My father left a region of Lithuania called Pogegan, in the 1940s, he was only nine years old and they fled to escape the invading Bolsheviks. I first visited in 1999; I wanted to discover the land my father was from, and to learn more about my own heritage. Visiting the house where my father was born, and from which he left in such turmoil, was an emotional and an unforgettable experience.
A Turbulent History.....
The Baltic region has endured many invasions and occupations, the effect of this turbulent time has caused many Lithuanian's, Latvians and Estonia's to be displaced, having to settle in far-flung parts of the world to raise their own families. Since the Baltic countries gained independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, it has been possible for people to return and re-discover their roots.
Meeting long lost relative....
A number of our clients have visited the country of their parents or grandparents, some have even found lost relatives, and many of the stories we have heard have been very moving.
A helping hand...
If you need a helping hand looking for your family we have a really good team in the Baltics who are very willing to do the research for you. They can prepare in advance of your visit so that your time in the region will be most productive and once you've arrived they can accompany you to the national archives or take you to your family village or city.
If you would prefer, you can of course book a basic package with us, we can source accommodation near your family village or town, and you can trace your family at your own pace.
It is an interesting and moving experience, believe me you won't regret it.
Phil Teubler
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To BOOK your perfect hotel for your family research holiday please use the hotel search box on the right.
" Linas was marvellous, taking us to the records office on the Friday afternoon then to the area we needed to visit on the Monday, east of Vilnius where David's father was born and baptised
"Well! What can I say! You did us proud!!!" S Gudaniec June 2007
what an amazing time we have had in Lithuania - it has been a very different experience for us - very emotional and really not like a holiday at all but we have enjoyed every minute!
the Stikliai took our breath away - the room, service, and location was more than I hoped for and was the perfect place to meet our relatives for the first time! we walked miles around the old town visited every church we could find - and there a lot, stopped off for the odd beer on the way and really just enjoyed the "feel" of the place.
We visited Druskininkai - the statue theme park! which was a very strange place and then on to a nearby spa town to sample the water!
We met my husbands Aunt (94!) for the first time and several cousins and went out to Trakai for a meal in a wonderful restaurant overlooking the lake and finished off with a stroll around (hoping to work off some of the zeppelins!!)
my husbands birthday on the 24th was a huge success and thank you so much for arranging to have the wine and cake in the room - it was a lovely thought and greatly appreciated - we spent the day walking around the town, university and higher castle not to mention taking in the Jozef Montwill statue on the way - very weird! met up with relatives in the evening and dined on the main street and people watched - he will certainly remember his birthday!!
the car arrived and we made the journey to palanga - we thought Vilnius was quiet and now we knew why - everyone was here!!! the hotel was fantastic and the room very comfortable, extremely modern design and impressive bathroom and thankfully at the not-so-busy part of town. the room we had to change to for our last night I could have lived the rest of my life out in!!! the beach was absolutely packed so we spent the following day lazing around the pool - resting our feet and catching up on some reading. explored the town in the evening and thought it would have been a place our girls would have loved to visit when they were small.
the following day we spent exploring the coronian spit - a much simpler place - and walked along some virtually deserted dunes and promenades. the lagoon was very impressive and we were pleased we had made the effort to visit it.
the next two days passed in a blur of pool loungers and beer! we had a picnic in the botanical gardens listening to a brass band and prepared ourselves for the journey back to Vilnius via kaunas the following day!
Kaunas old town was fantastic - so very different from Vilnius but equally as charming. Again we met relatives and wandered around churches, town squares and narrow streets - justifiably they are very proud of their history.
The mabre hotel was the scene for our last supper with relatives and many promises were made over many beers to keep in touch - and we would love to visit again around Christmas so I hope it will happen. The room was awesome - with two bathrooms!! what particularly impressed us about the mabre was the honesty of the housekeeper - my husband left his ipod - a birthday present - and they phoned the taxi people up whilst we were on our way to the airport who drove us back to retrieve it! things like that do restore your faith in human nature. but really if you think about it this was typical of everyone we had the pleasure to come into contact with they were all willing to "go the extra mile".
Thank you for making our introduction to Lithuania such a wonderful experience and not even the 2 days it took for our luggage to decide to join us can take anything away from it. we could not have done it without you. Thank you Heidi."Lynda Montwill Sept 2006
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