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In describing the personality of Irena Veisaitė, theatrical scientist, literary critic, famous public figure, and cultural figure, it has always been said that she is one of those people whose lives embody the entire age. Yes, without a doubt, I. Veisaitė is one of them. Born in interwar Lithuania to a Jewish family, I. Veisaitė had to survive the Holocaust.
The story of a life spanned four radically different eras: the interwar period, the time of the first Soviet and Nazi occupation, the Soviet era, the restoration and consolidation of Lithuanian independence.
Germanist, theatrologist, long-term chairman of the board of the Open Society Foundation of Lithuania prof. I. Veisaitė never remembered, did not keep a diary.
However, I. Veisaitė’s fate was described by the historian and researcher of the past Aurimas Švedas: for four years he spoke with Professor I. Veisaitė about his personal and creative biography, interwar Kaunas, the Holocaust, the Soviet era and the independence. About the experience and loss of a man whose destiny led him to live in a cruel and aggressive 20th century. Finally, the book was published: “Irena Veisaitė. Life must be transparent. “
Back then, in 2016, only after the publication of the aforementioned book, I. Veisaitė admitted that she was not willing to talk about the issues of the past, because she did not want to return to it.
“The present is much more important to me and the future it promises us,” the professor told a co-author of the book at a TV DELFI conference.
Similar conversations had become a major challenge for her. “I realized that looking at the past, trying to understand what happened to you, is a kind of farewell to life. It was interesting, but I always keep thinking about the future ”, said I. Veisaitė. The full article can be found here.
The facts of the biography of I. Veisaitė are published on the official website of the Goethe-Institut:
A well-known representative of the Lithuanian intelligentsia was born in 1928. Beautiful. I. Veisaitė attended a Yiddish primary school and communicated with his parents at home in Lithuanian, Russian and German. Science in school didn’t last long. When in 1941. In June, the Nazis occupied Lithuania and entered the Kaunas ghetto. 1941 his mother was murdered in July.
In 1943, after some Lithuanian friends were rescued from the ghetto, I. Veisaitė found himself in Vilnius, where he lived under a foreign surname and worked in an orphanage. One of the women who took refuge in her, whom she called her second mother, in 1946. was arrested and deported to Siberia.
The second Soviet occupation meant the liberation of Irena Veisaitė, but she was soon pursued by Soviet security. After asking for advice on fleeing Vilnius, he met relatives in Moscow, where he studied German. 1963 in then Leningrad I. Veisaitė defended his dissertation on Heinrich Heine’s late lyric poetry.
1953-1997 was an associate professor at the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute and taught the history of German and Western European literature. When in 1990 Lithuania regained its independence, Irena Veisaitė was 62 years old. 1999 she became an honorary professor at the Vilnius Pedagogical University.
She has published more than 200 articles in the Lithuanian and foreign press, is the co-author of a banned textbook on foreign literature and compiles several books. She is also a co-author of school textbooks and compiler of several books.
In the restored state of Lithuania, I. Veisaitė undertook to establish a branch of the G. Soros Foundation (Open Lithuania Foundation).
Through her participation in international cultural networks, until now she has collaborated with the Soros Foundation and other institutions, and has been invited to international scientific and political conferences.
I. Veisaitė directed the Thomas Mann Cultural Center in Nida until 2011. He was a member of the board of this festival. 2011 and 2012 was the sponsor of the International Youth Debate in Lithuania.
While participating in the cultural life of Vilnius, I. Veisaitė has dealt with relations with German cultural organizations in recent decades; Since the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, it has started many cultural exchange projects.
As one of the few Lithuanian Jews who survived the Holocaust, I. Veisaitė always advocated for peace and tried to foster dialogue between Lithuanians and Jews.
I. Veisaitė has won many honorary awards:
1995 – Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas 4th degree; 2002 – The title of Human of Tolerance of the Year, awarded by the Sugihara Foundation “Diplomats for life” (Vilnius); 2006 – Barbora Radvilaitė Medal for special merits for culture and education; 2008 – Badge of Honor of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania.
2012 The Goethe-Institut awarded I. Veisaitė the Goethe Medal for his lifelong activities, which were the engine of the German-Lithuanian cultural exchange, for his creativity and civic courage to say what not everyone likes.
2015 Prize for Art and Culture of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania; 2019 The Paribio Foundation for Nations, Cultures and the Arts, located in Sejny in the Republic of Poland, received the title of “Cibłowiek Pogranicza”; 2020 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz).
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