Poles in Lithuania in 2024

Poles in Lithuania will surely remember this year as one of Olympic success for Dominika Baniewicz. The teenage B-girl Nika from Vilnius became the first Pole from Lithuania to win a silver medal in breaking, a discipline making its debut at the Paris Olympics. Until now, the most famous athlete from Vilnius was Władysław Kozakiewicz, born in Šalčininkėliai.

This summer, Poles in Lithuania achieved another record, not Olympic but national: over 150 pairs of Polish high school graduates from Vilnius performed the traditional graduation polonaise on Cathedral Square.

Another historic milestone was the opening of a dedicated building for the Vilnius Branch of the University of Bialystok. A modern facility was built behind the Adam Mickiewicz High School on 22 Aguonų (Makowa) Street in Vilnius, and a fourth major was launched.

In Kaunas, a monument to Polish King and Lithuanian Duke Alexander Jagiellon was unveiled this year, and a commemorative plaque was installed on the building of the pre-war Adam Mickiewicz Polish Gymnasium.

The past year was also rich in significant anniversaries. The 35th anniversary of the Association of Poles in Lithuania, the largest Polish social organization in the country, was celebrated. This association gave rise to, among other things, the political party Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania.

The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association in Lithuania (ZHPnL) also marked its 35th anniversary this year. The jubilee camp of ZHPnL was honored by the presence of Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland. Meanwhile, the Vilnius Wanderers Club, disbanded during the war and revived during the wave of freedom in the late 1980s, celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Three Vilnius high schools marked magnificent jubilees. The Joachim Lelewel School (formerly known as “Piątka”) celebrated its 80th anniversary as the first Polish school reestablished after the war. A decade younger, the Władysław Syrokomla Gymnasium, now one of the largest Polish schools in Vilnius, celebrated its 70th anniversary. Meanwhile, the youngest Polish high school in Vilnius, the John Paul II Gymnasium, marked a modest 30 years.