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The archive contains:


Written documents

Documents of the institutions of the Republic of Lithuania (1918-1940): Personal fonds of the Council of State of Lithuania, Cabinet of Ministers, Office of the President, ministries and departments, diplomatic missions abroad, offices of county governors, municipalities, scientific, cultural, educational institutions, public organisations, public figures and diplomats.

Documents of Klaipėda Region institutions: presidents of the Klaipėda and Gumbine District Boards, Klaipėda Magistrate, Šilutė District Board, Klaipėda Region Cadastre Office and other fonds.

Documents of institutions operating in Polish-occupied south-eastern Lithuania in 1919-1939: fonds of the Eastern Lands Civil Administration Institutions, the Provisional Government Commission of Central Lithuania, the Vilnius Magistrate's Office, the Stephen Batory University, organisations, schools.

Documents of the Nazi occupation period (1941-1944): fonds of the Commissioner General in Kaunas, district commissars, management and police offices, municipalities, county governors, prisons, the Vilnius Jewish ghetto.

Documents of the Soviet occupation periods (1940-1941 and 1944-1990): personal fonds of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, the Council of Ministers, ministries, boards and committees, editorial boards, organisations, scientific and cultural figures.

 

Video and audio documents

Photodocuments (from the 6th-7th decades of the 19th century to the present day): photographs, negatives, glass plates, albums, vignettes, slides, digital photos.

  • Old photographs include works by A. Štraus, J. Čechavičius, S. Fleris and V. Zatorskis. Photodocuments by K. Smečechauskas, J. Karazija, J. Miežlaiškis, B. Buračas, A. Varnas, A. Mickus, V. Janiselis.
  • The Soviet period is reflected in the photographic material of the Lithuanian Telegraph Agency ELTA and newspaper editorial offices.
  • There are more than 100 000 photodocuments from the Lithuanian Monuments Restoration Design Institute, as well as extensive collections of documentary photography by J. Juknevičius, V. Kapočius, A. Žižiūnas, P. Lileikis, A. Petrulevičius and V. Gulevičius. The collection also includes contemporary documentary photography.

 

Audio documents: covering the 20th and 21st centuries, on various media: records, magnetic tapes, cassettes and compact discs.

  • The oldest sound recordings include works by the Riga Lithuanian Men's Quartet recorded in Riga in 1907. There are also unique recordings of Kaunas Radiofono broadcasts, featuring the voices of Lithuanian Presidents A. Smetona and K. Grinius, as well as speeches by other famous personalities. Among the more significant recordings are the recordings of 23 June 1941. Leonas Prapuolenis reading the declaration of the restoration of the Lithuanian state.
  • The recordings from the Soviet era record speeches by political figures, lectures, organisation meetings and celebrations of national holidays. A special place is reserved for the recordings of the Vilnius Record Studio.
  • The archive contains recordings from foreign Lithuanian radio stations such as “Amerika balsas”, “Margutis”, and other stations in Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore (USA), Adelaide and Melbourne (Australia).
  • The process of restoration of independence and the history of the restored Lithuania are reflected in the audio recordings of the Lithuanian Resistance Movement, scientists, artists, politicians, former exiles and diaspora representatives.

 

Video documents: the archive's video documents cover the period from the 1990s onwards. They record the most important moments of the Lithuanian Resettlement Movement, the Baltic Way campaign, the events of January 1991 and the activities of Lithuanians abroad. Since 1989, the archive's cameramen have filmed Lithuania's most important political, historical and cultural events, as well as interviews with members of governments and ambassadors. The archive also holds videotapes handed over by the Tautos Fund, which capture the memories of former exiles, political prisoners and partisans. The creation of video documents in the archive continues to this day, capturing new historical events and people's testimonies.

 

Film documents: from the 2nd decade of the 20th century. From the 1920s to the present day. The oldest Lithuanian film in the archive is a 1919 film depicting the life of the Lithuanian communities in Chicago. A valuable collection of Lithuanian newsreels from 1918-1940, as well as the works of the first Lithuanian filmmakers - K. Lukšys, J. Miliauskas, the Motuzas brothers, S. Vainalavičius, S. Uzdonas, J. Miežlaiškis. A number of films from the Second World War period. The richest part of the collection of film documents consists of documentaries produced in the Lithuanian Film Studio and Lithuanian Television between 1946 and 1990. There are large collections of Lithuanian feature films and foreign Lithuanian films. The collections are continuously updated with the latest cinema productions.

 

 

Last updated: 11-04-2025