Author: -

Abstract: »In this work I analyze gendered aspects of the Soviet deportations from Lithuania to distant regions of the Soviet Union in the 1940s – early 1950s. I particularly focus on the biggest mass deportation from Lithuania under the code name ‘Vesna’ (‘Spring’) in May 22-23, 1948, when around 40,000 people were deported. I am presenting the ways in which the context of the deportations (Second World War, armed anti-Soviet resistance movement in Lithuania, dekulakization and collectivization policies) made deportations gendered, even though policies seemed to be gender-neutral. In order to answer my research questions I have analyzed official Soviet documents regarding deportations and Lithuanian deportees’ memoirs. I suggest that in many cases women were deported not as active individual anti-Soviet actors (guerilla warriors, heads of kulak households or collaborators with the Nazis) but as members of ‘culpable’ groups (kulaks, nationalists and/or anti-Soviet elements). My reading of Lithuanian deportees’ memoirs allows me to claim that in them women were often presented as more active than men during their life in exile: they were depicted as developing various strategies of survival, apart from compulsory work they continued to take care of their family members and sometimes other needy people, and in other ways strove to survive under harsh conditions in exile. However, it is necessary to read these narratives taking into account numbers of women and men in exile, and Lithuanian deportees’ assumptions about gender roles. I suggest that deportees’ gender made a significant difference in their experiences of exile.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Introduction (p. 1)
	Literature review (p. 10)
		1.1. Literature regarding the Soviet deportations (p. 10)
		1.2. Analyzing memoirs from a gender perspective: literature (p. 14)
	2. Historical context (p. 20)
		2.1. The social and political situation of independent Lithuania 1918-1940; (non-) reaction to the first Soviet occupation in June 1940; the first mass deportation in June 1941 (p. 20)
			2.1.1. The political situation of independent Lithuania, 1918-1940 (p. 20)
			2.1.2. The economic and social situation of independent Lithuania 1918-1940 (p. 26)
			2.1.3. Lithuania’s international relations in the interwar period (p. 30)
			2.1.4. (Non-) Reaction to the first soviet occupation in June 1940 (p. 32)
			2.1.5. First mass deportation in June 1941 (p. 38)
		2.2. Lithuania during the Nazi occupation (June 1941-July 1944); the return of the Soviets in July 1944; the re-start of deportations from the Baltic countries; beginning of the guerilla movement (p. 40)
			2.2.1. Lithuania during the Nazi occupation (June 1941 - July 1944) (p. 40)
			2.2.2. The return of the Soviets in July 1944(p. 44)
			2.2.3. Beginning of the guerilla movement (p. 50)
		2.3. The Soviet deportations: broader context (p. 55)
	3. Deportations from Lithuania in 1945-1948, and the operation of the mass deportation ‘Vesna’, May 22-23, 1948 (p. 57)
		3.1. Background to the deportations in 1945-1948 (p. 57)
		3.2. Planning and executing the operation ‘Vesna’ (p. 65)
		3.3. Gendered implications of the policies of the deportation ‘Vesna’ (p. 72)
	4. The life of Lithuanian deportees in exile as narrated in memoirs (p. 80)
		4.1. Dominant topics in the memoirs (p. 84)
			4.1.1. Arrest (p. 84)
			4.1.2. A journey to the place of exile (p. 88)
			4.1.3. The years of life in exile (p. 93)
		4.2.Narrating the gendered experiences of exile (p. 98)
	Conclusions (p. 112)
	Appendices (p. 116)
		Appendix I. Map: Political and ethnic division of the USSR. The location of the Lithuanian SSR in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (p. 116)
		Appendix II. Map: Forced migrations from the regions annexed by the USSR, 1940 – 1941 (p. 117)
		Appendix III. Map: Forced migrations in the Soviet Union in 1947-1952 (p. 118)
		Appendix IV. Short description of the analyzed memoirs (p. 119)
	Primary sources (p. 122)
		1. Archival material (p. 122)
		2. Deportees’ memoirs (p. 126)
	Bibliography (p. 128)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Lithuania / History of Lithuania | History of Europe: History of Russia / History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953) | Deportation: Soviet deportations from Lithuania / Operation Vesna | Sex and the law: Sexual violence / State terrorism