Lipka Tatar Heritage Series | Episode 2 | The Arrival of the Lipka Tatars in Lithuania

This video is the second in a series about Lipka, or Lithuanian, Tatars who immigrated to New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland and established a Lipka Tatar community in Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, NY. This episode, “The Arrival of the Lipka Tatars in Lithuania“, covers the period from the late 14th century until the early 19th century. It documents the settlement of Tatars from the Golden Horde into the northwest corner of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the merging of cultures that became the Lipka Tatar ethnicity, and the problems encountered as a result of Russification. The series was inspired by a 2018 “Heritage“ trip made by 16 American Lipka Tatars to visit the land of their ancestors. These 16 Americans were descendants of 500 original Lipka Tatars who immigrated to America and settled in the New York City area. The trip was documented by journalist Ryan Schuessler. His article, written for the publ