State of Illinois gives 69 million USD to Lithuanian Consul

Last week, Judy Baar Topinka, treasurer of the state of Illinois in the U.S.A., handed an inheritance check for 69 million US dollars (57.9 million euros) to Lithuanian Consul General Arvydas Daunoravicius in Chicago. The money was left by Lithuanian-American Balys Gircys, who died in Chicago in 1987. While the money was left to the Lithuania consulate two decades ago, the inheritance eventually found its way to the Program on Unclaimed Capital, administrated by the Illinois Treasury Department. Only last year did the Lithuanian Consul General succeed in finding this money.

"This inheritance means much more than just a huge sum of money. It symbolizes the belief of Lithuanians, especially those as devoted as Gircys, in historical justice and the future of independent Lithuania," commented the Consul General. The American official could only agree, noting that since the money was donated during LithuaniaÂ’s Soviet occupation, Mr. Gircys must have had a strong belief in the future.

Indeed.