Documentary Heritage of the Lithuanian Diaspora: Problems of Recovery, Knowledge and Research

Abstract

Abstract. From the end of the 19th century to the present day, many cultural values were created through emigration. Only a small part of the documentary heritage of the Lithuanian diaspora has been preserved and known. Part of it was inevitably destroyed by time, and the rest is scattered in various archival institutions and private archives in Lithuania, Canada, the USA, Australia, Germany, and other countries. The article aims to present the problems of the fate of the documentary heritage of the Lithuanian diaspora in more detail: to what extent Lithuania cares about the preservation and recovery of this heritage, what problems are faced by the institutions protecting and managing the collections of the diaspora, how far this heritage is known, recognized and researched. Based on the experience of the Lithuanian Diaspora Institute, which has been operating for almost 30 years at the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, the issues of the fate of the documentary heritage of the Lithuanian diaspora relevant to both Lithuania and the diaspora are discussed; the problems of the relevance of the cultural heritage of the diaspora, the dispersion of archives, preservation, accessibility, research, and dissemination are analyzed.