Western reflections and approaches t o events in Kaunas in 1972

This article is an aspiration to expose and look into the one important, but not revealed aspects of recent historical - political development of Soviet-occupied Lithuania. The subject - Western reflections and approaches to events in Kaunas in 1972 - is discussed in this article using Western sources and historiography. On May 14th of 1972 a young student, Romas Kalanta, immolated himself in protest against the occupation of Lithuania. On the day of R. Kalanta's funeral, May 19th 1972, the youth went into the streets to demonstrate. The drastic deed of the nineteenyear-old youth aroused anti-occupation spirit in the country and made the world speak again of the illegal incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR. Thenformation about R. Kalanta's self-immolation reached the West through the dissident sources in Moscow on May 20th. First announcements were broadcasted through Western radio stations, and a few days later a lot of articles in periodical press appeared in all Western states. Some generalisations could be done from the revised articles in Western press. Many analyses of Kaunas events emphasised the role of the youth in the anti-Soviet protest. Also high mass aspirations of national and religious nature were noted. […