In summer 1968 Professor Vacys Milius from Vilnius, famous ethnographer visited the area of Puńsk. In the village Żwikiele he found a stony hatchet produced approximately 7 thousand years ago. He brought it to Professor Vaina and encouraged to get interested in material culture of the area. Vaina, who was about to retire, from that moment devoted himself to collecting. He started with gathering the songs of the local residents, then historical documents, books, poems, and material culture articles, post-stamps, coins, wooden and iron locks, old farming tools and what not.
Juozas Vaina patiently and calmly toured the tourists of his museum (Ethnographic Museum in Puńsk is commonly called Vaina Museum), showing ornamental crosses typical for this region, or demonstrating how the archaic door lock works.
Juozas Vaina was called Lithuanian Oskar Kolberg because thanks to him many items of material and spiritual culture have been preserved. He made small Puńsk as well as whole Suwałki region famous, and not only its Lithuanian face. He died on the 1st of April, 2011.
