George Matulaitis Journal

During the past year, the professor of World History, Father Mi=kow ski, kept going on and on about the Polish-Lithuanian Union 1 in practically every lecture, until all the seminarians were sick of it. But he is not doing it this year. Last year the inspector, Father Lubianiec, during his lectures on Canon Law attacked the Lithuanians vehemently. He would get worked up and red in the face while bitterly reproaching the Lithuanians. Once, he even delivered a sermon against the Lithuanian Council. This year he is no longer doing it. The seminarians feel that since the arrival of the new bishop, the nationality issue has died down. Last year too, one of the Polish seminarians went around all the rooms selling pins with the Polish eagle, and this was done with the approval of the authorities. Everyone, including the Belorussians and Lithuanians, had to buy them. If you didn’t buy one, you were labeled an enemy of the Poles. The inspector permitted the Poles to bring Polish calendars into the seminary, but would not let the Lithuanians bring Lithuanian ones. It is not allowed to speak Lithuanian or Belorussian in public: that is immediately scorned and rebuked. I asked him if it were true that last year the Belorussians were being forced to sign up as Poles. He said it was. When the Germans demanded a list of seminarians by nationality, it seems that about forty seminarians had signed up as Belorussians. The Father Inspector was very upset when he heard of this and went around the rooms himself making a second list and trying to convince the seminarians that they should sign up as Poles for the good of the Church. Only one or two courageous fellows did not agree to be registered as Poles and remained Belorussians. One of them has been dismissed. But it is not clear if it was for something else. Nevertheless, the Belorussians are reviving and becoming more active. I told Cibulskis that I would not discriminate against anyone on account of their nationality or language. Let all the nations praise 236 1 Refers to the Union of Lublin in 1569, which declared that Poland and Lithuania were to be one nation with one ruler. It did not succeed in welding the two nations together, since Lithuania would not give up its autonomy and retained home rule.