The Russians were not long in extending their influence over these valiant little republics which had asked no more than the right to live their own lives in peace. They were annexed in 1940 by the Russians. then by the Nazi armies from 1941 to 1944. and then reoccupied and ruled by the Soviet forces up to the present day. During these years of agony. the people of these Baltic republics were forced to choose between some desperate alternativesto flee over the perilous Baltic to the friendly Scandinavian countries or to Germany. knowing that a very uncertain fate awaited them in Hitlers crumbling Reich. or to stay. knowing that death or deportation awaited many of them at the hands of the Soviets. Few people have endured such a cruel ordeal. The example of Hungary has shown us that the spirit of freedom and independence burns brightly in eastern Europe. masked. perhaps. by a sullen compliance with the Soviet overlords as eloquent as open revolt itself.
Keywords matched
deportation