Danutė Žakaitienė shares her family’s story of exile and return

Danutė Žakaitienė, a resident of Raseiniai, was born in exile and returned to Lithuania as a young child, initially struggling with the Lithuanian language and earning the nickname “ruskike” (little Russian), she told LRT.lt.

Her mother, Bronė, was widowed at a young age and was taken into exile despite her name not appearing on the deportation list. “My mother wasn’t even on the list. They just asked her in Russian, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ When she answered, they told her to get into the truck going to exile,” Danutė recalled.

The reason for her grandparents’ deportation remains unclear. The family owned only 18 hectares of land, but Danutė speculates it may have been due to her uncles’ actions—one joined the forest resistance, while another, Petras, deserted from the Soviet army. Their homestead stood on the banks of the Dubysa River, a site once used as a German military headquarters during the war.

Danutė’s father was exiled to Siberia after a conflict with Soviet soldiers occupying Lithuania. Born into poverty, he worked as a shepherd from the age of six, enduring harsh conditions. Later, he trained as a blacksmith. During the war, German soldiers once lined up his family for execution, but a crucifix falling from his father’s pocket led the soldiers to spare them.

Danutė’s parents met in exile, where her father had long admired her mother, even before her first marriage. They returned to Lithuania when Danutė was four and a half years old. At first, she did not speak Lithuanian and believed Lithuania was a mailbox where her father posted letters.

Her father’s story is one of resilience—exiled as a young man, he later rebuilt his life, working as a blacksmith in Atka, a settlement near the Kolyma highway, before returning home.