Pochodnia (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: Torch, full name: the Association for the Promotion of Culture and Education "Torch", pl, Towarzystwo Popierania Kultury i Oświaty "Pochodnia") was a cultural association of

Poles in Lithuania The Poles in Lithuania ( pl, Polacy na Litwie, lt, Lietuvos lenkai), estimated at 183,000 people in the Lithuanian census of 2021 or 6.5% of Lithuania's total population, are the country's largest ethnic minority. During the Polish–Lithuania ...

. The first chairman was

Wiktor Budzyński Wiktor Budzyński ( lt, Viktoras Budzinskis; born 7 March 1888, village of Eustachow, near Vilkaviškis – 1976, Puszczykowo, near Poznań) was an ethnic Polish politician, active in the interbellum period in the Republic of Lithuania. He was th ...

(1924-1935), succeeded by Jan Przeździecki and Czesław Mackiewicz. Its activities included education, libraries, theatre, museums, exhibitions, press and literature. Its most important activity was school and after school education. It managed a number of preschools and private primary schools. In 1935 it managed 19 Polish afterschool

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Ce ...

s ( pl, Świetlica polska) with over 12,000 participants, and the central library with 115 library outlets. Zenon Krajewski, ''Polacy w Republice Litewskiej 1918-1940'', 1998, pp. 41-43

References

{{reflist Polish minorities 20th century in Lithuania 1924 establishments in Lithuania