Arminai
Arminai Middle School Principal (Mrs) J. Berentienė went to the 10th grade class on April 20, 1976 and asked: "Who among you at-dended church on Easter?" There was complete silence. Then the principal said: "Stand up on your own, because I already know very well who was in church!" The tenth-grade students stood up. It seems that many Communist Youth League members and the school communist league secretary had gone to church. There began lectures against religion, the church was ridiculed, and afterwards a Communist Youth League meeting was held during which members were harassed for going to church. Communist Youth members were even summoned to the Vilkaviškis Rayon. There, RayonCommunist Youth League Secretary A. Lengvinas took membership cards away and ruled on whether or not to allow believer students to remain in the Communist Youth League. 11th grade student B. Ramanauskaitė was promised the return of her membership card only if she promised not to attend church.
Šilalė
On January 13, 1976, Šilalė Middle School Teacher (Mrs) Vasiliauskienė was conducting an atheistic discussion with two grades of children, attended by about sixty students. Communist Youth members read reports which insulted priests, slandered the church and degraded believers. Then the students were told to state their views, but remained silent. Then (Mrs.) Vasiliauskienė asked one student:
"Then you still believe in God and do not renounce the Church? Don't you remember how many books I've given you to read?"
"It is your atheistic books which opened my eyes. I saw that everything is distorted in them."
"I did not expect an intelligent girl like you to speak such nonsense. And who do you obey when you go to church?" asked the agitated teacher.
"I obey the voice of my conscience," calmly replied the student.
"Well, go ahead and obey!" retorted the teacher angrily.
"Well, I will obey!" the girl did not back down. "All great scholars believed and believe, then why do you call believers ignorant, and the truths of faith, old wives' tales?"
The teacher did not reply, but merely repeated: "I did not expect this from you!"
Teacher Vasiliauskienė addressed another girl:
"Well, and what do you think? Have you decided to join the Communist Youth League yet?"
"I will not change my beliefs and will not join the Communist Youth League. Your efforts are useless, teacher. Leave us alone."
Then the teacher addressed a third girl:
"What do you think, are those girls behaving properly?"
"The Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience. They have their views, they can either believe or not believe . . ."
After dismissing the rest of the students, and intending to thoroughly frightening the girls, (Mrs) Vasiliauskienė berated them for a long time, "educated" them, called them stubborn and fanatical.
Buckūnai
Stasys, the son of Vincas Klimavičius, attends the Daugai Mechanical Trade School. He has been a good student for three years and has had a scholarship the entire time. In 1975 Stasys missed six classes at Christmas time. Home Room Teacher Žižiūnas wasted no time in punishing him; his scholarship was taken away, although there is hardly any better student than Stasys and many students who hold scholarships miss classes. The classroom teacher explained to the father that his son had also missed classes earlier and always during church holidays. Moreover, the teacher said, our class has inaugurated a point system in which points are awarded for membership in an atheist club and attendance at meetings; Stasys does not attend those meetings, therefore, his point total is below that of other students and therefore his scholarship is being withheld. (Mr.) Klimavičius then stated:
"If my son attempted to belong to such an unworthy club and would thus cater to you in an attempt to get a scholarship, he would not be worthy of receiving food and clothing from his parents."
And so, for missing six classes, Stasys lost his scholarship for four months, 120 rubles in all .. .
Šiauliai
On November 27, 1975, at the Fifth Middle School, first year classroom teacher (Miss) Jasiutė warned the students not to attend church and threatened to take anyone she happened to see doing so to the principal. Even if parents do take them to church, the children are not to pray.
One day, the classroom teacher took all first year students to the auditorium, ordered them to read an oath and pinned a "Little Atheist" star on each. If any student came to class without the star, the teacher would immediately pin on a new one. The children are warned that if they do not wear the pin, they will receive failing grades.
Palanga
In the Spring of 1976, Palanga Middle School students were ordered to fill out an atheist questionnaire: Do you believe in God, do you attend church and so on?
The students of grade 6a all replied that they believe in God and will never be atheists. Classroom teacher Kusas ordered them to fill out the questionnaire again. And again the students wrote the same thing. The enraged classroom teacher told the pioneer group leader that grade 6a should be written up and posted on the bulletin board for everyone to deride them; perhaps they will then renounce "religious superstition." The students joked that they will at least this once appear on the honor roll.
Gižai
At the beginning of August 1976, Gižai Middle School Teacher Sigitas Brazaitis began to follow students who were preparing for first confession and were going to the church to see the priest. One day while drunk, Teacher S. Brazaitis stopped two children walking in the direction of the church and threatened their mothers that once the school year begins their children would receive lower deportment grades.
Letter to the Editors
We picked up the first issue of Dievas ir Tėvynė (God and Country) with great joy. This is already the third publication being printed here. We would like to make a few remarks:
The Chronicle of the C.C.L. should publish material dealing with the affairs of the Church and the faithful.
Aušra (Dawn) is a national magazine. It should refresh and stimulate our Lithuanian consciousness, it should indicate against what and for what we should be fighting.
Dievas ir Tėvynė does not clearly state its purpose. It could be more educational, provide doctrinal information; for instance, the short article "Miracle in Lourdes" is good. It is, however, unfortunate that this publication's tone is too harsh, offensive to those who think otherwise and, as such, unsuitable for wide distribution. Such outbursts as: "Today we are governed by the lowest dregs: Communist-opportunists," "Atheism does not contain a single grain of truth, is pure absurdity, fanatical stubborness, the worse sect" and so on, merely repel people. These are not arguments, but name-calling. We believers must not use such terms; the atheist press is replete with them.
Let us respect others, if we wish others to respect us. We must not try to turn hatred of error or corruption into hatred of the individual. Regardless of the faults of Professor Daukša, an intellectual should not resort to such epithets as "ignorant professor," "two-faced professor" and the like.
—From the letter ot a reader of the Chronicle of the C.C.L.
Remarks by the Chronicleof the C. C. L.
Since all three publications are published underground and their editors do not always know one another, readers should not be surprised if some of the publications' articles seem "out of place." The Chronicle of the C.C.L. will in the future limit itself more to news of concern to the Church and the faithful.
The Chronicle of the C. C.L. Makes a Clarification:
In its 23rd issue, the Chronicle of the C.C.L. printed an item which was not quite accurate about Antanas Patackas, instructor at the Agricultural School. He was dismissed from work and denied the right to work in education when he was accused of nationalism (He helped Lithuanians in Belorussia revive the Lithuanian language) and unsuitable ideology (He did not teach students in the proper Communist spirit).
A request from the publishers of the Chronicle of the C.C.L. We ask our readers not only to send material to the Chronicle of the C.C.L. but also to photograph the individuals, places and events discussed in the articles or news they submit. It is very important to save all this for posterity. A caption, stating what is pictured, must be included with the photograph.
