This was a fascinating book to research and taught me a history that I previously did not know existed. Here is a little background to the book —
The Jewish Community of Kaunas
In Lithuania before the war, Jews made up roughly one-third of Kaunas’s population—about 35,000 people and the city was a major hub of Jewish culture. Institutions like the Slabodka Yeshiva, the Hebrew Gymnasium, and a thriving network of libraries made Kaunas a centerpiece of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. Into this flourishing community came Jewish refugees on the run from Nazi-occupied Europe, and especially from Poland. Already on the run, Jewish intellectuals were soon to face another threat – that of the Soviet invasion.
The Purge of Lithuanian Intellectuals
One of the Soviet regime’s first targets was the Lithuanian intelligentsia—writers, educators, clergy, military officers, and civil servants. Many of them held anti-communist views, were seen as threats to Soviet authority and ideology.
A key example was Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, a renowned poet and novelist, whose work symbolized Lithuanian national identity. Though he survived the occupation by keeping a low profile, many of his peers did not.
The most brutal blow came with the mass deportations of June 14, 1941, when the NKVD (Soviet secret police) rounded up over 17,000 Lithuanians and deported them to Siberia, the Arctic, and Kazakhstan. Among them were university professors, doctors, engineers, and clergy, many of whom perished in forced labour camps known as gulags. This systematic removal of Lithuania’s intellectual class aimed to destroy the country’s cultural memory and make way for the Sovietization of society. Of course it included many Jewish intellectuals in its purge, meaning they were caught between a rock and a hard place – the Nazis on the one hand and the Soviets on the other.
Escape from Lithuania
Zofia Kowalski is one of those who must escape and her story is told in Last Train to Freedom. The only way out for Jewish people at that time was via the Japanese Consul Sugihara who arranged visas for them to travel six thousand miles across Russia to reach Vladivostok and from there, a boat to Japan.
Needless to say, her journey is long and difficult, as she is pursued by both the Nazis and the Soviet Secret Police.
Reader reviews on NetGalley so far are excellent.
‘An epic journey across the Siberian wilderness that will keep you guessing until the end. Readers interested in the less well known events of World War II will find this book captivating and unforgettable‘ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Ms Swift is a talented writer… Captivating and compulsive reading’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘What a fantastic read this was’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Another stunning achievement in historical fiction from Deborah Swift’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Grips you from the beginning and does not let go until the end‘ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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