One of the biggest crimes of the 20th century is barely mentioned in textbooks about the Cold War. Why? Maybe it is because little information came out of Eastern Europe until 1990. And by then, the textbooks were written. But this was a massive event that reveals a lot about Stalin’s Soviet Union. And instead of always thinking about the Cold War, let’s remember those people were caught in the middle of it.

We are fortunate to have obtained first-hand testimony of two of the women who were deported. Remember that these were the lucky ones – the ones who survived. But their lives were nevertheless scarred by suffering, tragedy and rejection. For what purpose? So Stalin and his communist regime could more easily dominate their countries.