Juozas Ambrazevičius

Juozas Ambrazevičius or Juozas Brazaitis (December 9, 1903 in Trakiškiai, Marijampolė parish – November 28, 1974 in South Orange, New Jersey), was a Lithuanian literary historian, better known for his political career and nationalistic views. He was the acting Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Lithuania from June 23, 1941 to August 5, 1941.

Juozas Ambrazevičius in 1925

Academic career

Ambrazevičius studied literature at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas and the University of Bonn. From 1927 he lectured on Lithuanian literature and folklore in Kaunas. By the end of the 1930s he got involved in numerous organizations for literature teachers and scientists. His major works include Theory of Literature (Literatūros teorija in 1930), two-volume A History of World Literature (Visoutinė literatūros istorija in 1931-1932), Vaižgantas (in 1936), three-volume New Readings (Naujieji skaitymai), Lithuanian Writers (Lietuvių rašytojai in 1938). He also worked on the editorial staff of national daily Lietuva (Lithuania) and Catholic daily XX amžius (The 20th Century). He would sometimes use pseudonym Servus to write for these newspapers. During World War II he edited an underground periodical Į laisvę (Towards Freedom) which he later revived in Germany and in the United States.

Biography after the 1941 uprising in Lithuania

It is known that in the summer of 1944 Ambrazevičius left for Germany, and in 1948 for the United States, where he edited a Catholic daily, Darbininkas, and continued his work in the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania in exile. He published a number of leaflets illustrating German and Soviet crimes in Lithuania and the Lithuanian resistance, for example, In the Name of the Lithuanian People (1946) and Appeal to the United Nations on Genocide (1951). In 1964 he published a book Alone, all alone about the Lithuanian armed resistance. The Kremlin actively opposed his activities. In the 1970s he became a subject of interest for the Soviet media and American hunters of Nazi colloborators, who accused him of having worked for the Third Reich. In reply, he published an extensive dossier of his World War II activities.[1]

Grave

In 2012, Ambrazevičius' remains were transported from the United States to Lithuania and were reburied in the churchyard of Christ's Resurrection Church in Kaunas.[2] During the reburial ceremony of the Juozas Ambrazevičius remains in Kaunas, adviser to Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius claimed that a 1975 investigation by US Immigration found no evidence of Brazaitis being involved in anti-Semitic or pro-Nazi activities.[3] However, according to a subsequent clarification issued in 2019 by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress, the investigation was not conclusive and did not amount to a "rehabilitation" of Ambrazevičius/Brazaitis. The investigation into his wartime activities was discontinued after Ambrazevičius/Brazaitis passed away in 1974.[4]

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References
  1. Roszkowski, Wojciech; Kofman, Jan (2016). Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. p. 1925. ISBN 9781317475934.
  2. "Kaune perlaidojami 1941-ųjų Laikinosios vyriausybės vadovo Juozo Brazaičio palaikai". 15min.lt. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  3. "Lithuania reburial of WWII leader angers Jewish groups". bbc.com. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  4. "JAV Kongreso laiškas premjerui: neigia išteisinę J.Ambrazevičių-Brazaitį". 15min.lt. 15 October 2019.
  • Simas Sužiedėlis, ed. (1970–1978). "Juozas Brazaitis". Encyclopedia Lituanica. I. Boston, Massachusetts: Juozas Kapočius. pp. 396–397. LCC 74-114275.
Preceded by
Antanas Merkys		 Prime Minister of Lithuania
23 June 1941 – 5 August 1941		 Succeeded by
Kazimira Prunskienė
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