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Lessons Of Real Life Bug-Out Circa 1944, by Grazu44
As long as I can remember, my father was prepared for the unexpected. I thought it was because he purchased a series of unreliable Chrysler products in the 70’s and 80’s that consistently broke down. (MOPAR– the name of Chrysler’s Parts Division– became an acronym in our house for “Moments Of Power Are Rare”). The fact of the matter was that my father “bugged out” of his native Lithuania with his family at the age of 14. Following World War II, he and his family were placed in a Displaced Persons (DP) camp for native Lithuanians in what would become West Berlin. The wisdom of my grandfather to leave Lithuania was based on his self-reliant attitude and world view. The lessons my father experienced and passed down have served me and my siblings well. In recent years, I have become more self-reliant as a result of my own personal experiences with Hurricane Sandy in 2011.
Just like The Clash song “Should I Stay or Should I Go” expresses great indecision, my grandfather’s decision in early 1944 was not a simple one. Lithuania is a small country located in Eastern Europe on the Baltic Sea. It has always been victim to many of the world’s largest conflicts. Nepoleon, Russian Czars, Hitler, and Stalin all have had their grip on the small Baltic nation. The capital city of Vilnius is crudely referred to as “the city built on bones”, as a reference to its storied history of genocide, death due to war, hypothermia, and starvation. In 1943 Hitler’s well-documented campaign to attack Russia went directly through Lithuania. Like well-seasoned chili, you know it is spicy when it burns twice; Lithuania was in fact burned twice by Soviet occupations.
My grandfather’s decision to leave was largely based on his experiences during the first Russian occupation of Lithuania (June 15, 1940-June 24, 1941). Lithuanian’s who did not sympathize with the Soviet Bolshevik ways were imprisoned, exiled, or killed. Any show of nationality, other than with Soviet views, was treated with harsh realities of imprisonment or torture. My uncle was imprisoned for singing the Lithuanian National Anthem in public during the first Soviet occupation. When Germany took over the small Baltic nation (June 25, 1941-July 1944), life was relatively good, if you were not Jewish. German leaders were warmly welcomed by most Lithuanians. A very dark history of the German occupation was the slaughter of almost all Jews in Lithuania; 95-97% were “liquidated”. I want to be perfectly clear on this point; some Lithuanians had anti-Semitic views and murdered many of their own citizens during the German occupation. It did not take the Nazi propaganda machine and extermination camps to almost annihilate every Jew in Lithuania. Business men, farmers, lawyers, laborers, and doctors rounded up Jews and marched them to their deaths in the forests of Lithuania (Paneriai, Ninth Fort). Obviously, the Nazi’s job was made easier by the hands of these native anti-Semites. This information is based on my grandfather’s first-hand accounts and experiences, not a slanted view text book or current Lithuanian government propaganda.
Source: https://survivalblog.com/lessons-of-real-life-bug-out-circa-1944-by-grazu44/
