Appointment of Vytautas Čekanauskas as Honorary Consul General of Lithuania in Los Angeles in 1977: behind the scenes

Abstract

In the context of Lithuania’s occupation and annexation of 1940–1990, the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service and the leaders of the Lithuanian émigré community tried to maintain the functionality of Lithuanian representations abroad, which was crucial for Lithuanians in political, moral and national terms. The change of diplomats was a difficult, yet successful, process involving members of the Lithuanian community in emigration, who met the applicable criteria. The documents of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service which are already available to researchers (correspondence among Chief of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service Stasys Lozoraitis, Lithuanian representative in Washington, Dr. Stasys A. Bačkis and Lithuanian Consul General in New York Anicetas Simutis) enable us to reveal the complex process of the change of representatives in a single (inter alia) Lithuanian representation, i.e. Honorary Consulate General in Los Angeles. To find a replacement for the late Honorary Consul General Julius J. Bielskis (1891–1976), the process of appointment of engineer Vytautas Čekanauskas (1929–2009) and his recognition by the U.S. government took place in 1977. The leaders of émigré organizations and individuals got engaged in this process on a rather broad scale by proposing their candidates to the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service, which often involved humiliation of other candidates and increased polarization of the community. It prolonged the appointment of the new consul for a long period of time. On 6 October, the U.S. Department of State recognized Čekanauskas as Lithuanian Honorary Consul General in Los Angeles.