Remiantis Lietuvos pasiuntinybių ir diplomatų archyvine medžiaga, memuarais ir biografinėmis monografijomis apie juos, straipsnyje siekiama atskleisti, kaip, formuodama kolektyvinę diplomatinę atmintį, 1940–1991 metais savo misiją vykdžiusi Lietuvos diplomatinė tarnyba siekė nepakenkti Lietuvos laisvės bylai ir išsaugoti teigiamą savo atstovaujamos šalies ir jos diplomatijos įvaizdį.

Nearly 50 years of the history of Lithuania’s consulate general in Chicago are closely tied to the figures of the diplomats Dr. Petras Povilas Daužvardis and his wife Juzefa Rauktytė-Daužvardienė. Archival documents show that in 1970, a year before Dr. P. P. Daužvardis’s passing, the Lithuanian legation in Washington, D.C. with the knowledge of the U.S. State Department raised the issue of joining the legation and the consulates general in Chicago and New York into a single entity. The arguments offered by Consul General Dr. P. P. Daužvardis gave precedence to the question of personnel over the question of finances and helped save the diplomatic post in Chicago from being abolished. More than a month before the consul general’s death (September 26, 1971), the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (VLIK) became concerned with the question of who would become the chief of the consulate general in Chicago. Thanks to Dr. P. P. Daužvardis’s arguments and the support given them by the head of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service and the consuls general in New York and Toronto, it was J. Rauktytė-Daužvardienė who was named the Lithuanian honorary consul general in Chicago after her husband’s death.

The history of world diplomacy tells the story of international relations between states or of the foreign policy of one state during various periods. A diplomat’s biography, usually mentioning his family (parents, spouse, children), is also a valuable part of diplomacy’s history. The portrait of a diplomat’s spouse is often sparse, overshadowed by the personality of the diplomat, even though it is the diplomat’s wife who, as the person accompanying the diplomat, is his first helper, witness, and judge. The history of Lithuania’s diplomatic service, active during the Soviet occupation, reveals the unique destinies of diplomats and the circumstances of their exceptional activities, which have already inspired several monographs, articles, and source publications. But a deeper look compels paying respectful attention as well to these diplomats’ wives and their fates during this tragic period of Lithuanian history. That is why this article surveys at least briefly the biographies and activities of Marija RadzevičiūtėŽadeikienė, Regina Kašubaitė-Budrienė, Elena Taraškevičiūtė-Gerutienė, Vincenta Matulaitytė-Lozoraitienė and Daniela d‘Ercole-Lozoraitis, Ona Galvydaitė-Bačkienė, Janina Čiurlytė-Simutienė, Halina Jonė Narusevičiūtė-Žmuidzinienė, Gražina Ežbieta Gustaitytė-Krivickienė, Bronė Mėginaitė- Klimienė, Ona Viburytė-Kajeckienė and Jozefina Rauktytė-Daužvardienė, Stefanija Gervinaitė-Balickienė. These ladies provided not only strong moral support to their husbands but also were instrumental financially in helping to maintain independent Lithuania‘s diplomatic posts during the years of soviet occupation.