George Matulaitis Journal

May 2 Mr. Mykolas Bir i ka, the principal of the Lithuanian secondary school, came to see me. He told me about the current situation and what the Lithuanians think of the coming of the Polish Legions. In his opinion and that of the Lithuanians, all kinds of repression of freedom will follow the coming of the Polish Legions. This is clearly the beginning of Polish imperialism that seeks to enslave the weaker nations—the Lithuanians and the Belorussians. According to Bir i ka, the National Democrats 1 are taking control. Apparently, the Legionnaires have come to defend the estates and the landowners. In the future, the Poles intend to colonize Belorussia and export its wood products to Poland. The Polish Legions have brought both abominable anti-Semitism and hatred for the Lithuanians and Belorussians. Already the Lithuanians are losing their jobs. They are being dismissed, especially those who do not know Polish. Pi = sudski and Osmo = owski have a more just view and want to handle Lithuanian and Belorussian affairs differently, but they are only a drop in the ocean of National Democrats. The Poles are determined, if they can succeed, to occupy not only Lithuania, but Latvia and Estonia as well. There is practically no member of the Lithuanian intelligentsia whose house has not been searched; some have been searched two, three, and even four times. It was quite common for the soldiers to take money and valuables during these searches. In Lida they shot many Jews. The soldiers looted the Jewish shops and allowed the local people to plunder them as well. Everywhere, the Jews have suffered a great deal at the hands of the Polish Legions. Bir i ka himself had received permission from Osmo =o wski and P i=su dski 2 to travel to Kaunas and needed only the signature of the Commandant. The latter not only refused to sign the paper, but treated Bir i ka rudely, threatening to have him thrown out. Jews, Belorussians, and also Lithuanians are opposed to the present Polish regime and the occupation. No one is able to do anything while the terror goes on. 268 1 The views of the Polish National Democratic Party were least acceptable to most Lithuanians because it favored the reconstitution of the Polish State within the boundaries of 1772, the restoration of the historic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This meant the annexation of Lithuania by Poland. 2 Jan P i=s udski, part of the governing body of the Eastern Lands.