Aleksandr Szklennik. Dienoraštis, 1915–1918 m. II knyga, 1916 m. rugsėjo 11 d. - 1917 m. rugpjūčio 26 d.

Описание

The second book contains another three notebooks – the fifth, sixth, and seventh – of the prominent Vilnius public figure, engineer and member of the cooperative movement Aleksandr Szklennik’s archival manuscript. Entries in the fifth notebook cover the period from 11 September 1916 to 14 December of the same year; the sixth notebook is dedicated to the period from 15 December 1916 to 21 March 1917; and the seventh notebook opens with the entry dating back to 22 March 1917 and closes with one of 26 August of the same year. From the very beginning a couple of story lines can be identified in the text of the fifth notebook which for the most part continue throughout the rest of the notebooks. Among the prevailing plot lines in the three notebooks under consideration is the situation in Vilnius and its region governed by the occupant German administration. The autumn of 1916 was for the most part the grimmest and hardest streak of the said occupation in Vilnius and the rest of the region. Already in the summer of 1916 the Germans effectively suppressed former institutions of Vilnius self-government which granted them full control of the situation. A huge tax obligation was imposed upon the city, therefore in the autumn of 1916 payment related issues overshadowed all other problems wealthy Vilnius citizens might have had and eliminated any possibility of the manifestation of public spirit or any other initiative. As an expert in economic and financial matters, A. Szklennik was continuously interested in the above issues – discussions pertaining to prices, costs, and currency exchange rates continue throughout his journal. In the winter of 1916 – 1917 the survival crisis reached a most tragic scale.