Siberian Exiles - Freedom Fighters

Siberian Exiles is a trilogy in which eyewitnesses tell about the deportations from the Baltic states to Siberia under the Soviet regime (Part 1), the organized resistance against the Soviet occupier and the life in the Gulag camps (Part 2), and the beginning of the Cold War (Part 3). Freedom Fighters - Part 2 When the Soviets reoccupied the Baltic states in 1944, the atrocities of the first occupation were still fresh in people's minds. They knew that a new wave of violence and repression was expected. Because of this, there was a strong willingness among the population to fight for their independence. Many men headed to the forests to avoid the mobilization by the Soviets. An armed partisan war against the Soviets ensued, which lasted from 1944 to 1956. The total number of partisans, including women, is estimated at over 50,000. People in the surrounding of the forests helped the partisans to get food, medicine, bandages, and clothing. Some became informers, passing on important information or distributing the underground partisan newspaper. Others wrote and distributed patriotic pamphlets encouraging the population not to surrender to the occupier.