Community Chat

[Desert Lily]

During this chaotic post-WW1 period, the Bolsheviks also invaded Lithuania on December 1, 1918 as part of the Soviet westward offensive 1918-1919. It followed the retreat of the German WW1 troops. The Russian goal was to establish Soviet republics in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, & Poland.

My grandparents lived in Lithuania then and feared for their lives. They emigrated to the United States in 1918, where they eventually met & married. My father grew up in a neighborhood with other immigrants who had fled those countries; he was multilingual & able to communicate with them.

In the 1990's, my father visited Lithuania to search for relatives there. But he found that the Bolsheviks and Stalin (who was in power from 1922-1952) had executed all of our relatives who hadn't left & were buried in graves with thousands of others there.

Considering the past world wars & pandemics, I think it's a miracle that we're all here in the United States today. I'm thankful my ancestors had the initiative, courage, & strength to find their way to cross the ocean. 

[on the bay]

@Desert Lily,

That was exactly my grandparent's story too, except some of their family also were able to escape by boat to the US. I remember hearing my grandfather cry upstairs while looking at pictures of the half of his family that were murdered and muttering  "the Bolsheviks." How could he ever forget that.

[Oznell]

A tragic and terrible fact of history, @Desert Lily , and @on the bay ,   as your families can attest.  The Bolsheviks, Stalin, Lenin -- among the greatest villains of all time, responsible for countless deaths, terror, broken lives and displacements.