Abstract
Józef Mackiewicz’s novel Road to Nowhere (1955), dissecting mechanisms of Sovietization in the Vilnius Region in 1940–1941, remains one of the most significant literary testimonies documenting the destructive impact of this process on social bonds, affinities, as well as on the landscape of these areas. The paper discusses socio-psychological aspects of the Soviet policy of violence and describes diverse human reactions toward Communist authorities, both servile and rebellious. It also examines everyday problems and concerns of Vilnius inhabitants subjected to Communist indoctrination that intruded into all spheres of their existence. In this context, the author of the article scrutinizes such issues as a clothing in the occupied country, kulak stigma, some popular Soviet beliefs and propaganda narratives, and asymmetry in the perception of notions of an occupant and a victim of the occupation. Analysis of these elements gives an insight into the lives of ordinary people in the totalitarian state and reveals the darkest sides of Stalinist repressions.
