Trimitu Aidai [Echoes of Trumpets], Nr. 1

Melrose Park, Illinois: Lithuanian National Guardsmen, 1959. The first (and only?) issue of an apparently unrecorded Lithuanian-American periodical issued by a group of émigré members of the Lithuanian Riflemen (šauliai) movement in the Chicago area. Although the publishers presented Trimit Aidai as a supplement rather than a rival to the established Riflemen press, the issue reveals a decidedly independent and contentious editorial stance. Alongside expressions of Lithuanian nationalism, anti-Communism, commemoration of Riflemen founder Vladas Putvys-Putvinskis, and concern for preserving the movement's ideals in exile, much of the paper addresses an acrimonious struggle within the Chicago Riflemen community. Its editors champion organizational democracy and accountability while attacking perceived cliques, personal ambition, and abuses of authority, particularly in connection with disputes involving the Chicago Lithuanian newspaper Naujienos. The polemics range from lengthy arguments and rebuttals to cartoons, parody, and an extensive satirical section, Aitvaras.

The paper was emphatically not an official organ of the Lietuvos Šauli S junga Tremtyje (Lithuanian Riflemen's Union in Exile). Soon after its appearance, the organization's Central Board publicly declared that Trimit Aidai had been issued neither by the Board nor by any affiliated unit, but was instead a “private publication of a group of Riflemen.” The emergence of the paper and its controversy were covered by the contemporary Lithuanian-American press. The issue thus offers an unusually candid view of the ideological commitments, personalities, and factional tensions within the postwar Lithuanian exile Riflemen movement in Chicago.

Tabloid format, 8 pp., illustrated. Tape remnants from mailing, recipients name and address along the top, 'Wilcox Collection' stamp, handwritten notation to the bottom margin of the last page. Not found by us in OCLC, nor recorded elsewhere. This appears to have been the sole issue. Item #15358

Price: $200.00