Aušra (The Dawn), No. 44(84). In August 1984, a new issue of Aušra appeared. In an open letter, Lithuanian youth thanked Pope John Paul II for his concern regarding the Lithuanian nation, for his all-embracing Christian love, and expressed the hope that the Holy Father really would visit Lithuania in the future. The article "Become Concerned About the Nation's Moral Culture." urges readers to become better acquainted with the history of their own nation and all humanity: "Let us know how to make use of its lessons. Let us seek to develop into persons, completge Christians and Lithuanians. Let us not be chaff or rubbish carried about by the current of life. Our nation longs for intellectuals and workers marked by a high level of spiritual culture. Upon them depends the cultural revival of the nation. Its life or death." The article "The Crimes of the KGB Are Unending", based on information from the archives of Aušra, presents the ways and means the KGB has of persecuting people untrusted by the totalitarian regime.
Aušra No. 45(85). In this publication, questions are discussed dealing with the nation's resilience, and its survival after losing political independence. "It is the duty of every Lithuanian to feel a responsibility for his nation's fate, to understand the demands raised by history, and matters of the present moment/' it says in an introductory article. Aušra is concerned about the fate of political prisoners, including Liudas Dambrauskas, Jonas Simokaitis and Antanas Terleckas. The publication carried the program of the democratic movement in the Soviet Union.
December, 1984, saw the appearance of Aušra, No. 46 (86). The publication carries a letter from the Vatican Secretary of State to Bishop Julijonas Steponavičius and letters from political prisoners in the camps and in exile. A group of the faithful of Lithuania thank the people of Salzburg who, in 1984, when the delegation of the LSSR Minister of Culture J. Bielinis, was visiting, expresses a real and sincere wish to help the faithful of Lithuania, thanks all our brothers and sisters abroad who, with their petitions and memoranda to the USSR Embassy, bring up the troubles and religious persecution of prisoners of conscience. The publication describes the conference of atheists which took place in Vilnius, November 15-16: "Christianity in Lithuania: Social Questions and Political Aspects," and the publication of the program of the democratic movement in the Soviet Union is nearing completion.
Lithuanian, don't forget that:
Father Alfonsas Svarinskas
Father Sigitas Tamkevičius
Father Jonas Kastytis Matulionis
Romas Žemaitis
Vladas Lapienis
Jadvyga Bieliauskienė
Doe. Vytautas Skuodis
Gintautas Iešmantas
Povilas Pečeliūnas
Julius Sasnauskas
Antanas Terleckas
and others bear the chains of imprisonment so that you might be able to believe and live in freedom.
