TE15 Lithuanian Honey Cake

Irena Veisaitė & Aurimas Švedas

Those who want to sow the seeds of evil are highly skilled, so their efforts are often successful, even when we believe that we are immune to lies and manipulation. I can remember an incident, which I hope will better illustrate my thoughts about the dangers we all face. It was 1951 and I was studying in Moscow. I was chosen to participate in an athletes’ parade that was due to take place on May 1 in celebration of International Workers’ Day. I can remember how thoroughly we were drilled. May 1 finally came and we were marching through Red Square. As we approached the Mausoleum, Stalin suddenly appeared. You cannot imagine the scene in the square! People thought that they were seeing God himself descending from Heaven . . . Our rows fell apart as everybody turned toward Stalin, screaming like madmen, reaching their hands out toward him! As we left Red Square and approached Saint Basil’s Cathedral, I suddenly realized that I was shouting with the rest of the crowd . . . Can you imagine that? I knew perfectly well who Stalin was and what he had done, and I did not worship him! But I had unwittingly succumbed to the mass psychosis. It ’s lucky that I only shouted and did not, unwittingly, become part of a lynching mob and killed a person! It ’s entirely possible . . . That rally in Red Square was one of the most horrific

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