Period: May 1, to Jul 25, This timeline follows Lina's family up until they reach the Altai collective camp, where they are forced to live in close quarters, farm beets and potatoes, and only get rations in return. Jun 1, Aug 1, Jun 14, Kaunas, Lithuania. They give them only 20 minutes to gather their belongings.
The family is loaded onto a truck. Jun 15, Jonas is almost separated from Lina and Elena, but they barter a pocket-watch for his life. Their train is labelled: "Thieves and Prostitutes". Jun 16, Vilnius, Lithuania Their train enters through the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius. For Lina, this triggers a memory of an art school she was planning on attending that is located in Vilnius.
Jun 18, Minsk then Orsha, Belarus As the train passes through these areas, the train stops once daily in the middle of nowhere. One passenger is allowed to leave and fill the buckets. Dead bodies were left on the tracks. Jun 19, Smolensk, Russia A train car full of men opposite of them pulls up. Elena speaks with the men in Russian and learns that Germany has invaded Lithuania, therefore they are at war with the Soviets. This boosts the morale of the passengers. Jul 4, The train crosses the Ural Mountains into Asia.
This is day The passengers speculated they were on course for southern Siberia, or possibly even China or Mongolia. Jul 13, Omsk, Siberia Just past this place is a kiosk where Elena bribed a guard and bought confections and cigarettes for her fellow passengers.
Lina lost track of how long they've been travelling. Jul 25, Altai The trains stop just north of China. The passenger groups are being sold as slaves to men in black suits. Lina's group, too weak, is not sold and instead they are shipped to the Altai Labour Camp. They are forced to share a jurta with a rude woman named Ulyushka.
