Breaking Through the Iron Curtain (Residents of Lithuania Who Escaped from the USSR)

Book by Dr Darius Juodis, Breaking Through the Iron Curtain (The Escape of Lithuanian people from the USSR) is the first comprehensive publication to provide a documentary analysis of a topic that has so far only been touched upon in historical publications: the Escape of Lithuanian people from the USSR.

The book presents several periods of breaking through the Iron Curtain of the USSR: the first escapes (1940-1941); the period after the war between the USSR and Germany; the partisan breakthroughs; and the escape of Lithuanian people to the West between the 1950s and 1980s.

According to the author who is a historian, breaking through the Iron Curtain has always involved risks, but the motives for escape were not always political. The goal of defectors was often the simplest guarantee of human freedom, entrepreneurship and respect for the individual, which were impossible in the USSR. Living in a totalitarian state, these rights were either denied or restricted. Another reason for the defection was the first post-war years, when partisans, under the most risky circumstances, tried to flee abroad to pass on information about themselves to the West. Fleeing in later times was also risky, inspired by personal courage, but less extreme (apart from exceptional cases). This book will enrich the reader’s knowledge of the Iron Curtain period in the USSR, the courage and skill of the defectors, and the activities of the KGB at that time.

Format/pages: paperback / 160 pages

ISBN: 9786098298420

Publisher: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras

Year: 2023