October 6, 2023 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladas Putvinskis-Putvis (1873-1929) in Riga, in the family of the landlords Rapolas Putvinskis and Idalia Broel-Pliaterytė. This personality has left a distinct imprint on the history of Lithuania as a public figure, a promoter of Lithuanian identity, a book carrier, a fishery developer, a writer, and the founder and leader of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union.
The Šiauliai "Aušra" Museum houses a huge archive of the Putvinskis family, which is included in the Lithuanian National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The exhibition is therefore an extraordinary opportunity to get acquainted with this exceptional archive. Hidden underground for almost fifty years, preserved under seemingly impossible circumstances, the archive today seems to symbolise the power of memory. Between 1940 and 1944, the Putvinskis hid this archive in the hope that it would be preserved for the rebirth of an independent Lithuania. A book containing an inscription by Putvinskis-Putvis' daughter Sofija was found in the archive: "When the independent Lithuania is reborn again, dear brother Lithuanian, if you find these hidden documents, use them to popularise the ideas of Vladas Pūtvis in the Nation". Lithuania was reborn, the archive was found, and the manuscripts of Vladas Putvinskis-Pūtvis, hidden in it, are today spreading his ideas, talking about his ambitions and his diverse activities, conveying the values of his era, talking about an independent Lithuania and the people who built it. Faded and damaged by time, humidity and environmental conditions, the values that have survived only reinforce the impression of a fragile and, at the same time, indestructible memory. Sofija Pūtvytė's entry became the basis for the exhibition's concept and was used in the title of the exhibition.
The exhibition prepared by the Museum tells about V. Putvinskis-Pūtvītis and his family, his relatives, his comrades, their lives and activities. The exhibition reveals the multifaceted personality of V. Putvinskis-Pūtvis, showing him in the context of the period he lived in. Several epochs seem to merge in his person, when the landlord, coming from a family of Polish tradition, decides to be Lithuanian and boldly undertakes initiatives that change not only his own life, but also the lives of those around him.
