Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray

When you read about WWII, not much is mentioned about the role the Soviet Union played in the war and the devastation and cruelty of Stalin and his secret police, the NKVD. When the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were invaded by the Soviets in 1939, there were many citizens that were unjustly accused of crimes they did not commit and were considered enemies of the Soviets. These citizens were murdered, deported and sent to work camps where they were starved and grossly abused. Their stories of inhuman treatment and are not often told and mostly forgotten. Even though this is a story of fiction, it is based on stories from survivors and their families and gives us a small glimpse of the cruelty and abuse that so many of the deportees faced.

In this story, we follow 15 year old Lina and her family, who are violently forced from their home and shipped by cattle train to the work camps in Siberia. Their father has been accused of crimes against the Soviets and sent to a prison camp. Lina, her mother and brother are forced to live in a hut and work in the beet fields with a ration of only a piece of bread each day to keep them alive.
Through Lina's eyes, we see her fellow deportees and the varied reactions to the inhumane treatment they are forced to endure. Some were defeated and give up all hope, where as others were determined to survive whatever the Soviets did to them. The circumstances brought about acts of depravity and at the same time unbelievable depths of kindness from unexpected sources. This is a heart wrenching story that should be read.