Experiments of the Soviet era in humans: these signs can still be recognized today

Although the phrase “was better in the Soviet era” is still occasionally heard in public space, Dr. Aurimas Švedas, an associate professor at the Vilna University Faculty of History, does not speak much.

“I was born in 1974, so I had to live in the Soviet Union. Of course, the late Soviet era, which I saw first in the eyes of a child and later in the eyes of a teenager, is a completely different world than, for For example, the Soviet era experienced by my parents or grandparents. No matter how human a thing can say, the best the Soviet era could have given me was that it was all over, “says the historian.

The Lithuanian population was plagued by successive occupations: the Soviets (1940–1941), the Nazis (1941–1944), and again the Soviets (1944–1988). The last occupation lasted longer, and the deportations, persecutions, terror and other coercive actions carried out in the first years of the occupation left a scar not only in the history of the country, but also in the consciousness of the Lithuanian population.

The goal of such a regime was to create a new Soviet man, explains A. Švedas, and Professor Danutė Gailienė from the Vilna University Faculty of Philosophy summarizes the psychological consequences.

One goal is to eradicate mistrust and recycle the rest.

The objective of the Soviet Union was clear: ideologically change the Lithuanian population to feel the least resistance possible. This objective led the Soviet authorities to take radical measures: persecution of various groups in society, imprisonment, torture and deportation of people to the harsh and sparsely populated lands of Siberia.

The historian Aurimas Švedas metaphorically compares such actions with the demolition of a house. “The state can be equated with a house where society lives. The demolition of the house, which was built by the efforts of all the citizens of the state, destroying the state of Lithuania, destroyed the network of institutions that created the life of the state and society, imposed on society the lifestyle, values, ideas and even everyday life promoted by the Soviet civilization, “says the historian.

However, the repressive actions of the Soviet authorities were motivated not only by the desire to reduce the resistance of the population. According to A. Švedas, the strongest blow was directed at the elite to stop the development of the country’s history and the well-being of the state itself.

“The creators of Soviet civilization understood this very well, and therefore tried to destroy the most talented, mostly accomplished, members with the greatest prospect of Lithuanian society.” In addition to the country’s most talented, creative, and hard-working inhabitants, the country had to become an easily controlled territory: the Soviet Republic, ”explains A. Švedas.

Probably the most important act of destroying the occupied state was applied not only to Lithuania: the deportation of the population to Siberia, which lasted more than 10 years. A large proportion of the deportees died in exile due to hard work and poor living conditions, and those who were allowed to return felt the consequences of the deportation stamp for a long time in search of higher education or in search of a best job.

It still feels, but gradually survived homo sovieticus mentality

According to Professor Danutė Gailienė, different studies show that the consequences of the period of Soviet repression are long-term and complex. In general, it would not be possible to say how this regime affected the Lithuanian population, because it affected everyone differently.

For example, some were affected by torture, incarceration in prisons, the KGB basements, others by feelings of insecurity, persecution, concealment, lies and simulations, and others by the decision not to resist and adapt. For the reasons above, long-term fear and stress felt that people changed and, at the same time, people’s psychology changed.

“People have been anxious and unreliable for a long time. Those people who adapted to the regimes began to evade, mock, live a double life and still don’t have a good life for anyone. Some still have memories, and in their dreams they come back to experience their experience, “says D. Gailienė.

These experiences of the Lithuanian population are alive to this day and affect a part of society. “Studies with the children and grandchildren of the second and third generation of the Soviet people have shown that the children of the repressed are psychologically stronger, know their family history better, identify more with it, have more to be proud of” . It is not just that trauma and suffering travel from generation to generation, as resistance does. Therefore, it is remarkable that these people have strength, strength.

The most complicated situations for those people and families who had adapted did not resist the regime. Memories and stories are difficult, less willing to share in those families. When we talk about the mentality of society, there are echoes of the post-Soviet mentality, such as moral doubts, suspicions, not openness, but it is gradually decreasing, “explains the professor.

The historian A. Švedas also raises the question of how much remains in the thinking of our society. homo sovieticus splinters of mentality. He points out that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we still feel the consequences of its experiment in civilization, because sometimes we behave and think that we are not free people, capable of making their own decisions and taking responsibility for those decisions.

However, both interlocutors agree that homo sovieticus It has almost become history and Lithuanian society is becoming democratic, reflecting, talking more and more about the past and the experiences of individual groups. “Such reflection and discussions are very healthy, which means that we want to get to know each other more and look at ourselves with self-criticism,” concludes D. Gailienė.

The “Mission Siberia” project on June 14, Day of Mourning and Hope, invites to remember and pay tribute to the victims of the Soviet repression during the minute of Universal Silence and the “Speak, listen, save” campaign. More information at www.tylosminute.lt and www.birzelio14.lt.