The trilogy shows a part of European history that is hardly known in Western Europe: the occupation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied between 1940 and 1991. During the annexation by the Soviet Union, mass deportations, executions and arrests took place. Collective traumas that have left deep scars on the population. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine old fears are revived. But why is this fear so great and what is the cause? Based on personal stories from eyewitnesses and relatives, Heinermann takes us to a hidden history.
“No one has ever been convicted of the crimes against humanity committed by the Soviets. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was first openly discussed, but in Putin’s Russia the Stalin past is once again under the carpet That is why I think it is important that the stories that were hidden from us behind the Iron Curtain are heard and preserved, so that they can contribute to a correct historiography.”
In three parts, eyewitnesses tell about the deportation of women and children to remote areas in Siberia, life in the Gulag camps, the organized resistance against the Soviet occupiers and the beginning of the Cold War.
