Dirva = Field. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1915-current, 1949-04-22

seemed to be very unclear. Millions
of people were anxious to guess
what would happen in the next
months. l lived in Vilnius, capital
of Lithuania. We suffered much
from the Germans, but we feared
even worse.
Everyone was convinced that the
Germans had lost the war. This
was all right. But what would be
the political situation after the ar
mistice? The peoples of Eastern
Europe were frightened at the very
thought of a new occupation by
another more cruel and selfish enemy.
Some dreamers suggested: the Rus
slams will hardly be allowed to go
outside their boundaries of 1898;
otherwise all the sacrifices, offered
in defeating tyranny and oppression,
would be made quite futile. Many
thought that the Atlantic Charter
was of more worth than a scrap
of paper. This belief was indeed a
mistake, because we did not under
stand the mentality of the Western
Allies, who were beguiled by a de-
ceptive propaganda Some We ars
were necessary for the western peo-
pies and their statesmen to under
stand the simple wisdom which was
clear fo- every herdsman in East
ern Europe five years ago.
All the illusions were entirely dis
persed by the Agreement of Yalta.
remember very well this fatal day.
l heard the first announcement from
the German radio. I and many of
the others thought, merely a bit
of German propaganda to discourage
about half of the European people.
l waited restlessly for the evening
to listen to BIC news from Lon
don. 1t was very strongly forbidden
by Germans to listen to foreign
radios, but everybody listened Sc
cretly to BIC and Voice of Ameri-
ca. (Some were surprised and sent
to concentration camps for offense
against this law And what was
my disappointment as l learned that
the Agreement of Yalta was not
German propaganda, but real ira
gedy. With what right We're mil
lions of the best European men con-
iemned to terrible death, and
many nations were sold for entire
1t was clear for ev-
erybody: if Poland is faithlessly
abandoned, the fate of the Baltic
states is quite cleac = we were
sold like cattle to a butcher. No
'ody in our country, after Teheran,
,eld the sick President Roosevelt
or great statesman in foreign
lffairs, but many did not under
tand how it was possible to get
Ihurchill's signature under this
hameless treachery to civilization.
The red wave comes nearer and
learer to the Lithuanian border. An
lwful panic broke out among all
lasses Of the population. In those
hopeless days a common man told
ne, Everybody is walking as if
'oisoned, and none is clever enough
o know what must be DONE" The
revolt against Hitler
ook the last hope away. A mira
lie was impossible. Finally a slo-
an was started like on sinking
hip, "Save yourself who can!"
1any thousands of people left their
ONES and all property, and an exo-
US to the West began. For every
rice, despite all of the difficulties,
nd so far as possible away from
ne Red pest. Better death under
lins of destroyed German towns,
etter hunger and air raids, better
1e risk to be drowned in the Bal
c Sea, better the fate of a home
ss and penniless refugee then the
Red Freedom. All rendered very
ell the red rule in 194O-41. In one
ear the flourishing life of the Bal
c States was seriously damaged: the |
collapsed, the cultural life +
as entirely paralized, about 200
DO of the best men were murdered i
r deported for a slow but sure de- c
inc in the camps of slave labor (
rs. No wonder if in the summer {
f 1914, about 100000 Balts be- q
an the life of refugees under con- 6
tant persecution by red agents and s
Ire to "go home", this means ITO {
re gallows".
AS for my part, after four years
f adventurous life, constant suf- I
ering from uncertainty, hunger and {
old, l reached finally the u. S., {
nd feel that I am saved. Thou
ands of countrymen of mine and {
ther Balts are going to Australia, ]