Juozas Eretas (Joseph Ehret): veikla Lietuvai, sugrįžus į gimtinę

LTStraipsnyje pristatoma šveicaro Juozo Ereto (Joseph Ehret) (1896 10 18 – 1984 03 13), 1919-1940 m. dirbusio Lietuvoje ir priėmusio Lietuvos pilietybę, vėliau sovietinių okupantų priversto palikti šią šalį, kuri jam buvo tapusi antrąja Tėvyne, gyvenimas ir veikla, sugrįžus į Šveicariją. Analizuojamos J. Ereto veiklos kryptys, darbai, garsinant Lietuvos vardą (paskaitos, straipsniai) ir stiprinant lietuvybę išeivijoje (studijos, skirtos tremčiai, pamirštųjų baltų tautoms), iškeliant žymias asmenybes (monografijos apie Stasį Šalkauskį, Kazį Pakštą ir prel. Pranciškų Jurą), nuopelnai Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademijai. Pirmąsyk mokslo visuomenei pateikiami dr. Vaclovo Dargužo (1920 01 06 – 2009 10 22) ir profesoriaus dukters Julijos Eretaitės – Kollar atsiminimai, publikacijų J. Eretui Lietuvoje bibliografija. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Baltai; Juozas Eretas; Katalikų mokslo akademija; Kazys Pakštas; Lietuvių; Lietuvos vardas; Lietuvybės puoselėtojas; Pranciškus Juras; Prel. Pranciškus Juras; Profesorius Juozas Eretas; Stasys Šalkauskis; Tremtis; Šveicaras; Šveicarija; Balts; Exile; J0seph Ehret; Joseph Ehret; Kazys Pakštas; Lithuanian Catholic Academy; Nurturer of Lithuanian identity; Of Science (LKMA); Pranciškus Juras; Prelate Pranciškus Juras; Professor Joseph Ehret; Promotion of Lithuania; Stasys Šalkauskis; Swiss; Switzerland.

ENThe article reviews the life and activities of Joseph Ehret (18/10/1856-13/3/1984) after his return home to Switzerland. During the years 1919 through 1940 he worked in Lithuania, his second motherland, gained its citizenship, but was forced to leave it by the Soviet occupants. Having returned home, prof. J. Eretas proceeded with his Lithuanian activities which unfolded in his public and academic endeavours. He joined the activities of the Lithuanian immigrant com- munity in Switzerland. In 1954 he was entrusted with the responsibilities of a member of the honorary court. Witnessing his wife Ona Jakaitytė's inability to put down roots in Switzerland and her home- sickness, he sought to create the Lithuanian atmosphere in their home, meaning only the Lithuanian language was spoken in his so much treasured family and while away from home, the children used to write letters to their parents only in Lithuanian. Joseph Ehret' affection for Lithuania and the reasons why he had moved away were disclosed by him in his public lectures in which he tirelessly raised the issue of Lithuania's freedom. He successfully refuted the prevalent opinion in Switzerland that the Lithuanian refugees were com- mitted followers of Hitler because they had run away from the "kind uncle" Stalin. The professor's articles published in foreign languages in various magazines consolidated Lithuania's image in the West that the occupied country will be free in the future.Concerned about the fate of the Lithuanian state and the Lithuanian exile, Joseph Ehret wrote "A Trilogy of Exile", a study about the lost Balts, Baltic nations and their fate, about the Lithuanian language and its archaic wealth. The study presented his vision of Lithuania's way out of this situation. Joseph Ehret was an academician of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science (1936) and its honorary member (1979). He stood at the starting point of the academy's revival in the West (Roma). His lecture on Stasys Šalkauskis acted as a mediator between Vladimir Solovyov's philosophy and the philosophical trends of the West and contributed to the LKMA's emergence on the international level. Resorting to his numerous reminiscences, in his three monographs he immortalized the celebrated members of the Catholic academy. He viewed the academic, political and cultural life of the country and the nation through the distinguished persons of Lithuania such as Stasys Šalkauskis, Kazys Pakštas and Prelate Pranciškus Juras. The reminiscences of Dr Vaclovas Dargužas (6/1/1920-22/10/2009) and Julija Eretaite – Kollar, daughter of the professor, included in the article, are offered to the academic public for the first time. Presented for the first time, the bibliography of publications about Joseph Ehret in Lithuania will serve as an important source for the investigators considering the ways and forms of perpetuating the professor's memory. […]. [text from author]

• Juozas Eretas (Joseph Ehret) Lietuvoje 1919-1941 / Aldona Vasiliauskienė. Logos (Vilnius). 2000, 22, p. 137-155. 2000, 23, p. 148-165.
• Kazys Pakštas : tautinio šauklio odisėja (1893-1960) / Juozas Eretas. Vilnius : Pasviręs pasaulis, 2002. 349 p.