IRENA: A STOLEN CHILDHOOD

''(text-colour:red)[DISCLAIMER:]'' THIS TWINE GAME FOCUSES ON A VERY SENSITIVE PERIOD OF HISTORY IN WHICH MILLIONS WERE IMPRISONED AND ENSLAVED BY THE SOVIET NKVD IN GULAG CAMPS FOR THEIR IDENTITY EXPRESSIONS AND BELIEFS. THIS GAME IS BASED AND ADAPTED FROM (text-colour:red)[A TRUE STORY]. SOME MATERIAL IN THIS TWINE GAME MAY BE UPSETTING TO SOME AUDIENCES, ''(text-colour:red)[DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?]'' [[YES->YES: GAME START]] [[NO->NO: FURTHER INFORMATION]]

(text-style:"underline")[//June 13th, 1941...//] Your name is Irena Saulutė Valaitytė-Špakauskienė. You are a 12 year old Lithuanian girl from the city of Kaunas, Lithuania. Your country has been incorporated into the USSR for almost a year now, but the foundations remain shaky... You are walking back home hastily from school. It was the last day of the school year, but you didn't have much chance to part with your friends, you know why. It is the same reason it's been every evening for the past year, you need to hide. You cannot take chances, not for your family, not for yourself... (t8n-depart:"slide-up")+(t8n-arrive:"slide-up")[[Continue...->ARRIVAL AT HOME]]

The history of the (text-colour:red)[GULAG] punishment and repression system throughout the Soviet Union - especially at the height of the (text-colour:red)[Red Terror] under the leadership of (text-colour:red)[Joseph Stalin] - is a dark and often hard to fathom history. To learn more about the history through digital and interactive means, you can visit the (text-colour:red)[GULAG ONLINE VIRTUAL MUSEUM]. A thoroughly completed digital archive of camps, their prisoners, the survivors, as well as numerous archived documents, letters and archives to patch up a dark and often forgotten history... (text-colour:red)[VISIT: GULAG.ONLINE]

You have arrived at your home, lucky for you its not very far from school. Immediately you notice you're not the only one here waiting at the door. You notice your cousin, uncle and aunt. They hug you tight and force a wry smile. You assume the rest of the family are inside... Your mother opens the door and ushers you all in. "Irena how was school?" she asks while peering out the crack in the door before pulling it shut. CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER: [["It was good mama, nothing special..."->ANSWER 1A]] [["It was alright, but I hardly could say bye to anyone...why must we hide?"->ANSWER 1B]]

''Mother:'' "Allright then that's good...go wash your hands and come join us in the main room as quick as you can..." You do as you're told and head to the washroom. The water is cold. You splash your face a couple times and gaze at your refleciton in the mirror. You have trouble imagining that anyone would find you or your family dangerous. How could that be? Who could you even possibly hurt? You are just about to head out of the washroom when you hear a stern knock on the door. The whole house grinds to sudden halt. The silence is deafening. Three more sharp knocks at the door followed by a man with a clear and direct voice. (text-colour:red)["NKVD! Open your door, you have been summoned!"] CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER: [[Dont leave the washroom. Hide in there.->DONT LEAVE WASHROOM]] [[Run with your mother to the main room.->GO TO MAIN ROOM]]

''Mother:'' "You know why Irena...some people dont like who we are and what we have done here...for our community and our country. We are seen as dangerous, unstable...we can't take any chances..." Your mother trails off as she heads into the main room to the rest of the family. She's right, although you don't understand everything going on, you know the way your family talks at home could never be uttered outside. Your father especially being a prominent figure in Lithuania, everything they have done for the country... You head to the washroom to clear your mind. The water is cold. You splash your face a couple times and gaze at your reflection in the mirror. You have trouble imagining that anyone would find you or your family dangerous. How could that be? Who could you even possibly hurt? You are just about to head out of the washroom when you hear a stern knock on the door. The whole house grinds to sudden halt. The silence is deafening. Three more sharp knocks at the door followed by a man with a clear and direct voice. (text-colour:red)["NKVD! Open your door, you have been summoned!"] CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER [[Dont leave the washroom. Hide in there.->DONT LEAVE WASHROOM]] [[Run with your mother to the main room.->GO TO MAIN ROOM]]

Your mother lifts a trembling finger to her lips and ushers you to remain quiet. Three more sharp knocks at the door. (text-colour:red)["Open up, or we will break in!"]... Tears well up in your mothers eyes, she points at the bathtub. You dont hesitate and jump in and lie down. You hear her feet pad back to the main room, but you don't see her. Will you see her again? A big bang at the door.(text-colour:red)[ "Open up! NKVD!"]. You hear someone walk up to the door slowly and pause. The keys jingle. The lock clicks and the door handle creaks... A flurry of noises. Grabbing. Struggling. Grunts. Something heavy slams to the ground. (text-colour:red)["Family of Valaitytė-Špakauskienė, you are hereby ordered to leave this property and accompany us. You are being transferred."] You hear sobbing. Nervous chatter. "Where to?". (text-colour:red)["Thats not a question for you to ask! Come with us, is there anyone else in the house?" ] A collection of feet trample into the main room. There's struggle, they're dragging everyone out, you can hear it. No one mentions where you are. Its no later than a single minute when you begin to hear a series of footsteps moving throughout the house. One rapidly approaches the bathroom, the door is wide open. You suck in your breath, eyes wide open, this is it. An officers silhuette slowly pivots above you, smirks, and ushers you to step out. "Come on now, up you get." You don't hesitate. Partly because you are afraid to resist, partly because you want to see your mother, mostly because he has a gun barrel pointing right at you. You dont cry. You slowly stand up. He grabs your arm as you step out. You're pulled along out of the door to the blistering cold. It may be summer, but tonight was awfully chilly. Everyone is out in slippers and home gowns. Your brother only has socks on. Its freezing. Silence. [[CONTINUE->DONT LEAVE WASHROOM PT2]]

Your mother doesn't hesitate, you reach out and she grabs your hand, pulls you to her. She ushers you quickly into the main room while shuffling behind. You see your brother, he's huddled on the couch, knees to his chin. His eyes wide open. Some other family are in the room. In fact, you're pretty sure everyone is, you can't focus on counting the faces, you are too nervous... A big bang at the door.(text-colour:red)[ "Open up! NKVD!"]. Everyone looks at each other, there is a silence. Your brother gets up, takes a deep breath and walks towards the door. Your mother extends a shaky hand, then draws it back to cover her mouth. She says nothing. Your brother reaches the door, takes one last look back and reaches for the handle. The keys jingle. The lock clicks and the door handle creaks... A flurry of noises. Grabbing. Struggling. Grunts. Your brother is thrown on the floor and pinned down. No one screams out in the house. (text-colour:red)["Family of Valaitytė-Špakauskienė, you are hereby ordered to leave this property and accompany us. You are being transferred."] Your mother sobbing says "Where to?". (text-colour:red)["Thats not a question for you to ask! Come with us, is there anyone else in the house?" ] NKVD officers trudge into the main room. They grab everyone, dragging them out violently. One officer approaches your mother, grabs her arm, while another grips your collar. She puts up a short struggle but limps, theres no other option, even you know that. You bury your face in her blouse and huddle along, you're choking back tears, but you are so glad you haven't been separated. Maybe just for now. You're both pulled along out of the door to the blistering cold. Everyone is out in slippers and home gowns. Your brother only has socks on. Its freezing. The officers are conversing between them. One offcer turns to address your shivering family. He's got more medals than the rest, some don't even have medals. His eyes are cold, he scans everyone, eye to eye. His gaze rests on you before his head centers again. "You are to come with us to Vilkaviškis train station. You are listed on our deportees list and deemed in need of re-location. Please make this easy for us, as there is no changing the outcome." Silence... [[Continue->FINAL SLIDE]]

Your mother can't hold it anymore. She whimpers. "No please we-". "Silence! You are to come with us. I will not repeat that." Tears stream down her cheeks. She tightens her grip on your hand, everyone slowly starts shuffling while the NKVD officers follow to the left, right and back. Theres a large pick up truck, some others ar ealready in there. They're all shivering. You're shivering. You don't feel anything. You don't cry. You are numb. You realize that you had been expecting this all along, it's all you had heard and seen. Friends before you were taken away, you never heard of them again, nor saw their families. Now it was your turn, and there was nothing to do about it. [[END: FURTHER INFORMATION->FURTHER INFO]]

(text-colour:red)[''IRENE: A STOLEN CHILDHOOD ''] "The creation of a system of concentration and correctional labour camps began in the Soviet Union in 1919 but “blossomed” during Stalin’s reign of terror." "Alongside criminals and recidivists, the majority of Gulag prisoners were completely innocent people locked up for a broad variety of political reasons – on the basis of trumped up charges or ethnicity, or even without apparent cause." "These political prisoners suffered the most because, on top of the brutal hard labour conditions and the despotism of guards, they were terrorised by criminal prisoners. Historians estimate the total number of Gulag prisoners at 15-18 million, of whom at least 1.5 million did not survive their incarceration. The victims of the Soviet Gulag were not only from the nations of the USSR but were also citizens of other countries – Czechoslovaks, Poles, Hungarians, Frenchmen, Americans, and others." FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT (text-style:"underline")[''GULAG.ONLINE'']

The officers are conversing between them. One offcer turns to address your shivering family. He's got more medals than the rest, some don't even have medals. His eyes are cold, he scans everyone, eye to eye. His gaze rests on you before his head centers again. "You are to come with us to Vilkaviškis train station. You are listed on our deportees list and deemed in need of re-location. Please make this easy for us, as there is no changing the outcome." Your mother can't hold it anymore. She whimpers. "No please we-". "Silence! You are to come with us. I will not repeat that." Tears stream down her cheeks. She tightens her grip on your hand, everyone slowly starts shuffling while the NKVD officers follow to the left, right and back. Theres a large pick up truck, some others are already in there. They're all shivering. You're shivering. You don't feel anything. You don't cry. You are numb. You realize that you had been expecting this all along, it's all you had heard and seen. Friends before you were taken away, you never heard of them again, nor saw their families. Now it was your turn, and there was nothing to do about it. [[END: FURTHER INFORMATION->FURTHER INFO]]