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In 1863 after the uprising in Lithuania against the Russian domination entire villages whose inhabitants were suspected of any kind of ties with the uprising were burned down, people deported. Among deportees were Dr.Kazickas's grandperents and parents who ended up in Russia, region of Saratov, uninhabited place called "Black Hollow" - Chornaya Padina. Dr.J.P.Kazickas was born there in 1918. In 1923 with his Parents and his sister Victoria he returned to Lithuania.

"Time has stopped here. I found the village exactly the same as 80 years ago, "- Dr. Kazickas said during his and his Family's visit to Chornaya Padina village in 2002. "We have no place to pray, no place to celebrate baptism or a wedding. It would be so wonderful to have somewhere to go where we can find a few moments of spiritual peace," - whispered Mrs.Vilutis to Dr.Kazickas as his visit neared the end.

A Russian married to a Lithuanian deportee Viktor Kazarin had erected a monument to the Lithuanian families of Chornaya Padina of 1863 in the local cemetery, and later on he helped to build St.Catherine's Chapel. Now the Kazarin Family lives in Lithuania.

In the fall of 2013, a group of scholars from the Social Athropology Center at the Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, Lithuania) held an expedition to the Saratov region in search for signs of Lithuanian identity: local Lithuanians, villages, cemeteries. The expedition was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and the Kazickas Family Foundation. For more pictures, please refer to the VDU website. 

The plaque in Lithuanian on the Chapel wall reads: "Chapel of Joseph and Alexandra Kazickas was constructed in celebration of the 140th anniversary of Chornaya Padina. In honor of Polish and Lithuanian deportees, participants of 1863 Upraisal who settled the village. The Chapel was built in 2004 thanks to the funds of Joseph and Alexandra Kazickas, descendants of the deported revolutionaries, and donations of other US citizens."