Regaining Courage According to Arvydas Juozaitis: Remembering the Beginnings of the Lithuanian Reform Movement

Abstract

The book “Tikra Sąjūdžio istorija” (The True History of Sąjūdis; Vilnius: Obuolys [i.e., Lectio Divina], 2025) by Arvydas Juozaitis is one of the most significant contributions to the history of Lithuania’s restoration of independence in recent years. The work is a personal memoir, a political chronicle, and a philosophical meditation in one. The chosen form of memoir and the polemical nature of the book reflect the author’s conviction that the events of 1988–1991 cannot be fully captured solely through the conventional tools of academic history, initiated by Bronius Genzelis and further developed by Česlovas Laurinavičius and Vladas Sirutavičius. However, remaining true to his style and perspective, Juozaitis in many cases leaves the research that has been carried out in the margins. Drawing on sources from that period, the author carefully examines the most significant events. The value of the book is enhanced by personal observations about individuals who were so important in the creation of Sąjūdis but who later faded into obscurity. Juozaitis’s insights and discursive comments reinforce the value of the memoirs, but most importantly, they reveal how the author, being at the epicenter of events, witnessed and assessed them. All of this adds to the relevance of the book as a narrative from within Sąjūdis, written by a witness and one of its founders.