POLITICAL INTIMACY

In the spring of 1972, Česlovas Bytautas, a journalist at the Broom, found a proclamation in his desk drawer at work: “The Broom workers’ pledge in honor of the October Socialist Revolution holidays.”¹ The one-page handwritten text had three statements, which ironically used Primary Party Organization bureaucratic language and Communist Party ideological discourse. The proclamation declared, 1. To use press honoraria in a moderate and constructive way, the editorial staff commits to translate all foreign publications to be published in the Broom for free. This will facilitate saving press staff honoraria. 2. To use state funds moderately in the future, the editorial