Z pomocą ludności Litwy w latach 1915-1918

ENThe political and economic situation of Lithuania drastically deteriorated after German troops invaded its territories in September 1915. On November 4, Germans created the Oberbefehlshabersost (Oberost), General East Command, out of the occupied Baltic States. These included Courland, the Kaunas territory of Lithuania and the Suwalskie region, Vilnius and its territory, as well as the districts of Grodno and Białystok. All these territories were ruthlessly oppressed and exploited economically which drastically affected the lives of civilians of all nationalities living in Lithuania: Poles, Lithuanians, Belorussians and Jews. The German occupational authorities failed to undertake any attempts to administer charity actions. However, private institutions, the activists of social organizations of all nations, operating in larger cities, and the Catholic clergy did, including President of Vilnius Michał Węsławski, Paweł Kończą, Jan Boguszewski, Ph. D., Stanisław Kognowicki and Bishop Kazimierz Michałkiewicz, to name but a few. The Lithuanian population obtained great help from the General Committee for Aid to Polish Victims of the War (Vevey committee), which operated from Switzerland, headed by Henryk Sienkiewicz. From mid-1915 till 1918 relief organizations in Lithuania received 1,3 86,544.3 0 Swiss franks from Vevey. Also the largest organizations operating in Poland, such as the Poznań Committee for Relief to the Kingdom of Poland, or the Cracow Princely-Episcopal Committee, headed by Bishop Adam Sapieha, also provided assistance. The people of Lithuania were supported by Poles in the US, who joined the all-American collection called for by President Woodrow Wilson on November 1,1916. The Central Polish Emergency Committee, operating in Chicago, transferred the funds collected by Polish immigrants to Europe. Pope Benedict XV also materially and morally aided the oppressed people of Lithuania.At his instruction, Lithuanian bishops, headed by Bishop Emil Karewicz, turned to the Catholics of the world for material aid and prayer for Lithuania. A global collection was organized on May 20, 1917.