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The article examines the discourse of the right-wing and left-wing politicians and the academic community in 1918–1922 when trying to decide on the type of university needed by the state of Lithuania being built. The novelty of the article is reflected in two aspects. Firstly, the analysis is done at a micro-level, i.e., highlighting the key views and disagreements concerning the university prevailing in the society of the time from the individual perspective. Secondly, the discourse analysis has shown that the attitudes, actions, and initiatives in terms of leadership of politicians and intellectuals were important in decision-making related to university studies. It is that leadership of the academic community in the opening of the first private school of higher education in independent Lithuania, namely the Advanced Courses in 1919–1920, that influenced both the Government and members of the Constituent Assembly to find a consensus on founding the University of Lithuania in Kaunas in 1922. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, in addition to the already quite well-known episode of the issue of lifetime visas by the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas in the summer of 1940, Lithuania’s position on the issue of refugees is presented, as well as the efforts of Lithuanian diplomats in negotiating with the governments of Britain and the USSR about the possibilities of emigration of willing refugees – Polish Jews. The contribution of Jan Zwartendijk, Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Lithuania, to the history of salvation is also remembered. The paths of emigration are discussed, showing their entire spectrum, and not just the usual ones with the Trans-Siberian route linked by Sugihara visas. The changing policy of the Japanese government on the issue of transit visas is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]