Polish bookstore on the Lithuanian-Belarusian borderline

“Everything from Ejszyszki is close to heart, yours, one own, created by work”. In the words of the song, which is the unofficial anthem of Ejszyszki, Henryk Fedorovich from Ejszyszki, the soloist of the band “Ejszyszczanie” and the longtime director of the Polish educational establishment in Ejszyszki described the term “ejszyskość”.

Ejszyszki is a town populated by a few thousand people, located on the south of Vilnius in the Solecznicki region, bordering with Belarus.

Very often Ejszyszki are called the most Polish town in Vilnius since 85 percent of the population are Poles.

We do not need to say much that Ejszyszki is the hive of activity of residents who care about the Polishness of this area.

One of those activists is Lucyna Jundo who along with her husband runs a Polish bookstore, which is one of the centers of Polishness not only in Ejszyszki, but also in the whole Solecznicki region , because this is the only Polish bookstore operating in the area.

“The bookstore has been running since 21 October 2000. The idea of ​​creating a bookstore was caused by unemployment and was a  way out of the impasse. But it was also a kind of combination of contemporary, bitter everyday life with passion. We want children to be happy, and what can contribute to the happiness of the kid as much as a good book or a toy? Most often people buy Polish books for toddlers and toys that  “smile” from the shelves of bookstore to the customers “- says the owner of the bookstore Lucyna Jundo.

Mrs. Lucyna takes care of ensuring  the Polish spirit of the bookstore, so that everyone who comes there feels like in a Polish house, in a house would be the sanctuary of Polishness. But she is also glad that next to Polish literature we can find books published in the Lithuanian language. According to Mrs. Lucyna, this is the building aspect, peacefully building aspect. However, according to the owner, the most popular is Polish literature. She jokes that as long as there is demand for J. Tuwim and J. Brzechwa a Polish identity in Ejszyszki will survive.

The  bookstore closely cooperates with educational institutions of Solecznicki region, it provides textbooks, exercise books, which are purchased in the publication “Šviesa”. It  also established  good cooperation with the bookshop ” Mokyklinė knyga ” , the publishing house “Mūsų knyga”, the printing house “Alma Litera” and with many others. Leading the bookstore brings a lot of satisfaction for the owners.

” We are especially pleased with the fact that people like us and are grateful for what we do. They thank that they can save themselves expensive trips to purchase the required reading for their own use, or as a gift for someone.  We put the entire effort in meeting the diverse needs of our customers, we treat everybody on an individual basis. We take care for the development of reading interests among children. We have regular customers, the supporters of what we do and their number is increasing year by year. And that is what we can include to our great success “- says Lucyna Jundo.

Based on: Inf.wł.