George Matulaitis Journal

If we boycott the schools, Polish society, especially the socialists, may accuse us priests of destroying their schools. But if these schools start to undermine religious faith, then, of course, parents will be forbidden to have their children attend them. I had invited Father Tumas to come to see me and asked him whether it would be a good idea to go to the Commisar for Education, Vaclovas Bir i ka, 1 and speak to him about this problem with the schools. Father Tumas had already gone to see the Commissar’s brother, the principal of the Lithuanian secondary school, Mykolas Bir i ka. 2 He said that the Commissar had come to discuss the school decree with him. Mykolas had warned him not to proclaim such a decree as yet because it would arouse the entire Catholic community against the Bolsheviks. Until now, thank God, the decree has not appeared. During this period I prayed fervently that God would save us from all these dangers. Our Church had endured so much under czarist rule, and now we have new sufferings to bear—and these in the name of freedom of conscience. Lord, how strange this world is! The very people who had shouted and raged against the death penalty are now shooting and killing their arrested opponents. The same people who had so recently fought against censorship and restrictions on freedom of the press are now banning all newspapers with other points of view. If one dares to be published, they rush in to stifle its voice. 3 The very same people who had so passionately demanded freedom of speech, of assembly and associa- tion, now do not allow a person with a different opinion even to open his mouth. Also, they will not tolerate any other organization apart from their own. Those who had earlier so diligently proposed new voting ballots, first of all with four candidates and later with five or six, now reject all this and try to elect their own candidates against the will of the majority, frequently threatening people at gunpoint. Formerly they demanded equal rights for everyone, but now they recognize these rights only for their own supporters, a small group of people. 183 1 Vaclovas Bir i ka (1884-1956): received a law degree from the University of St. Petersburg, had been in the Russian army and worked in Moscow. In 1919, he taught law for a time in Vilnius and for a short peri- od served as Commissar for Education in the Kapsukas administration. In 1920, he moved to Kaunas. 2 Mykolas Bir i ka (1882-1962): historian of Lithuanian literature and culture, also a prominent activist in the Lithuanian national revival in Vilnius. From 1915 to 1922 was principal of the first Lithuanian sec- ondary school and representative of the Lithuanian government. He was a staunch admirer and ally of Bishop Matulaitis. 3 On February 8, 1919, the Bolsheviks banned all non-Communist Lithuanian, Polish, Jewish, and Russian newspapers published in Vilnius.