She learned these languages while serving as a midwife in Germany and in the coal mining towns of southern Illinois. Now, my grandmother was a very talented person who spoke German, Polish, Russian, Estonian, and Latvian. As a result of this situation, my grandmother, Josephine Cizauskas reared me for the first five years of my life, and she taught the wolf to howl in Lithuanian. Indeed, all the women I ever knew were working women. Andrew Elementary School in Christopher, Illinois, in 1946 speaking Lithuanian and not English?īecause of World War II, my father served in the United States Navy. Indeed, how does someone named George Anthony Antonelli come to St. Because of historical circumstances my primary language was Lithuanian, but I grew up in a very American coal mining town in southern Illinois. In a sense my rearing was unique and in another sense it was not. The wounded and disoriented soldier from Pennsylvania retorts: 'No Sir!' 'It is an American name.' Yet, there is no question that my Lithuanian heritage howls out more and more as the years begin to pile up. A medical doctor asks the protagonist if his last name is Russian. There is a scene in The Deer Hunter which rings with a loud silence for me. This is an account of his search for a cultural identity. Until the day she died November 4, 1970, she carried her letter of admission to Columbia University in her purse.' 3 In 1934, she married her high school sweetheart, George Joseph Antonelli, and on October 6, 1941, they had their first son George Anthony Antonelli. She was an exceptional student and was elected most popular girl by her class. Mary Margaret Cizauskas graduated from Christopher Community High School in 1933. One of these lucky four was Mary Margaret Cizauskas born on April 20, 1918, in Harrisburg, Illinois. They had ten children four of them survived to adulthood. There she met and married Anthony Cizauskas, a coal miner in Johnstown and originally from Kaunas.

After a five-year wait in Hamburg, Germany, she arrived in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Josephine Norkūnas left Lithuania in 1895 when she was twenty years old. Your editorial and photograph reminded me of her character and courage.' 2 Grandmother Josephine Norkūnas-Cizauskas taught me a great deal about her native land. Indeed, there will be several more crosses honoring the dead on the Hill of Crosses north of Šiauliai, Lithuania. The caption in the Letter-To-The-Editor read: 'Courage in The Baltics.' 'This is to express appreciation for your excellent editorial 'Blood in the Baltics,' and particularly for the photograph showing Lithuanian protesters attacking a Soviet tank with their fists. On Saturday, February 2, 1991, my letter regarding that editorial appeared in the News and Observer. Indeed, a recent editorial, 'Blood in the Baltics,' 1 which appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer on Wednesday, January 16,1991, served as a catalyst to bring back the memories of the Wolf and to energize the Knight. Like the Iron Wolf, howling before the Tower of Gediminas, I learned to speak Lithuanian as a small boy, and like the Charging Knight, I am attempting to learn to read and to write Lithuanian as a man. The Iron Wolf and the Charging Knight are very important Lithuanian symbols which best illustrate my Lithuanian heritage. Copyright © 1990 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.

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