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Forest of the Gods

Balys Sruoga

Forest of the Gods
Translated by:
Aušrinė Byla
Author is from, and story is set in
Lithuania

Based on his own life experiences as a prisoner in Stutthof concentration camp in Sztutowo, Free City of Danzig now present-day Nowy Dwór Gdański County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, where he was sent in March 1943 together with forty-seven other Lithuanian intellectuals after the Nazis started a campaign against possible anti-Nazi agitation in occupied Lithuania.

In the book, Sruoga revealed life in a concentration camp through the eyes of a man whose only way to save his life and maintain his dignity was to view everything through a veil of irony and humor, where torturers and their victims are exposed as imperfect human beings, being far removed from the false ideals of their political leaders. For example, he wrote "A man is not a machine. He gets tired.", referring to the guards beating prisoners.

Thanks to Diana from Lithuania for the recommendation!

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