Vilnius Area Research Articles

Environmental and Human Impact on Gully Erosion Recorded in Fan Sediments: A Case Study of the Vilnius area, Lithuania

Abstract Geomorphological and sedimentological research carried out in the vicinity of Vilnius (SW Lithuania) aimed to determine the age and stages of development of gullies in relation to climatic conditions and human activity. Two gullies located on the northern slope of the Vilnia river valley were examined in detail. The sedimentological features of the sediments which form fans at the mouths of the gullies were analysed. Three main lithological units were distinguished. On the basis of radiocarbon datings, the beginning of gully erosion was determined to be in the Middle Ages. This process began with intensive settlement in this area. Further stages of a cutting which were distinguished include early modern times and the period from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Wileńskie Koło Związku Bibliotekarzy Polskich (1923–1939)

The Vilnius Circle of the Union of Polish Librarians was active in the years 1923–1939. The Circle aimed to deepen the librarianship knowledge of its members, to promote knowledge of libraries and librarianship in the Vilnius area, to watch over the proper development of minor libraries and to facilitate active participation in the nationwide librarianship movement. To this end, the Circle organized reading and discussion meetings, visits to Vilnius libraries and archives, established and maintained ties with the central authorities of the Union of Polish Librarians in Warsaw, the circles of the union in other cities, as well as organizations with a similar scope of activity. The number of members of the Circle in particular years ranged from 37 to 54, and the presidents of the Circle were Ludwik Czarkowski, Stefan Rygiel, Adam Łysakowski. The Vilnius Circle was officially dissolved in the autumn of 1939 by order of the Lithuanian authorities, but in the first years of the war it continued its activities clandestinely, which were expressed mainly in mutual assistance of librarians.

Działalność Urzędu Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego wobec byłych członków wileńskiej Armii Krajowej w powiecie wałeckim w latach 1947–1952

In 1947 the organisation of Polish Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa) which during the II world war operated in Vilnius area, was infiltrated by communistic secret political police (Polish: Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego - UBP) in Wałcz. UBP initiated the activities in order to intimidate and divide the members of Vilnius AK. After discovery the very well organized conspiracy structure of AK, which conducted a wide intelligence activity, the secret political policy considered this AK society as very dangerous for communistic authority.

Rękopiśmienny słowniczek wileńskiej gwary ludowej Artura Dolińskiego jako źródło do badań gwar polskich

The article presents a manuscript collection of dialect lexicon from the 2nd half of the 19th century compiled by Artur Doliński. The glossary records the vocabulary characteristic of the folk dialect of the Vilnius area. The author has established that in terms of methodology, Doliński’s work differs from other studies of this type (the entries are not arranged alphabetically, they lack qualifiers or explicataions of how to use a particular word). However, this does not diminish the value of the work under discussion, since the glossary records unknown lexemes from historical Lithuania, and attests to phonetic and grammatical features inherent in the borderland variety of the language. This makes Doliński’s work an important source for the study of Polish dialects in the 19th century Northeastern Borderlands.

DRAUGŲ LAISVALAIKIS VILNIAUS APSKRITYJE: KAIMAS, MIESTAS IR DIDMIESTIS

The aim of this article is to compare the leisure time of friends in different parts of the Vilnius area: a village, a town and the city. The study is based to a great extent on fieldwork, using the opportunities of semi-structured interviews. Comparing longer-term, travel-related forms of leisure, there are greater opportunities for such friends’ leisure time in the big town or city. Meanwhile, based on an analysis of short-term forms of friends’ leisure time, the article concludes that both in Soviet times and in recent years, there is no great difference between common leisure in different types of settlements. This is due to the short distance to Vilnius, the big city, of the areas studied. On the other hand, the leisure and entertainment infrastructure was created for tourism. These differences are further reduced by an increasing amount of free time being spent in cyberspace.

Principles of „The Normative Dictionary of the Polish Place Names from the area of Lithuania“

The aim of the article is to elaborate on the principles of the online edition of The Normative Dictionary of the Polish Place Names from the area of Lithuania. This is a normative dictionary. It contains Polish equivalents of contemporary Lithuanian place names from the area of Lithuania, their declination, adjectives and names of residents. The dictionary contains names of districts, towns and villages, counting over 20 residents from Vilnius, Šalčininkai, Trakai, Švenčionys and Širvintos regions. The dictionary includes names from the Vilnius area inhabited by numerous Polish minority, and selected names from different parts of Lithuania, important in terms of history, culture and society (e.g. from the area of Lauda and the vicinity of Kaunas). The article outlines the structure of the dictionary, looks into difficulties encountered in its development and supplements this study with a brief description of the Dictionary and of the present state of work on it.

New estimation of the gross domestic product in Baltic countries in 1913–1938

Using the demand-side approach we provide new estimates of output per capita for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in 1913, 1922, 1929, and 1938. Our findings suggest that the levels of real output per capita in Estonia and Latvia were much above the all-Russian mean in 1913. In 1938, the output per capita of Estonia and Latvia surpassed the prewar level by up to 20%, but the total output of Latvia did not reach this mark because of population reduction. Structural changes in the interwar Estonian and Latvian economies explain long postwar recovery and modest growth beyond the prewar levels. In 1892–1914, there was export-oriented industrialization of Latvia, resembling the development of Eastern Asian “tigers” in the late twentieth century. By 1914, mainland Latvia was an “entrepot industrial economy,” created mainly by the foreign direct investments of Western companies that established their subsidiaries there beyond the Russian protective customs wall. After the loss of the Russian market, Latvia and Estonia partially deindustrialized and reagrarized, while the interwar independence period was too short for policies of “Denmarkization” to bring about strong catching-up growth. Therefore, their standing in the international ranking according to output per capita did not improve over the 1913–1938 period. Lithuanian output per capita stagnated until 1929 because of infraction of its economic integrity by the loss of the Vilnius area and difficulties of economic integration of the formerly German Klaipėda (Memel) region, but did grow rapidly in 1930s up to 40% of 1913 level by 1938.

Nauczycielki Ziemi Wileńskiej w latach 1915–1923

During the political changes in Vilnius County, i.e. in the territory of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1926) with the capital in Vilnius, after 1914 the Polish society hoped for full acceptance of educational institutions, operating illegally before the outbreak of WWI. Despite significant difficulties created by the German occupier, Polish education – both general and secondary – was organized. It was mean feat primarily due to the lack of teachers. In the early 20th century, two schools preparing for the teaching profession operated in Vilnius: the Nazareth Sisters and an institution organized by Agata Karpowiczówna. Recognizing the need to educate teachers, a school for women named after Queen Jadwiga was founded in 1916, and soon afterwards the Education Committee established five more schools. Meanwhile, junior and senior high schools were also established in Vilnius. On the basis of archival research carried out by the authors of the article in the Lithuanian State Historical Archive in Vilnius, numerous applications and biographies of candidates for educators, primarily in the Vilnius area, were collected and presented. This documentation is diverse as it consists of surveys regarding personal data and the course of work, applications handwritten by the candidates, opinions of former superiors but also correspondence on the basis of which. the candidate’s studies and work can be reconstructed. The above-mentioned documentation comes from 1919–1923 i.e. a period of slow stabilization of education in the area in question.

Heavy metal contamination in surface runoff sediments of the urban area of Vilnius, Lithuania

Heavy metal contamination in surface runoff sediments of the urban area of Vilnius, Lithuania

THE IMPACT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT ON THE LEVEL OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT ORGANISATION IN TERRITORIES / MIESTŲ URBANISTINĖS PLĖTROS ĮTAKA TERITORIJŲ VIEŠOJO TRANSPORTO ORGANIZAVIMO LYGIUI

Urban development of a modern city should combine and cover most of areas. One of the most important areas that ensure sustainable urban development is the sustainable development of the system of communication. This is one of the most important factors that shapes the city and has a direct influence on urban socio-economic viability, ensuring the quality of the environment and safe traffic conditions. Cities formed in the course of historical processes usually divide into certain areas, centres-cores, peripheral zones, functional centres etc. A territorial communication system, as well as all other infrastructure, must meet the needs of local residents and working people in the broad sense. The article analyses how the communication system infrastructure meets the spatial functioning in order to ensure conditions for work and development. In the case of Vilnius, the level of public transport organisation at the core of the city and peripheral areas is examined. The majority of residents live in residential areas dominated by multi-apartment buildings: Žirmūnai, Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Šeškinė, Justiniškės and Fabijoniškės are areas populated by more than 5% of residents, with 4.5% residing at Antakalnis and Pašilaičiai. As these areas are easy to reach from work, they constitute the main transport zone of the city with Centras, Žvėrynas, Viršuliškės, Vilkpėdė, Šnipiškės and Baltupiai as intermediary zones. Express buses are serving the main core of the city that covers 27 transport zones out of 50; this territory covers 32% of the total area of Vilnius and the area contains 85% of the urban population and jobs. Šiuolaikinio miesto urbanistinė plėtra turi būti kompleksinė ir apimti daugumą sričių. Viena iš svarbiausių sričių, užtikrinanti darnią miestų urbanistinę plėtrą – susisiekimo sistemos darnioji plėtra. Tai vienas svarbiausių miestą formuojančių veiksnių, turinčių tiesioginės įtakos miestų socialiniam-ekonominiam gyvybingumui, užtikrinančių aplinkos kokybę ir saugias eismo sąlygas. Istorinių procesų eigoje susiformavę miestai, kaip įprasta, dalijasi į tam tikras teritorijas – centrus-branduolius, periferines zonas, funkcinius centrus ir kt. Teritorijų susisiekimo sistemos, kaip ir visa kita infrastruktūra, turi tenkinti tos teritorijos gyventojų ir darbo žmonių poreikius plačiąja prasme. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama susisiekimo sistemos infrastruktūros atitiktis teritorijų funkcionavimui, siekiant užtikrinti sąlygas dirbti ir vystytis. Vilniaus pavyzdžiu nagrinėjamas viešojo transporto organizavimo miesto branduolyje bei periferinėse zonose lygis. Gyvenamuosiuose rajonuose, kur vyrauja daugiaaukščiai, gyvena didžioji dalis miestiečių: daugiau nei po 5 % miesto gyventojų Žirmūnų, Lazdynų Karoliniškių, Šeškinės, Justiniškių, Fabijoniškių rajonuose, per 4,5 % – Antakalnio ir Pašilaičių rajonuose. Visi šie rajonai gyventojų darbo pasiekiamumo pagrindu formuoja pagrindinę miesto susisiekimo zoną, į kurią kaip tarpiniai rajonai dar patenka Centro, Žvėryno, Viršuliškių Vilkpėdės, Šnipiškių, Baltupių rajonai. Greitieji autobusai aptarnauja pagrindinį miesto branduolį, į kurį patenka 27 transportiniai rajonai iš 50, jų teritorija sudaro 32 % visos Vilniaus teritorijos, ši teritorija apima 85 % gyventojų ir darbo vietų.

Prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms in Vilnius area children and adolescents

Background. Lower urinary tract symptoms are a common problem world­wide among children. The aim of the study was to evaluate how common lower urinary tract symptoms are among children and adolescents in the Vilnius area. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study comprised 360 children (5–11 years) and 388 adolescents (12–18 years) who were hospitalized at the Children’s Hospital or referred for consultation for different health reasons not related to urination problems. Data were obtained by using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The data were compared between gender (344 boys and 404 girls) and age groups (children and adolescents). Results. Only a half (55.7%) of all questioned children and adolescents had no lower urinary tract symptoms. Nocturnal enuresis (NE) was found in 8.7%, urgency in 34.0% and daytime wetting in 24.6% of the questioned children and adolescents. Monosymptomatic NE accounted for 20.0% of NE. Secondary NE was seen in a quarter (24.5%) of children with NE. Lower urinary tract symptoms were more prevalent in children compared to adolescents (56.1% vs 38.1%, p = 0.000). There were no significant differences between genders except urgency, which was more frequent in girls (29.4% vs 37.9%, p = 0.014). Conclusion. Lower urinary tract symptoms are frequent in children and adolescents in the Vilnius area, so they need greater attention by healthcare providers.

Lichens and allied fungi of two Regional Parks in Vilnius area (Lithuania)

Two Regional Parks – Verkiai and Pavilniai are situated in Vilnius city area comprising territories both of the city itself and Vilnius district and are under strong anthropogenic influence. During the present study 172 species of lichens, lichenicolous and saprobic fungi were revealed in Verkiai RP and 92 species – in Pavilniai RP. Three lichen species – <em>Absconditella pauxilla, Thelenella pertusariella</em> (in Verkiai RP), <em>Bacidia caligans</em> (in Pavilniai RP) and one saprobic fungus – <em>Chaenothecopsis debilis</em> (in Verkiai RP) are reporded for the first time in Lithuania. Seven lichen species of Lithuanian Red Data Book were recorded, all of them only in Verkiai RP; this indicates less strong anthropogenic impact and better conditions for biodiversity in this Park.

The Styles of Coping with Stress at Work among High School Teachers and Secondary School Lecturers

Carried out investigations proved that teachers’ stress experience is more often noticeable than among other professionals [28] and threat of a professional burning out for the teachers is higher. This investigation is quite new because there is not much research, which would compare the styles of coping with stress at work by secondary school teachers and high schools lecturers. It could be important for further psychological investigations either in Lithuania as well as in other countries.
 This article presents the results of investigation about the styles to coping with stress at work. There were paid attention to such factors as age, gender, place of work (secondary or higher school) and teaching experience. The study sample consisted of 245 teachers from Vilnius city and Vilnius area, 157 (64.1 percent) secondary school teachers and 88 (35.9 percent) high schools lecturers. The investigation revealed that a younger group of the teachers (21–39 years old) was more than the elder teachers’ group (40-67 years old) incline to use the avoidance style of coping with stress at work than the teachers belonging to an elder group (40–67 years old) (p = 0.0001). Female teachers were more than male teachers inclined to use an emotions oriented styles of coping with stress (p = 0.0001). The teachers with more teaching experience inclined to use the avoidance and emotions oriented styles of coping with stress (p < 0.05). It also appeared that the secondary school teachers were more than the higher school teachers inclined to use the emotional style of coping with stress (p = 0.028) and were less inclined to employ a problem solving oriented style of coping with stress (p = 0.017) at work. A separate examination of statistically material research results for the secondary school teachers and higher school teachers allows stating that the younger secondary school teachers more often that the older teachers use the avoidance style in stressful situations at work (p = 0.0001); higher school female teachers are more often inclined to use the emotional coping style in stressful situations (p = 0.001). Taking into consideration that there were identified a few important differences between the groups of teachers, the subsequent researches should be justified in order to determine causal relations of these differences.

Orthodox Churches in the Civitas Rutenica Area of Vilnius: The Question of Location

The Orthodox community which settled in the Civitas Rutenica area in Vilnius started building their houses of worship (Orthodox churches) as early as the first half of the 14th century. At the beginning of the 15th century, there were 12 of them inside the quarter and two outside it. These churches, reflecting Orthodox culture and showing the usual features of their construction, predetermined the further development of this part of the city, and the development of whole areas of Vilnius. Locating them precisely enables us to better understand the urban development of Vilnius, and trends within this development.

Sen jako przejaw podświadomości w autobiograficznej powieści A. Biełego Kocio Letajew

One of the main goals of the educational institution is to enable a person/student to become active, independent and responsible, to promote the personal skills and competences (including knowledge, skills and values) of a student, enabling them to shape their own and the community’s life independently, critically. Democracy requires knowledge of Legacy, so a clear and strict National policy on Legal education is needed. In Lithuania, the program of legal education of the society was approved in 2008. Legal education is described as an activity where a person has possibilities to acquire legal knowledge and skills, is acquainted with legal regulations and the actual legal system, human rights, freedoms, responsibilities and the ways of protection of human rights. Previously done research shows that Legal education implemented in educational institutions seeks to guarantee acquisition of knowledge, skills and values that correspond to the legal provisions. It shapes formation of student’s personal competences in a way that students are enabled in their everyday life to follow the law, morality and other social rules, determined by internalized legal culture and consciousness. This article aims to disclose the importance of legal education in development of children’s personal competences. The research was based on perceptions of 10–12 grade students and professionals of educational institutions (educators) regarding the realities and values of legal education. 328 students and 181 professionals of educational institutions from various types of schools in the area of Vilnius participated in the research in 2011. Research results show that students and educators think that the most significant topics in legal education are Human Obligations and Human Rights and Freedoms; educators and students have a different understanding of them. The topics that are scarce in legal education for children are, for example, International Law, while educators think that children lack most of all the education on Human Obligations and Laws, their purpose in society. Students and educators share the conception that most of all legal education develops students’ skills to argue and express their reasoned opinion, to collaborate and solve problems rationally; legal education promotes and strengthens a person’s respect of themselves and others, tolerance and responsibility. In daily life, according to the respondents, legal education most of all is helpful in defending personal rights and in addressing community issues.

FINDINGS OF PERSISTENT SCATTERER INTERFEROMETRY (PSI) FOR VILNIUS AREA, LITHUANIA

Ground surface deformations can be related to natural and anthropogenic activities. The availability of ground movement data from regular satellite observations, combined with the knowledge of local geology and geomorphology, can help to improve our understanding of subsidence and soil geotechnical settlement phenomena, as well as to distinguish them from structural deterioration of buildings, which in urban environments represent the most common type of radar targets (PS). In Lithuania ground surface deformations are usually related to landslides, karstic, suffusion processes and anthropogenic activities (particularly in urban areas), which can trigger destruction of buildings, communication life‐lines and soil consolidation. This paper is intended to illustrate considerable interpretative difficulties concerning the Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI) results from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data acquired over the Vilnius area (Lithuania) in the framework of TERRAFIRMA project. Protection of groundwater from pollution in the face of both man's intervention and geologically‐driven movements is a high priority for the City Authorities. The distribution of numerous PS shows evidence of the spatial variability of the ground conditions throughout the old town and adjacent area of Vilnius. PS detected in the centre of Vilnius are characterized by velocities mainly ranging between –1.5 to +1.5 mm/year during about 8.5 years of observation. These figures are within the measurement precision error and imply a general stability of the city centre. Nevertheless, the review of the PS dataset has enabled to identify several sites within the Vilnius area characterized by spatially consistent concentrations of the downward moving PS. The localities as well as the site of the PS reference point were checked during the field reconnaissance and the implications of PS results are discussed in this paper. Santrauka Žemes paviršiaus pokyčius sukelia nuošliaužos, žemes drebejimai, potvyniai, kranto erozija, gruntu sedimas, kuri lemia požeminio vandens išsiurbimas ir požeminis naudinguju iškasenu eksploatavimas, požemines karstiniu tuštumu igriuvos ir kitos priežastys. Duomenys apie žemes paviršiaus pokyčius tam tikroje vietoje, gauti atlikus palydovinius stebejimus, kartu su geologiniais ir geomorfologiniais duomenimis apie tiriamaja vietove gali padeti nustatyti žemes paviršiaus grimzdimo reiškinius. Lietuvoje žemes paviršiaus pokyčius daugiausiai sukelia nuošliaužos ir karstines igriuvos, del kuriu dažnai sugriūva pastatai ir komunikacijos. Analizuojami Vilniaus ir jo apylinkiu palydovines interferometrijos (SAR) duomenys ir aptariamos problemos, su kuriomis teko susidurti juos interpretuojant. Preliminari duomenu analize rodo, kad Vilniaus ir jo apylinkiu žemes paviršius gana stabilus, kasmetinis žemes paviršiaus judesiu greitis svyruoja nuo –1,5 iki +1,5 mm/metus. Pavienese Vilniaus teritorijose užfiksuotos ir anomalios neigiamos grimzdimo reikšmes. Šiu reikšmiu atitiktis vietoveje buvo tikslinama lauko darbu metu. Išsamiai aprašomi tyrimo rezultatai. Резюме Оползни, землетрясения, наводнения, береговая эрозия, оседания грунта из-за откачивания подземных вод и эксплуатации подземных полезных ископаемых, а также обвалы подземных карстовых пустот и другие причины изменяют земную поверхность. Данные об изменениях земной поверхности в различных местностях, полученные по результатам сателлитных наблюдений, совместно с геологическими и геоморфологическими исследованиями изучаемой местности могут помочь установить явления погружения земной поверхности. Изменения земной поверхности в Литве в основном связаны с оползнями и карстовыми обвалами, часто разрушающими здания и коммуникации. В статье обсуждается проведенный анализ данных сателлитной интерферометрии (SAR) на территории города Вильнюса и его окрестностей, а также проблемы, с которыми пришлось столкнуться при интерпретации этих данных. Предварительный анализ данных показывает, что земная поверхность территории города Вильнюса и его окрестностей достаточно стабильна, ежегодная скорость движения земной поверхности колеблется от −1,5 до +1,5 мм/год. Однако на некоторых участках города Вильнюса наблюдаются и аномальные отрицательные значения. Точки с такими значениями проверялись на местности во время проведения полевых работ, а результаты исследования детально описаны в настоящей статье.

Polacy i Litwini między marcem 1938 a wrześniem 1939 roku, czyli o tym, jak poznawano terra incognita

During the Interwar Period Poland and Lithuania did not maintain diplomatic relations. The border was closed. The isolation enhanced spreading untrue information about the other side, strengthened myths and stereotypes. The diplomatic relations were established only after the Polish ultimatum in March 1938. Then the border was opened. Since that moment Polish and Lithuanian public opinion gained the possibility to verificate the existing information. The press published numerous accounts describing the situation in Lithuania and Poland. Among Polish newspapers the most interested in the topic were: “Słowo” and “Kurier Wileński.” In the Lithuanian press Poland was presented with admiration. However, in reference to the situation in the Vilnius area, Polish government was severely criticized. So far inaccessible Polish films became very popular in the Lithuanian cinemas. In Poland there were countless publications about Lithuania and the translations from the Lithuanian language. Since autumn 1938, owing to the imminent threat from Germany, more and more signs of Polish-Lithuanian political rapprochement appeared. Nevertheless, the alliance was not formed. The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 hindered the progress towards the normalization of the relations.

MODELING OF MOTOR TRANSPORT EXHAUST POLLUTANT DISPERSION

Pollution is a major problem in all countries, even developed ones. It is the major environmental negative impact of anthropogenic activities affecting ecology. There are two major ways for assessment of negative impact of motor transport flow intensity and pollution level: monitoring the air or modeling pollutant dispersion. It is very important to estimate different unknown air modeling programs. In this work modeling is to be executed by the US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) the so‐called “the best possible existing software for strategic environmental assessment”. That is also recommended by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. In this work pollution modeling was executed for the northern part of Vilnius (the network of streets Geležinis Vilkas ‐ Ozas ‐ Kalvarijos). For motor vehicle pollution mathematical modeling, it is necessary to evaluate meteorological parameters like temperature, humidity, the wind direction and speed. Modeling software can also estimate relief conditions. Pollution emission measurements were used, and pollution dispersion modeling was performed. The main target was to evaluate pollutant dispersion from motor transport in the analysed area of Vilnius. During investigation maximum hourly, daily and annual concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter were observed.

How are we alike? Language and ethnicity as determinants of similarity in three ethnic groups

This study asked the question: what role do language and ethnic-cultural background play in perception of similarity amongst members of three ethnic groups: Lithuanians, Russians, and Poles in Vilnius, Lithuania. Based on the results of the classic studies of Taylor et al. (1973) and Giles et al. (1976) it was predicted that language would have a powerful consolidating effect on each respective ethnic group, but especially the two minority groups: Russians and Poles. Ethnic-cultural background would also draw people closer together, but less visibly so. It was also expected that the two factors would show interaction. Forty Lithuanian students from Vilnius University and 25 of each Lithuanian, Russian, and Polish students from Vilnius area high-schools participated in the study. The groups were about evenly divided in terms of gender. The study utilized the methodological technique of multidimensional scaling (MDS). The participants were first presented with labels (descriptions) of people living in Lithuania. The labels incorporated reference to one of three ethnic groups (Lithuanians, Russians, and Poles) and one of three spoken languages (Lithuanian, Russian, and Polish). Crossing the three ethnic descriptions with the three languages produced nine labels (e.g., A Pole living in Lithuania who speaks Russian, A Lithuanian living in Lithuania who speaks Polish, etc.), to which the label MYSELF, a reference to one’s own person, was added to serve as an anchor point in relation to the other labels. All told, then, the participants were exposed to ten labels. After viewing the labels, the participants were given a booklet in which the ten labels were presented as pairs in all possible combinations (e.g., A Lithuanian living in Lithuania who speaks Lithuanian: A Russian living in Lithuania who speaks Lithuanian, etc.). This time they were asked to leaf through the booklet and to evaluate each of the paired labels for their degree of similarity by circling the appropriate value on a nine-point rating scale. The value of one signified that the paired labels were “very different”, and nine that they were “very similar”. The results were analyzed by first computing the mean similarity values for each of the paired label combinations. The resulting matrix of mean values was then subjected to an MDS analysis. In the case of Lithuanian participants, it is clear that language exerts a potent effect on drawing people closer together. Not only did the participants see other Lithuanians who spoke Lithuanian as being very similar to them, but they also saw Russians and Poles who spoke Lithuanian as moving in their direction. Overlap in ethnicity likewise enhanced the experience of similarity, but this was only true for high-school students. There is also noticeable interaction such that, for instance, the same language might draw Russians and Poles towards the Lithuanian side, but their different ethnicity would still keep them at bay. The results for the Polish participants were similar to those of the Lithuanian group, but only selectively so. They also perceived language and ethnicity as enhancing the experience of similarity, but this occurred only in relationship to the Lithuanian group. They saw Russians in terms of both language and ethnicity as essentially similar to themselves. The Russian participants present a more complex picture. The Russian men and women showed different reaction patterns to the role of language and ethnicity. Generally, Russians seem to place greater emphasis on ethnicity than language as a binding variable. Otherwise, their response patterns were marked by pervasive interaction.

The View of Lithuanian Statehood Held by the Polish Underground During 1939–1944

This article investigates the Polish underground’s view of Lithuanian statehood, territorial integrity, and Lithuanian-Polish relations during the Second World War. The concept ‘Polish underground’ is applicable not only to the military organisation, which came to be called the Armia Krajowa (AK) in 1942, but also the secret civil administration, called the Delegation of the Government to the Country. The article investiga tes not only the view of Lithuania held by the Polish underground operating in Lithuania (primarily the Vilnius area) but also the Polish underground’s central leadership in Warsaw as well as the view held by the Polish government-in-exile. The author used Lithuanian and Polish archive documents and works by historians from both countries.