Slaptas pasitarimas Šiaurės Amerikos lietuvių reikalu

Abstract

A document found in the Lithuanian Central State Archive's Foreign Ministry section entitled "Secret meeting of January 10, 1940, on Lithuanian-American matters" throws light on problems then existing in the Lithuanian community of North America. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the current situation of North American Lithuanian life; to get a handle on problems associated with the Lithuanian emigrants' loss of national identity; and to look for ways to induce the emigrants to return to Lithuania in the hope that they would bring back their accumulated capital as well. The crucial fact emphasized at the meeting was that the Lithuanians living in North America were nearing the brink of complete de-Lithuanianization, and that this was one of the most important reasons why the government had to pay more attention to solving this problem.