Photography of Vladislavs Urtāns with pupils of Madon district schools

Vladislavs Urtāns devoted a lot of energy to training schoolchildren in the Madona district to research local history, and to encouraging an interest in the past. In April 1956, the first meeting of young local historians of the Madona district was held in the Madona Museum.

Location:
- Madona, Latvia
Languages:
- Latvian
Creator:
- Madona Local History and Art Museum
Year of creation:
- 1956
Featured item of:
- Elza Rudenāja and Vladislavs Urtāns collection on preservation of local cultural legacy

Four "Brecht Chairs"

A special exhibition piece in the Heiner Müller Archiv / Transitraum are four chairs designed by Karl von Appen in 1956 for Bertolt Brecht's production of the "Leben des Galilei" [Life of Galileus] at the Berlin Ensemble stage. In Müller's possession they were by no means used as just props or basic furniture. They were meaningful, because in Müller’s early years he had declared his dream to become a master student of Brecht (1898-1956). In his work, Müller his entire life was inspired and guided by Brecht's theatrical style. The fact that he came from the Berlin Volksbühne theatre, and in 1992 took over as director of the Berlin Ensemble, which had been founded by Brecht, should be viewed as a late homecoming and the fulfillment of his long held dream.

Location:
- Berlin Dorotheenstraße 24, Germany 10117
Year of creation:
- 1956
Featured item of:
- Heiner Müller Archive / Transitroom

Notebook of Meilė Lukšienė

A notebook with transcripts and notes made by Lukšienė during meetings of the Department of Lithuanian Literature (1957-1958). These notes reveal discussions by members of the department and guests from the Party and government institutions about directions in research and teaching. For example, from one note, we can see a polemic on what should be considered as liberalism, and what the bourgeois democratic movement was, and how to deal with Vincas Kudirka and Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis. The leading Soviet ideologues Romas Šarmaitis (1909-1995) and Juozas Žiugžda (1893-1979) participated in this meeting at the Department of Lithuanian Literature, imposing their very negative attitudes towards these famous Lithuanian poets.

Location:
- Vilnius Žygimantų gatvė 1, Lithuania 01143
Languages:
- Lithuanian
Creator:
- Lukšienė, Meilė
Year of creation:
- 1957
Featured item of:
- Meilutė Lukšienė collection

Liobytė's statement to Antanas Sniečkus, the first secretary of Lithuanian Communist party

In 1957, Liobytė wrote to Antanas Sniečkus, the first secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party, and Antanas Venclova, the chairman of the Lithuanian Writer's Union. In the letter, she tried to explain the difficulties relating to the creation of the opera Sukilėliai (The Rebels). The opera was based on the novel of the same name by Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, who is often called the informal leader of the silent anti-Soviet opposition. Liobytė was invited by the composer Julius Juzeliūnas to write a libretto for the opera, which was blamed for nationalistic ideas and attitudes. In the letter, Liobytė argued that the accusations made about her behind her back were unfair, and asked for open consideration of the question of the opera. Despite this, the opera was never publicly performed. The writing of the libretto was one of the reasons why Liobytė was forced to step down from her editor’s position at the Literary Fiction publishers in 1961.

Location:
- Vilnius , Lithuania
Languages:
- Lithuanian
Creator:
- Liobytė, Aldona
Year of creation:
- 1957
Featured item of:
- Aldona Liobytė collection

Fodor, József. Pilgrimage Guide to Saint's Day Fests, 1957-1974. Publication

Legend says József Fodor was a prominent guide and organizer of religious festivals for a long time. When he appeared, he soon became the main figure of the events, beyond the liturgy proper. The old pilgrims had already known him and expected his entrance on these occasions.

József Fodor was born on 27 June 1921 in Veresegyháza. He learned how to lead a religious festival procession from his mother, who died in 1936. In 1940, Fodor began to lead regular pilgrimages to various shrines. In his handwritten and illustrated book, he documented his religious festival trips from 1957 to 1974. The book contains photos and religious quotes.
On each trip, he asked the parish priest, the chief lieutenant, or the bishop to add personal notes to his collection. Between 1957 and 1974, he led 153 pilgrimage groups, 12 of which went abroad. In the nearly ten years between 1962 and 1971, 120 groups took a pilgrimage trip with his guidance. In the course of his journeys, he visited 45 Hungarian and 16 foreign shrines. He often returned to a few of his favorite places, but he always strove to visit new places. He was ill for longer periods. We don’t know much about the pilgrimages he took after 1974. József Fodor died in Budapest in 1984. József Fodor’s book was made part of the collection of the Christian Museum in 1986.

Sándor Soós published József Fodor’s book in 2008. Soós listed the pilgrimages which Fodor had led, and he wrote about his life and his pilgrimage trips.

Location:
- Esztergom Mindszenty hercegprímás tere 2, Hungary 2500
Languages:
- Hungarian
Creator:
- Fodor, József
Year of creation:
- 1957
Featured item of:
- Collection of Erdélyi, Zsuzsanna