George Matulaitis Journal

railway station. On the 3rd and 4th of January trains were still running from Lentvaris to Kaunas. But on the 5th it was announced that from now on they will be running from Kai iadorys. Just before Christmas Father Vaitkevi ius 1 arrived from W=oc=awek 2 by way of Warsaw. He had a very difficult and troublesome journey. I was very happy to see him. With one of my own at my side, I felt more at peace. It has been very hard for me here in Vilnius. My path is truly strewn with thorns. In Polish society I was feared and distrusted: the Poles kept watching what I would do. Even while congratulating me at my installation, one Polish lady said she hoped I would be a real father, not a stepfather, to the Polish people. As for the Lithuanians, they were afraid that I might gravitate toward the Poles. It was difficult to see how I could please both. The city is plagued with intense nationalistic hatreds. The Poles positively refuse to recognize either the Lithuanians or the Belorussians. They intend to take power into their own hands and are already doing so. On the other hand, the Lithuanians say that there are no real Poles here: the common people are Belorussian and there is no need to pay much attention to the Polish landowners and chauvinists. The leaders of the Belorussians, for their part, want something for their own people. However, the Belorussian people are ignorant and neglected, hardly conscious of their own national identity. In fact, if anyone tries to speak or preach to them in Belorussian, they object vehemently. As for the Jews, it appears that they are in sympathy with Russia and intend to join the Russians. In addition to these, there are all kinds of political factions and parties. The city is like a boiling cauldron, seething with hatred. 171 1 Juozas Vaitkevi ius [Józef Wojtkiewicz in Polish] (1880-1949): came from the same part of Lithuania as Matulaitis and, like him, had studied at the Seminary of Warsaw; ordained in 1903. He received his doc- torate in theology from the University of Fribourg and joined the Marians in 1911. He taught in Warsaw then at the Seminary in Wloclawek from 1913-1918. He stayed with Bishop Matulaitis in Vilnius 1918-20 as his private secretary. 2 W=oc=awek was an important city in Poland on the Wistula River, about 100 mi. north of Warsaw. It was the seat of an old diocese and famous for its medieval cathedral. It also had a Seminary.