Understanding the fear

At a party to celebrate our friend’s literary prize, one of the guests could hardly stay awake. He was just back from the Rifle Union boot camp and had had 10 minutes’ sleep in two days. He showed us pictures of himself and his wife, both PhD students in their early thirties, in full uniform with camo-painted faces.

“Defending the homeland is cold, wet and boring,” said their instructor, weeding out any would-be Rambos. But most Lithuanians taking basic training are motivated by inherited memories of 1940, when the Soviets annexed the country without firing a shot.

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