Rehabilitating Children: Lithuania and International Humanitarian Aid, 1918–1923

Griffante, Andrea

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30870-4_4

Rehabilitating Children: Lithuania and International Humanitarian Aid, 1918–1923

Andrea Griffante²

Chapter
First Online: 06 November 2019

88 Accesses

Abstract

At the end of World War I, the material destruction, persistent shortages, and repatriation flows from Russia made the issue of orphans and abandoned and indigent children more urgent every day. While the internationalization of humanitarian intervention and international humanitarian actors’ focus on childhood helped Lithuanian institutions partially cope with children’s relief, both the international/foreign humanitarian organizations (the American Red Cross, the American Relief Administration, and the Lady Paget Mission) and the national ones looked at aid not simply as a means to temporarily alleviate children’s suffering, but as an example to encourage the establishment of new long-term practices and ultimately forge new citizens out of poor children. Even if international child rehabilitation projects endeavored to deliver aid according to the perceived countries’ social situation and vulnerability in the anti-Bolshevik front, different approaches undermined cooperation and fueled widespread and reciprocal suspicions.

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Notes

1.
Report, 1926, Lietuvos Centrinis Valstybės archyvas (LCVA), Vilnius, Lithuania, F.928.AP.1.B.506.L.22.
2.
LWRC letter, 21/7/1918, Lietuvos Mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių biblioteka (LMAVB), Vilnius, Lithuania, F.70–21.L.243.
3.
LWRC minute, 20/9 and 7/10/1918, LMAVB, F.70–4.L.343,348; Presidium of provincial relief committee, 20/1/1920, Archiwum Akt Nowych (AAN), Warsaw, Poland, Box 52.510.
4.
Minutes of the Kaunas Commission for Social Assistance, 4/11/1920, Kauno Apskrities archyvas (KAA), Kaunas, Lithuania, F.59.AP.5.B.26.L.14.
5.
Presidium of provincial relief committee, 7/1/1920, AAN, Box 52.510.
6.
Report on the historical development of social assistance in Lithuania [1922], LCVA, F928.AP.1.B.506.L.33.
7.
LRC Report, 1921, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.27.L.107.
8.
Report, 8/12/1919, LCVA, F.64.AP.19.B.567.L.12.
9.
Emergency Service for Christian Children letter, 28/5/1919, LCVA, F.64.AP.24.B.50.
10.
A. Szklennik’s letter, 24/2/1921, LCVA, F64.AP.24.B.100.L.78.
11.
Vilnius Lithuanian Gymnazium Dorm Requirements, 24/5/1919, LMAVB, F.105–607.L.76.
12.
Minute, 10/5/1921, KAA, F.64.AP.24.B.100.L.166.
13.
Vilnius Lithuanian Gymnasium Board minute, 22/12/1919, LMAVB, F.165–200.L.74.
14.
Report, 27/6/1921, KAA, F.64.AP.24.B.100.L.157.
15.
LWRC minute, 1/7/1918, LMAVB, F70–4.L.303.
16.
LWRC minute, 29/7/1918, LMAVB, F.70–4.L.322.
17.
LWRC minute, 9/12/1918, LMAVB, F.70–22.L.212.
18.
Correspondence on subsidies, 1920, LCVA, F928.AP.2.B.32.L.5–6.
19.
General Relief Council Scheme [1919], AAN, Box 52.1444.S.12–3.
20.
Vilnius Relief Council 1917 Report [1918], AAN, Box 52.344.S.98.
21.
Vilnius Relief Council Report, 1919, AAN, Box 52.721.S.115.
22.
General Relief Council minute, 29/5/1919, AAN, Box 52.24.S.6.
23.
Wartime had also caused the fast increase of children’s mortality rates that reached 12.5% in 1916 and fell to its pre-war level only in 1919. See Lietuvos savivaldybės 1918–1928… 1928, 207.
24.
Vilnius Regional Relief Council letter to the General Relief Council, 28/11/1920, AAN, Box 52.510.
25.
E. P. Bicknell’s letter, 22/7/1919, Hoover Institution (HI), Stanford, USA, Box 179, Folder 8.
26.
E. P. Bicknell’s letter, 10/11/1919, HI, Box 179, Folder 8.
27.
PM Sleževičius’ letter, 18/4/1919, LCVA, F.383.AP.7.L.2307.L.25.
28.
Diplomatic passport [1919], LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.734.L.3.
29.
Letter to the Lithuanian Diplomatic mission to the USA, 16/8/1919, LVCA, F.656.AP.1.B.587.L.1.
30.
Lithuanian Aid Society letter, September 1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.14.L.11.
31.
Communication of the National Information Bureau, 17/10/1919, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.14.L.98.
32.
Jonas Vileišis’ letter, 12/5/1920, LCVA, F1734.AP.1.B.14.L.63.
33.
Lithuanian Aid Society letter, 16/9/1921, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.14.L.6.
34.
LRC Moscow Section Report, 13/7/1919, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.5.L.276.
35.
Report [1919], LCVA, F.383.AP.7.B.40.L.276.
36.
L. Turczynowicz’s letter, 14/11/1919, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.734.L.48.
37.
L. Turczynowicz’s letter, 29/5/1920, LCVA, F656.AP.1.B.734.L.55.
38.
Lithuanian Aid Society letter, 1/8/1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.12.L.8.
39.
LRC Memorandum, 24/1/1920, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.618.L.7.
40.
LRC letter to the ARC, 21/4/1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.14.L.65.
41.
E. Kendall’s letter, 19/3/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 23.
42.
E. R. Ryan’s letter, 1/3/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 10.
43.
E. W. Ryan’s letter, 8/3/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 15.
44.
E. P. Bicknell’s letter, 10/11/1919, HI, Box 179, Folder 8.
45.
E. R. Ryan’s letter, 1/3/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 10.
46.
J. Caldwell’s letter, 3/12/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 10.
47.
Lithuanian Delegation in Paris Letter, 8/4/1919, LCVA, F.383.AP.7.B.2307.L.58.
48.
L. Henderson’s letter, 21/1/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 10.
49.
Quinn’s letter, 21/7/1920, LCVA, F.648.AP.1.B.456.L.16.
50.
E. W. Ryan’s letter, 13/7/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 25.
51.
Memorandum [1919], LCVA, F.22.AP.1.B.26.L.2.
52.
LWRC minute, 17/5/1920, LMAVB, F.70–2.L.6.
53.
LWRC minutes, 3 and 6/12/1920, LMAVB, F.70–2.L.32.
54.
LWRC minute, 20/12/1920, LMAVB, F.70–2.L.34.
55.
Ministry of Labor and Social Security Communication [1919], LCVA, F.928.AP.1.B.35.L.178–9.
56.
Letter to Kaunas City Council, 12/07/1919, LCVA, F.928.AP.1.B.1123.L.15.
57.
Healthcare Department letter, 30/9/1920, KAA, F.59.AP.5.B.32.L.47.
58.
Healthcare Department letter, 11/11/1919, LCVA, F.928.AP.1.B.35.L.110.
59.
LRC letter, 5/3/1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.12.L.12.
60.
Kaunas City Council Report, 17/1/1920, KAA, F59.AP.5.B.21.L.41.
61.
Kaunas Police Report [1920], ibidem, L.40.
62.
Kaunas Police Reports [1920], ibidem, L.34,39.
63.
Šiauliai Police Report, 2/8/1920, LMAVB, F.76–471.L.2.
64.
Kaunas Police Report [1920], KAA, F.59.AP.5.B.21.L.36.
65.
Feeding Commission minute, 19/5/1919, LCVA, F.928.AP.1.B.35.L.173.
66.
Ministry of Interiors letter, 12/4/1920, KAA, F59.AP.5.B.21.L.12.
67.
General Relief Council Report, 16/2/1920, AAN, Box 52.39.S.18.
68.
CCAC Report, 1/8/1919, AAN, Box 52.595.S.156–60.
69.
Vilnius Council minute, 29/5/1921, LCVA, F.64.AP.24.B.106.L.16.
70.
VPC minute, 9/3/1920, LMAVB, F.105–604.L.35.
71.
Vilnius Lithuanian Hostel Committee minute, 4/9/1921, LMAVB, F.70–12.L.38.
72.
VPC minute, 22/5/1919, LMAVB, F.105–606.L.104.
73.
Trakai Relief Council minute, 27/3/192, AAN, Box 52.506.
74.
General Relief Council letter [1919], AAN, Box 52.505.
75.
A Present for the Borderland Children Organizational Committee’s letter, 21/11/1919, AAN, Box 52.121.S.9.
76.
Communication, 3/4/1919, KAA, F.59.AP.5.B.4.L.77.
77.
LWRC minute, 26/7/1918, LMAVB, F.70–4.L.321.
78.
LWRC minute, 21/7/1918, ibidem, L.243.
79.
LWRC minute, 12/8/1918, ibidem, L.326.
80.
See, for example, the letters to the LWRC, 1918, ibidem, L.150,151,189.
81.
Report, 22/5/1917, AAN, Box 52.103.S.65.
82.
Report, 10/2/1920, LCVA, F.64.AP.24.B.36.
83.
Report, 20/1/1920, AAN, Box 52.510.
84.
Minister of Labor and Social Assistance, 10/3/1921, LCVA, F.64.AP.36.L.101.
85.
Communication of Caritas Society in Poznań, 20/11/1919, AAN, Box 52.598.S.36–9.
86.
Commissar for the Eastern Lands, 5/5/1920, LCVA, F.64.AP.24.B.36.
87.
VPC minute, 6/6/1919, LMAVB, F.105–601.L.1.
88.
VPC minute, 21/2/1922, LMAVB, F.254–9.L.8.
89.
Complaint letter [1919], LMAVB, F.70–102.L.1.
90.
VPC minute, 20/2/1920, LMAVB, F.105–604.L.49–50.
91.
M. Biržiška’s letter, 7/11/191, LMAVB, F.254–479.L.1.
92.
A. Szklennik’s letter, 24/2/1921, LCVA, F64.AP.24.B.100.L.81–2.
93.
Pościagliwosc i praca. Vilnius Relief Council Report, 11–15/3/1920, AAN, Box 52.510.
94.
Telegrams, 28/5/1920 and 30/11/1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.13.L.7,27.
95.
Report [1919], LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.734.L.52.
96.
M. Bennetton’s letter, 14/11/1919, LCVA, F.648.AP.1.B.56.L.9.
97.
Society of Friends letter, 14/4/1919, LCV, F.656.AP.1.B.734.L.52.
98.
Mary L. Benton’s Report, 30/5/1919, LCVA, F.648.AP.1.B.456.L.1–5.
99.
Ruth M. Woodsmall’s Report, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.137.L.37.
100.
L. Turczynowicz’s letter, 28/5/1919, LCVA, F.923.AP.1.B.61.L.11.
101.
Ruth M. Woodsmall’s Report, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.137.L.38.
102.
E. R. Ryan’s letter, 12/3/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 14.
103.
Ruth M. Woodsmall’s Report, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.137.L.38.
104.
Ibidem, L.37.
105.
Lithuanian National Council letter, 13/8/1919, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.734.L.42.
106.
Report on LRC activities, 1921, LCVA, F.656.AP.1.B.734.L.4.
107.
Rytas Society Pedagogical Committee minute, 19/12/1919, LMAVB, F.239–240.L.17.
108.
“Memorandum for the American Red Cross,” 24/1/1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.4.L.64.
109.
Report, 16/11/1919, LCVA, F.4.AP.1.B.1.
110.
ARC Children’s Ambulatory Report [1922], LCVA, F.380.AP.1.B.42.L.27.
111.
Report on ARC activities, 24/7/1922, LCVA, F380.AP.1.B.42.L.3.
112.
LRC letter, 6/9/1921, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.27.L.44–5.
113.
A. Steponaitis’ letter, 5/1/1920, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.13.L.86.
114.
Save the Children International Union letter, 16/9/1921, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.27.L.20.
115.
W. A. MacKenzie’s letter, 8/12/1921, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.27.L.7.
116.
LRC letter, 12/10/1921, LCVA, F.1734.AP.1.B.27.L.187.
117.
Letter to Olds, 25/5/1920, HI, Box 179, Folder 24.
118.
Lady Paget Mission Report, 15/12/1922, KAA, F.64.AP.1.L.71.L.10–1a.
119.
Special Report on the Condition of Children in Kovno, Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections, University of Birmingham, Box EJ74.
120.
Kaunas City Council Minutes, 9/1/1923, KAA, F.64.AP.1.B.71.L.8.

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Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
Andrea Griffante

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Griffante, A. (2019). Rehabilitating Children: Lithuania and International Humanitarian Aid, 1918–1923. In: Children, Poverty and Nationalism in Lithuania, 1900–1940. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30870-4_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30870-4_4
Published: 06 November 2019
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
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Online ISBN: 978-3-030-30870-4
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