'Ashes in the Snow' is a war drama that tugs at the heartstrings. Note, this is not a film about soldiers on the battlefield. Instead, it concentrates on how it affects the people, and in particular Lithuanians.

One can only cringe at the inhumane things humans did during war, simply because their government expected it of them. It turned ordinary men into coldblooded killers. This film also showed us the reluctant soldiers. Men who found themselves in situations they dreaded. Yet, they still had orders to follow...

The acting is very good, especially Bel Powley as heroin Lina. We follow her family as they are taken from the comfort of their home, to a six-week long harrowing journey on a train, to a prison camp in Siberia, and finally to the freezing Laptev Sea. This is an emotional and heartfelt journey sure to set emotions in motion.

Background: From the '30s through the '50s a Stalin controlled Soviet Union occupied many countries in Eastern Europe (and elsewhere) by killing, imprisoning & deporting millions to work camps in Siberia. The movie starts w/Soviet forces moving against Hitler in Lithuania in '41 with Hitler style deportations via boxcars of undesirables to Siberia. Our central protagonist is a 16 yr old girl & her family. Like many holocaust movies the train journey & camps are bleak & beyond miserable. We only see two winters, but for those who lived longer, it was decades. Of course a love story briefly develops to which we are given a famous Lithuanian mythic tale, "Jurate and Kastytis", to convey that love.

Contemporary note: Surprising the similarities between Putin and Stalin. Quest for power like wealth is insatiable. Unfortunately in the U.S. our president appears supportive of Putin ideology. An ending film credit, "In some the fight for freedom still continues." Over 700 Lithuanian extras were used in this film.

The is a movie about a Lithuanian girl and her mother and Brother sent to a Siberian work camp. A starts like a Holocaust movie but not quite - with the train and some horrors but they weren't at a death camp. Things get worse when they are sent to the Artic circle.

Bel Powley is surprisingly good and suited to the role. She looks pretty miserable.

Illuminating look at the suffering of Baltic people in WW2.