“What was life asking of me? How could I respond when I didn’t know the question?”
Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother’s was worth a pocket watch.
Lithuania, June 1941: Fifteen-year-old Lina is preparing for art school and looking forward to summer. In the dark of night there is a knock at the door and life is forever changed. Soviet secret police arrest Lina, her mother, and her younger brother, tearing their family apart. The three are hauled from their home and thrown into cattle cars, where they soon discover their destination: Siberia. Separated from her father, Lina embeds clues in her drawings and secretly passes them along, hoping they will reach her father’s prison camp. In this dramatic and moving story, Lina desperately fights for her life and the lives of those around her. But will love be enough to keep her alive?
Did you know that in 1941 there was a mass deportation of three Baltic countries issued by the Soviets? An estimated 50,000 people from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were arrested or taken from their homes to work in labor camps where most eventually died. Yes, you heard that right. Our ally during WWII was treating its newly acquired people similarly to that of the very person we had joined together to fight, Adolf Hitler.
“Litter. Is that what we were to Stalin?”
This is all news to me. Whether this was actually taught in any of my 12 years of public schooling, I can’t be certain. But I have vivid memories of learning about WWII and it being one of my favorite topics to learn about, so I feel like I would’ve remembered had I been informed of this sickening act of mass genocide.
“I looked down at the little pink face in the bundle. A newborn. The child had been alive only minutes but was already considered a criminal by the Soviets.”
I started reading Between Shades of Gray the Tuesday after the events in Charlottesville, VA took place. I don’t think this book could’ve entered my life at a better time. I wept watching the news reports about Charlottesville, and I wept while reading this book. It is hard to believe that there were people marching American streets chanting things like “BLOOD AND SOIL” and “JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US,” phrases that portray the atrocious ideology of nazi Germany and, apparently, communist Russia in WWII.
“We’re dealing with two devils who both want to rule hell.”
My thoughts on this book are hard to put into words, and I know I won’t do it justice with this review. For that, Ruta Sepetys, I apologize. BUT, this book has sparked something in me that has been stagnant for some time. No longer can I be silent. I will not watch people from the KKK walk with torches in hand down my country’s streets and be silent. I will not listen to our president be passive and indifferent about these groups and be silent.
I will stand. I will fight. I will love.
“These three tiny nations have taught us that love is the most powerful army. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy–love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”
There’s not much else I can say except to read this book. In fact, I’m not just going to say it, I’m going to beg you to read this book. I have one copy I can lend out to anyone interested. Check out the articles I have linked in the bottom of this post. Learn, reflect, change.
“You stand for what is right, Lina, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.”
We are left with a choice after the violence in Charlottesville. We can choose to stand up and fight for love, or we can choose to allow hate. I am praying with all of my might to the God of love that we all choose the first.
“We’d been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we’d get a little closer.”
Links
You can learn more about Between Shades of Gray by clicking HERE.
I also did some research myself and found some great articles about the Baltic deportations, which is where I gathered the facts in this post. You can read them here:
http://blog.victimsofcommunism.org/remembering-the-deadly-baltic-deportations/
http://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/remembering-stalins-deportation-of-the-baltic-nations-in-june-1941/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-soviet-union-helped-save-the-world-from-hitler-a7020926.html
Finally, a huge thank you to my friend, Rebecca, for choosing this book for our book club this month. I would’ve never picked it up on my own for fear of it being too sad. Thank you for pushing me outside of my comfort zone and allowing me to learn about this hidden part of history.
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