May 3 4:30 p.m. Greta Štiormer, the third-generation wolf child’s granddaughter, director of the theater of the young generation in Kaunas artists’ house, together with Rūta Matimaityte, a doctoral student of the Lithuanian History Institute, historian researching the topic of wolf children, invites you to the lecture “Wilko’s Children: about the memory of the war”.
According to the press release, during the lecture, Greta Štiormer will present the story of her grandfather Leonhard Štiormer, and will share authentic documentary material from the discovered family archive.
Searching for her own relationship with family memory and wanting to make sense of it in a cultural context, Greta Štiormer began to develop a study of the history of Wolf’s Children, which is based on the experiences of her grandfather Leonhard Štiormer and the extraordinary experience of war, emigration, and later rediscovering one’s identity. Meanwhile, historian Rūta Matimaitytė will not only review the history of the wolf children from a scientific and chronological perspective in the lecture, but will also present a broader context of the history of the wolf children.
“My grandfather is a wolf child. When I started to delve into my grandfather’s story, I realized that what he went through was also a part of me. As the granddaughter of a wolf child, this topic has always been interesting to me. I often asked my grandfather about the past, about what was before the war. I felt a strong connection with my grandfather through our love of music, our similarities in appearance, and similar character traits. But when this topic was touched, he quickly “shut down”. I have always felt that my grandfather’s experience of the war was a part of me, that it affected my subconscious and the way I understood the world. It is not easy to deal with such a topic, because the more I talk about it, explain it, get closer to myself, the stronger the pain, the brighter the dreams, the more I find parallels with the context of my own life. I feel that those traumatic experiences, which I have not directly experienced myself, but which I experience for my dead great-grandparents, my grandfather, are repeating themselves. I am experiencing that pain as if anew, rethinking it in a modern, my own context. I hope that by examining my family line, I contribute to collective healing as well,” says Greta Štiormer, who is researching her grandfather’s past.
“The story of the wolf children is a bridge of humanity and history connecting Lithuania and Germany. In the face of the war in Ukraine, the stories of the wolf children become a painful reminder of the past for the present. Lithuanian support and humanity helped these children survive. Together, the children dragged along the part of our shared history and humanity bridge with Germany”, says historian Rūta Matimaitytė.
Briefly about Greta Štiormer
Greta Štiormer is a theater director of the young generation living in Vilnius, creator of interdisciplinary art and contemporary opera. At the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater (LMTA), Greta completed her bachelor’s studies in theater directing in the course of the famous director Eimuntas Nekrošias, then she completed sculpture studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts (course managers: D. Narkevičius, O. Juciūtė), then she interned in New York at the production courses organized by Beth Morrison Projects. As a theater director, she has presented her work on various Lithuanian and foreign stages and organizations: “Atlanticx” (Buenos Aires), National Academy of Dramatic Art (Paris), “Operomanija”, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, “Meno fortas” theater “, Kaunas Artists’ House, Vilnius State Little Theater. Director Greta Štiormer has won the competition program of the Klaipėda Young Theater Days Festival, the contemporary opera sketch competition “Opera Genomas”, the “DramaTest” competition organized by the Vilnius State Small Theater and the best director award at the International Theater Festival “Com•media” organized by the Alytus City Theatre.
Briefly about Rūta Matimaitė
Rūta Matimaitytė is a historian, a doctoral candidate at the Lithuanian Institute of History, who is currently preparing her dissertation “Children’s migration to Soviet Lithuania 1944-1960: history, memory and trauma”. Rūta Matimaitytė completed her bachelor’s and master’s studies at Vilnius University, Faculty of History, and continues her studies at the Lithuanian Institute of History. During his doctoral studies, he interned at the Memory Studies Platform in Frankfurt am Main, the Herder Institute, the Nord – Ost Institute in Lüneburg. Participated in scientific conferences in Poland, Great Britain, Canada and Germany. Rūta is actively involved in various social projects and contributes to spreading the topic of wolf children. On her initiative, the page “Wolfskinder/Wolfskinder” was created on the social network Facebook, where historical content is actively created. Since 2024, Rūta has been leading the cultural education platform “Bridges of Memory”.
Director Greta Štiormer and historian Rūta Matimaitytė invite you to explore the concept of Wolf children and war memory together on Friday at the Kaunas Artists’ House. Free entry.
