Barbara Armonas Explained

Barbara Armonas
Other Names:Barbora Armonienė
Birth Name:Barbora Balčiūnaitė
Birth Date:December 28, 1908
Birth Place:, Russian Empire
Death Date:December 25, 2008 (aged 99)
Death Place:Mentor, Ohio
Known For:Political prisoner
Notable Works:Leave Your Tears in Moscow (1961, memoir)

Barbara Armonas (Lithuanian: Barbora Armonienė; December 28, 1908 – December 25, 2008) was a Lithuanian political prisoner in the Soviet Union. She rejoined her American-born husband and daughter in the United States in 1960, and she published a memoir, Leave Your Tears in Moscow, in 1961.

Biography

Early years

Armonas was born in a small village of near Pasvalys in northern Lithuania.[1] She married a Lithuanian-American machinist, John Armonas, in 1929. They lived in Cleveland, Ohio, for six years; their daughter, Donna, was born in Ohio. They moved to Lithuania in the 1930s, and bought a farm in ; their son John was born in Lithuania.[2]

War years and after

In 1939, American citizens were warned to leave Lithuania; her husband and five-year-old daughter left, but she and her infant son did not have the paperwork ready to join them, so both stayed behind.[3] She and her son were deported to Siberia in 1948, and she was tried as an American spy in 1951. While serving her prison sentence in a women's work camp, she was assigned to sew clothing in a factory, and do gardening at an exhibition camp. In 1955, she was allowed to return to Lithuania under an amnesty for political prisoners. She lived in a rented room in Pasvalys.[4]

In late 1959,[5] after meeting with David L. Lawrence, governor of Pennsylvania,[6] and after years of pleas from John and Donna Armonas,[7] [8] Nikita Khrushchev agreed to allow the Armonas mother and son to leave the Soviet Union.[9] They finally left in 1960.[10] The family was reunited in Copenhagen after almost 22 years apart.[11]

Later years

Armonas lived in Ohio with her husband and children after 1960.[12] She completed a memoir with writer Algirdas L. Nasvytis, Leave Your Tears in Moscow (1961).[13] "No one who reads it will fail to be moved by this courageous woman's account of her struggle for survival in a police state", said one American reviewer in 1965.[14] Her book was translated into at least four other languages, and excerpts were published in Life magazine.[15] [16]

In her later years, Armonas was active in Lithuanian community activities in Cleveland. Her husband died shortly after they celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in 1979.[17] After Lithuanian independence in 1991, she was able to visit family members in Lithuania. She died in 2008, three days before her 100th birthday, in Mentor, Ohio. Her memoir was published in a new edition in 2011, on its fiftieth anniversary, with additional photographs and material added by her son.[18] Her son also published a memoir, How I Became a Comrade: An American Growing Up in Siberian Exile (2013).[19]

Notes and References

  1. Bronislava . Lapinskaitė . Paryžius–JAV–Pasvalys: žmonių ir daiktų istorijos . Lietuvos muziejų rinkiniai . 1822-0657 . 2019 . 18 . lt . 42.
  2. https://www.news-herald.com/2009/01/06/barbara-armonas/ "Barbara Armonas"
  3. Cadzow . John . 2020-01-31 . Lithuanian Press and Radio . Lithuanian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland . en . Cleveland Ethnic Heritage Studies, Cleveland State University.
  4. News: 1959-10-07 . City Rabbi Hopeful of Plea Sent Nikita . 12 . Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: 1959-12-25 . K Keeps Promise, Frees Mother, Son . 2 . The Knoxville News-Sentinel . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  6. News: 1959-11-03 . Lawrence Nudges Khruschev on Pledge . 3 . The Pittsburgh Press . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: Taylor . Harry . 1957-06-05 . Ohio Girl Calls Bluff of Red Boss . 1 . The Cincinnati Post . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: 1950-04-17 . Trygve Lie Has 'Mission' in Russia . 2 . Dayton Daily News . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Zewen . Ann . 1971-06-13 . Khruschev Vow Ends 20-year Separation . 3 . The Orlando Sentinel . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: 1960-02-17 . Waiting . 3 . The Evening Sun . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: 1960-03-04 . Lithuanian Woman, Son Headed to America . 3 . The Wichita Beacon . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: 1960-03-08 . Party at Armonas Home Real Big One . 3 . The News-Messenger . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  13. Book: Armonas . Barbara . Leave your tears in Moscow . Nasvytis . Algirdas L . 1961 . Lippincott . Philadelphia . English . 1042831.
  14. News: Inman . Marian . 1965-04-15 . Ink in my Veins . 21 . Kossuth County Advance . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  15. Armonas, Barbara. "Ordeal in Siberia" Life (April 28, 1961): 84-94.
  16. Armonas, Barbara. "Anguish in Prison, Then the Miracle" Life (May 5, 1961): 107-120.
  17. News: 1979-07-08 . Couple Remembers When Life Bleaker . 6 . The Marion Star . 2022-07-02 . Newspapers.com.
  18. Book: Armonas . Barbara . Leave Your Tears in Moscow . Nasvytis . A. L. . Meridia Publishers . 2011 . 978-0983233039.
  19. Armonas, John E. How I Became a Comrade: An American Growing Up in Siberian Exile (Meridia Publishers 2013).