After 75 years, the exile Vanda Valiūtė returned to Lithuania
“Exiled, partisan liaison, 94-year-old Vanda Valiūtė returned to Lithuania from Irkutsk a month ago. Partisan daughter, partisan sister, partisan liaison, strong character. The whole family has been deported, their youth in hard work. Parents buried in Irkutsk. When he could return to freedom in Lithuania, he lacked money and thought of making more money. Finally, at the urging of Arvydas Kulikauskas and his wife Nina, they prepared for Lithuania with their help. He went to his native country by train and bus after almost 75 years. According to Arvydas’ wife Nina, the partisan’s son returned the partisan liaison to Lithuania, ”said Paulė Kuzmickienė, Chairwoman of the Commission for Freedom Fights and the State Historical Memory, after the meeting with V. Valiūtė.
Many Lithuanian institutions and the Tauragė District Municipality gathered in order to restore citizenship and get the grandmother to live and get everything she needed. The arrangement of V. Valiūtė’s documents will take another couple of months, therefore P. Kuzmickienė urges indifferent people to help her grandmother acquire the most necessary things.
“To the best of my knowledge, the Migration Department makes sure that the documents for the restoration of citizenship are processed in the longest possible time, but it will still take a couple of months. And at that time, Vanda is very much missing a few important things. As I have already mentioned, both the Ministry of Social Affairs and the municipality can and do help as much as they can. But we can all take care of the hearing aid and other necessities today, as much as it costs more, but it is very necessary, ”says P. Kuzmickienė.
Those who are willing and able to contribute to V. Valiūtė’s well-being may donate to the bank account of the Pagramantis Community Center “Gramančia” (Swedbank LT427300010164341259), stating the purpose of the payment is “Aid to Water Currency”.
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