Tylieji priesaikos riteriai : Lietuvos pasiuntinybė Vašingtone Šaltojo karo metais : monografija / Asta Petraitytė-Briedienė; Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas

Abstract

Knyga skirta Lietuvos pasiuntinybės Vašingtone istorijai. Šaltojo karo metais joje dirbę diplomatai Povilas Žadeikis, Juozas Kajeckas, dr. Stasys Antanas Bačkis ir Stasys Lozoraitis (jaunesnysis) buvo tarsi riteriai, kurie, davę priesaiką, tyliai dirbo vardan Lietuvos laisvės ir nepriklausomybės, jos sugrįžimo į tarptautinės politikos areną. Remiantis archyviniais dokumentais, akademine literatūra ir atskirų asmenų pasakojimais atskleidžiamas diplomatų sukurtas „nematomas tinklelis“. Jo gijos, apjungusios politinę lietuvių išeiviją, JAV institucijas (Valstybės departamentą) ir okupuotą kraštą, buvo diplomatų veiklos pagrindas

The first then still unofficial diplomatic contacts between Lithuania and the United States started in 1919. The United States recognized Lithuania de jure and de facto in 1922, and at the end of that same year Vytautas Valdemaras Čarneckis submitted letters of credence to the US State Department. This diplomatic post has functioned continuously ever since. When the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940, its diplomats serving abroad continued their work and did not abandon their diplomatic duties. Some were recognized by the states of the free democratic world (such as the United States, Great Britain, France, the Holy See). The exceptionality of the Lithuanian embassy in Washington was its activities during the Cold War, that is, in the shadow of major world political events and one super state. The very fact of the diplomats’ recognition and thus activities means that the Republic of Lithuania that functioned in 1918–1940 was not forgotten and existed in the political thinking of some states until 1990 when Lithuania finally unshackled itself from the occupation of the Soviet Union.This history about the Lithuanian embassy in Washington consists of an introduction, five chapters and a conclusion, plus four appendices. Monographic texts, document collections and material from Lithuanian and American archives were used. The term “Cold War” is used here not in terms of historical dates “from” “to” that exist in historiography, but as a symbolic concept describing the entire period of activity of the Lithuanian embassy in Washington.That is because the struggle of Lithuania’s diplomats to return their country to the political map of the world began in 1940 and ended in 1991. This was a time of “war after war”. During the whole five decades the keystone of Lithuania’s diplomats and all of Lithuania’s case for freedom was the US-led un-recognition policy of Lithuania’s occupation.[...]