Zenono Ivinskio visuomeninė veikla išeivijoje ; The public activity of Zenonas Ivinskis in exile

Abstract

The name of Zenonas Ivinskis associates with a huge amount of his work as a historian – articles, books. How-ever, Zenonas Ivinskis was not only a historian. Archival documents, memoirs reveal the fact, that he took an active part in social and political life of the country. It should be mentioned that historians still pay little atten-tion to this aspect of Zenonas Ivinskis' life. Zenonas Ivinskis' public activity can be divided into three stages. The first one: his experience during the years of the First Lithuanian Republic (1918–1940). The second one is related to the resistance to the first Soviet (1940–1941) and Nazi (1941–1944) occupations; and the last stage: the public activity of Zenonas Ivinskis in exile (1944–1971). The engagement of a future famous Lithuanian historian into public life is related to his childhood and youth. In his memoirs, Z. Ivinskis confesses that religiousness of his parents and membership of Lithuanian youth Catholic organization "Ateitis" were the crucial factors that had shaped his world-view. The activity of "Ateitis" is based on five principles: Catholic and Lithuanian identity, the values of intelligentsia, family and social activity. As a member of "Ateitis", Zenonas Ivinskis gained basic skills in public activity. He practiced writing articles which were published in the press of "Ateitis" Federation; took part in various debates, gave lectures, and arranged different meetings and conferences. The years of occupations reinforced the commitment of Zenonas Ivinskis to the Lithuanian state and its society and he became an active member of Lithuanian resistance movement against the Soviet and Nazi re-gimes. [.]