Kauno jėzuitų gimnazija Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais

Abstract

The article sets out to analyze the changes of the school status and its owners from 1940 until the end of the German occupation in Lithuania. The greatest attention is paid to the continuity of the school communities’ life via conceptualization and description of what the community is and how it functioned in the analyzed period. It appears that despite the soviet nationalization of the private Jesuit school in 1940, the bigger part of the pupils remained in the school and continued their studies. The Jesuits also did not go far from the school and especially from the Jesuit church (both buildings are located at the same place). The situation changed with the beginning of the German occupation: the Jesuits returned to the school, although their activity was also put under restrictions later on. Despite all the difficulties, oral history sources prove the fact that Jesuits made a big impact on theirs pupils’ values and thoughts. The ideas of the Jesuit community rested in the schools even at the beginning of second Soviet occupation when most of the old teachers were fired. It can be noted that the climate did not change until a completely new generation of the pupils entered the school.