George Matulaitis Journal

327 take a good look at each other, they will see that neither is the monster they had imagined. Then I added: “It seems to me that, first of all, it is necessary to come to a fair decision about the disputed territories, to determine boundaries, and only then to discuss if we should create a federation and how this ought to be done.” Jokingly I said: “Let us give the Poles Gardinas and Lida, and they will be satisfied, while whatever is to the north would be considered part of Lithuania.” They disagreed, saying that it cannot be done this way because the historical territory of Greater Lithuania must be restored. But the government in Kaunas wants to create an ethnographic Lithuania. “But what about the Belorussians?” I asked them. “Their country will be divided: the greater part of Belorussia will be in Russia. The Belorussians also want independence and a unified nation. It seems to me that we can no longer be guided by historical precedent. We must now decide national issues according to different principles. Historic Greater Lithuania 1 will hardly satisfy everyone.” They replied that minorities must not be smothered or dominated by larger nations. The fate of these territories cannot be decided without consulting the populace. “Of course, I agree that the rights of minorities must be protected,” I replied, “and that the wishes of the people must be taken into account reasonably. But in our lands where at present normal life has been disrupted, where there is oppression and persecution, where the situation is chaotic and people are ignorant or unaware of their national identity, it is very difficult to satisfy everyone.” We parted amicably. I promised that I would try, in whatever way I could, to reconcile all and to help them negotiate and discuss the issues with the people in Kaunas. It seems to me that, in addition to the negotiations in Brussels, we have to pave the way for peaceful coexistence right here. Late in the evening, Father Cibulskis 2 from the United States came 1 Refers to the Union of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Principality of Lithuania proclaimed in Lublin in 1569. 2 Pranciskus Cibulskis: a Lithuanian priest of the diocese of Vilnius, ordained in 1908. 3 Bu ys had been sent to the USA by Matulaitis and arrived in 1916 to help the Lithuanian Marians work- ing there since 1913. He worked in several Lithuanian parishes; edited the Lithuanian daily Drugas , published in Chicago, until August 1921. Returned to Lithuania; from 1922 to 1928 was professor and head of the Department of Theology at the University of Kaunas. After Matulaitis’s death in 1927, he was elected Superior General of the Marian Fathers. Consecrated Bishop in 1930.