Klaipėdos universitetas

Usually, monumentsepigraphs keep a lot of personal and social information about a buried person.This general information may help to better understand the community orresidents of a specific area. This is especially true in the case of Klaipėda region and itsnative population. The results of analysis of survived epigraphs of old Evangelico-Lutherancemeteries in Klaipėdaregion are presented in this article. The research was done using socialstatistical methods, which are usually used to characterize social community.The obtained results allow modeling the stratification organization of formerpopulation.

The epigraphs of the Evangelical Lutheran cemeteries of Klaipėda provide rich information. They present exhaustive data on the buried person: full dates of their births and deaths, names, surnames, and maiden names of married women; sometimes even the place of origin or the social-professional status is indicated. Beside the personal data, the epigraphs contain farewell or sacred texts addressed to the dead. The ethnic Evangelical Lutheran cemeteries in Klaipėda Region significantly suffered during the historical and political events unfavourable for them. The majority of tombstones and crosses were totally destroyed and cannot be reconstructed. Unique information about the population of the Region was lost forever. In the article, the author analyzes the data presented in epigraphs: the distribution of the dead by gender and age, high infant/ children mortality rates, and other.

The paper aims to analyse various aspects of interdependence between the nationality and the citizenship of the residents of Klaipėda region by restricting the analysis to the political and economic factors of the 20th c. The analysis was carried out on the basis of little known archival materials. The article seeks to prove that nationality and citizenship, as the principal forms of the identity expression, have not always been a matter of free self-determination; they would frequently change depending on the external political and ideological pressure.

The paper aims to review one uninvestigated episode on the territory known as Klaipėda Region (Memelgebiet) in March 1939, before the Second World War. On 22-23 March 1939, Lithuania was coerced into yielding to Hitler‘s ultimatum for Klaipėda (Memel) to be ceded to Germany which caused a mass surge of refugees from Klaipėda to Lithuania Major. Many Lithuanian workers, employees, and businessmen in the region were scared by the aggressive Nazi Anschluss and fled from the region in panic, mostly to Lithuania. Another segment of the population was subsequently also expelled from the annexed region to Lithuania Major. The Lithuanian Government and its officials were not prepared for the large influx of refugees. To provide additional support, the Lithuanian Red Cross and many social and voluntary organisations became engaged in the refugee accommodation, catering, protection, and dealing with other problems.