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1941, 1991: A story of survival- 14 year old Dalia and her family are deported to a Siberian labour camp.
Shadows on the Tundra
What you need to know before your trail
In 1941, 14-year-old Dalia and her family are deported from their native Lithuania to a labour camp in Siberia. As the strongest member of her family she submits to twelve hours a day of manual labour. At the age of 21, she escapes the gulag and returns to Lithuania. She writes her memories on scraps of paper and buries them in the garden, fearing they might be discovered by the KGB. They are not found until 1991, four years after her death.
This is the story Dalia buried. The immediacy of her writing bears witness not only to the suffering she endured but also the hope that sustained her. It is a Lithuanian tale that, like its author, beats the odds to survive
Travel Guide
Travel a remarkable true story and journey Lithuania, Belarus and Siberia
On 14 June, 1941, Dalia Grinkeviciute, a fourteen year old Lithuanian girl from Kaunas, was deported along with her mother and brother Juozas. After a journey lasting months and involving many stops, in August 1942 they – together with hundreds of other deportees – arrive on the island of Trofimovsk in the Arctic. Shortly before the on set of winter, they were forced to build a camp for themselves in exile.
Six years later, Dalia was given leave to attend college in Yakutsk (East Siberia). Her mother was not allowed to go with her, but she did, and their deception was discovered. Dalia was set off to work on a mine before returning to Yakutsk where her mother was now livng. However, her mother was seriously ill and so wanted to return to Lithuania.
So, the two women fled, illegally from Yakutsk back to Lithuania via Moscow. They returned to their family home where her mother died. Dalia was sent back to Siberia via various camps .
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Shadows on the Tundra
Destination: Lithuania, Belarus, Siberia, Russia Author/guide: Dalia Grinkeviciute Departure Time: 1942
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