Tłumaczenie by Beata Kanadys w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Beata Kanadys within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.