The Museum of Freedom Struggles is a branch of the Utena Museum of Local Lore, housed in a narrow-gauge railway station that was in use until 1983. It now has a modern exhibition presenting the history of the Panevėžys–Švenčionėliai narrow-gauge railway and telling of the painful division of Europe under the secret protocols of 1939, of Lithuanians' forced participation in the Second World War, of deportations, post-war resistance and the creation of collective farms in the Utena region. The exhibition sensitively tells the story of one small corner of the country – and through it you can get to know the past not only of all of Lithuania but of other European states as well. The large hall of the exhibition creates a mood of waiting and unease, reflecting its theme – the painful events in the Utena region and in Europe. The mood is heightened by the passengers: very lifelike mannequins of various ages and postures, but with a rough texture and painted a single colour. They stand in the station with their backs to the visitors, gazing intently at a wall showing the station, with working tracks and moving trains, patiently waiting for a train. Without noticing it, the visitor becomes one of those waiting too. Where will the train take us this time? Perhaps back to the vast Siberian concentration camps, the Gulag and places of exile, where about 3,000 people from the Utena region were moved in 1940–1953 – about 280,000 from all of Lithuania and about 440,000 from all three Baltic states. Don't fancy Siberian slavery? Perhaps the serfdom of the kolkhoz will suit you, where you will not only be robbed (almost all property was nationalised) but also forced to work for nothing or for a meagre payment in kind. If serfdom doesn't suit you either, perhaps go with the partisans into the Lithuanian forests to fight for your country's independence. Find out that organised resistance against the USSR in Lithuania lasted until 1953, and that our last partisan, Antanas Kraujelis-Siaubūnas, held out fighting until as late as 1965. So if you want to learn more about the post-war history of Lithuania and Europe, and to feel and understand how many people living under the heel of totalitarian regimes lived at that time, you really should visit the Utena Museum of Freedom Struggles. A visit to this museum is a chance to touch history directly and to grow in civic and national awareness.