Vladas Sirutavičius
Lithuanian Institute of History in Vilnius
The ‘Notebooks’ of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party Antanas Sniečkus as a Source of Soviet-Era Historiography
Dr Vladas Sirutavičius The Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania Historians have made only very limited use of the notebooks of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Lithuania A. Sniečkus, when discussing the Soviet era. (The First Secretary’s notes are kept in the Special Archive of Lithuania, f.16895.) Antanas Sniečkus was taking notes in two languages (Russian and Lithuanian), often in haste. The notes are full of various abbreviations, some of them are in pencil, which makes them difficult to read.
However, the First Secretary’s notes are an important source of historiography. They contain a wide range of information on the politics, economy, and culture of Soviet Lithuania, as well as fragments of Sniečkus’ memoirs. Finally, the First Secretary’s notes reflect not only his ‘official’ activities, but also the ‘unofficial’ ones. Especially vivid are the descriptions of Sniečkus tourist trips, when he travelled abroad informally, not as an official.
For a historian studying the Soviet era, the First Secretary’s notes are, in my opinion, important in several respects. Firstly, the notes provide a better understanding of the relations between the top figures in the Soviet Lithuanian Government. Sniečkus’ notebooks show that there were all kinds of tensions and conflicts within the Soviet Lithuanian elite, and that the Soviet political system was not a monolith. Secondly, the Secretary’s notes provide a better understanding of the political decision-making process. Thirdly, the notes allow the historian to gain better perception of the nature of the relationship between the ‘center’ (Moscow) and the ‘periphery’ (Soviet Lithuania).
I will discuss the notebooks of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the LCP, A. Sniečkus in these few aspects.
