During the Anykščiai city festival, the Regional Documents and Local History Department of the Anykščiai L. and S. Didžiuliai Public Library was visited by Anykščiai District Council member Virginijus Aloyzas Milaknis with gifts. He presented the library with three rare publications "Anykščiai Parish", published in 1939 by the Marijonai Printing House in Marijampolė.
This is a valuable gift to the library's local history fund and researchers of the region's history, as very little is known about these publications. From the publications themselves, it can be learned that they were published by the Marijans in Marijampolė and that they are a publication of the Anykščiai parish.
Of particular interest is the issue of August 23, 1939, which published the poem „From Puntukas to Elmininkų“, signed by Orūnas Šateika. So far, it has not been possible to find reliable data about this author, but his work also appears in another issue – December 23, 1939 – in which the poem „Bietliejus ir tu“ was published. This suggests that Orūnas Šateika was an active collaborator of the publication, but his personality still awaits more detailed research.
All three publications reflect the daily life of the interwar Anykščiai parish. They publish lists of births, marriages and deaths, present the results of collections held in the church, indicate the purposes for which donations were collected, print parish announcements and the order of services.
For example, the December 23, 1939 issue published the program of the Christmas service in Anykščiai Church and thanked the parishioners for their donations. It states that donations were made in November to the Old People's Home, the Anykščiai Church Choir and the parish chronicle, and the pastor sincerely thanks all the kind-hearted donors. Such seemingly mundane information today becomes a valuable historical source, allowing us to learn about the life of the community of that time, its concerns and values.
The publications also testify to an interesting fact in the history of publishing. Although the Marion monks did not have a permanent monastery or official headquarters in Anykščiai, they collaborated with the St. Matthew Parish of Anykščiai, and this parish publication was printed at the Marijonai printing house in Marijampolė.
„"Anykščiai Parapija" was a Catholic newspaper (monthly) published in 1938–1940. This publication was dedicated to the local pastor, it printed religious articles, explained the essence of holidays and presented a chronicle of parish life. The short existence of the monthly was interrupted by the Soviet occupation, which extinguished many social and religious publishing initiatives of independent Lithuania.
Knowing that the rare publications would be of interest to researchers of the history of the Anykščiai region and everyone interested in the region's past, VA Milaknis decided to donate them to the Anykščiai Public Library.
They will be preserved in the library for future generations and will supplement the Regional Document Fund, becoming a valuable source for researching the life of the interwar Anykščiai parish, the city and its people. Perhaps in the future, more secrets about the publishers, collaborators and the mysterious poet Orūnas Šateika will be revealed.
Audrone BEREZAUSKIENĖ
Head of the Regional Documents and Local History Department of the Latvian Academy of Sciences
