George Matulaitis Journal

262 working clothes, but now the fashion has changed. Under the Bolsheviks the appearance of the city was practically Russian. Russian was heard in the streets all the time. The men were wearing Russian-style hats; even the Polish landowners put them on so that the Bolsheviks would not recognize them. The Jewish and Russian elements had the upper hand. On April 28th, Father Jakavonis 1 from the town of Gerve iai came to visit me and reported that the Bolsheviks are fighting the Poles near New Vilnia. We could actually hear the shooting. The Dean of Balstoge [Bi a= ystok in Polish] sent me a report on the parish of Jasiunai [ Jasie<kowo in Polish]. The Polish Minister of State Property had confiscated church land — a wooded area [Lasek Ka = uszy < ski in Polish]. Naturally, the pastor protested that even the Polish government was starting to confiscate church property. I told a certain priest about this with an expression of disgust. As a result, some of the Polish nationalist priests made haste to spread the rumor that osten- sibly I was complaining and spreading gossip about the confiscation of this forest in order to attack the Polish government and to discredit it in the eyes of the people. They were discussing it at the seminary, and one of the priests told me about it, warning me to be more careful. Really, there is a great deal of unhealthy sensitivity here in regard to nationality. It never even occurred to me that I was attacking the Polish government. I received a telegram through Monsignor Michalkiewicz, former administrator of the diocese, from Pozna < . A committee has been formed there to send relief and aid to the people of Vilnius and the Eastern Lands. They had already sent their representative to Warsaw and were asking that Vilnius send one to the Chief Welfare Council ( Rada G = ówna Opieku < cza , Jasna no. 32 in Warsaw) to discuss how this aid should be sent and distributed. After conferring with 1 Ambraziejus Jakavonis (1886-1943): ordained in Vilnius in 1911; pastor of the parish of Gerveciai, 60 km east of Vilnius. He was an active and able pastor, who had revived the parish, founding schools and orga- nizations and conducting his pastoral ministry in Lithuanian. Because of this, he was having problems with the Poles and had probably come to consult with the bishop about this. On his way to Vilnius from the east, he passed through its eastern suburb, the town of New Vilnia, where the Red Army was trying to regain con- trol of Vilnius and the surrounding area.