https://www.amazon.com/dp/6099630406
‘The Willow Roses’ is a true, fact-based story depicting Lithuania’s resistance against Soviet domination in the post war period. The narrative develops in the Lithuanian village of Ažugiriai where people noticed willow trees ‘blooming with red roses’ in the winter after World War II. It is a natural phenomenon where the leaves of the willows left hanging on the branches in the winter become red and shrunk and reminiscent of roses. In Lithuania, it is believed that this incredible natural process prophesies tragedy, blood and death. The prophecy came true when the terrible machine of Soviet terrorism unfolded all its supremacy in post-war Lithuania and the politicians of the time did not manage to resist, leaving citizens to deal with the situation on their own. The author, however, does not go deep into historical analysis. Instead, he reveals the emotions and dramatic experiences of people, who had to take fatal decisions and withstand their outcome, to choose between their beliefs and keeping themselves and their families safe, to suffer or to obey.