Klaipėdos universitetas

Between 1920 and 1939, Vilnius, the constitutional capital of Lithuania, was annexed by Poland, prompting the Lithuanian government and civil life to relocate to Kaunas, the temporary capital. Despite local tensions, both cities faced a shared geopolitical predicament in the 1930s, being between ‘Scylla and Charybdis’. Nazi Germany to the west and Bolshevik Russia to the east sought to revise the existing order, threatening Poland and the Baltic region respectively. Anticipating military attacks, both the Lithuanian and Polish governments began preparing in the early 1930s. Archival data reveal that the military, academic specialists and civilians underwent paramilitary training to address threats, such as gas and air attacks, and to develop crisis management strategies. Medical professionals played a critical role in devising measures to prevent and treat injuries from chemical warfare, leveraging medical expertise to mitigate potential losses. This article aims to examine and compare the medical and civilian preparedness for chemical attacks in Vilnius and Kaunas. Our research focuses on two objectives: analysing primary archival documents to uncover strategies by government bodies, military doctors, the Polish Red Cross, and related organisations; and reviewing the public press to understand societal perceptions of the looming military threat.

Because General Żeligowski’s troops occupied Vilnius in the autumn of 1920 and Poland annexed it two years later, the health-care system that operated in Poland at the time began to be introduced in the city and the region. The official guidelines for health policy in Poland derived from the concept of hygiene proposed by Tomasz Janiszewski, the founder of the health system in the country, which focused on social hygiene. Universities played an advisory role in the Polish health system and were involved in educating the public on hygiene issues. In interwar Vilnius, the most prominent figure in this field was Janina Bortkiewicz-Rodziewiczowa, a researcher and senior assistant in the Department of Hygiene of the Faculty of Medicine at Stephen Bathory University. This article analyses her publications aimed at promoting science. It examines the means by which Bortkiewicz-Rodziewiczowa conveyed specific medical knowledge to a lay audience. It also discusses what topics she emphasised most and what reasons led to her choices, and how this correlated with priorities in medical science and health policy at that time. Finally, it touches on an interesting practical aspect, namely what public education strategies applied at the time can still be applied today.