Svo f\u00f3r hann a\u00f0 segja m\u00e9r fr\u00e1 n\u00fd\u00fatkominni b\u00f3k, sem hann haf\u00f0i veri\u00f0 a\u00f0 lesa \u00ed Edinborg \u00feetta haust. H\u00fan h\u00e9t \u201eThe Last Empire\u201c eftir Robert Conquest, og fjalla\u00f0i um hrikaleg \u00f6rl\u00f6g \u00fej\u00f3\u00f0anna vi\u00f0 Eystrasalt \u00ed Seinni heimstyrj\u00f6ldinni og \u00e1 n\u00e6stu \u00e1ratugum. Fj\u00f6ldamor\u00f0ingjarnir, Hitler og Stal\u00edn, skiptu Austur-Evr\u00f3pu \u00e1 milli s\u00edn. Herir beggja, Rau\u00f0i herinn og \u00fe\u00fdsku nasistarnir, \u00f3\u00f0u um l\u00f6ndin, r\u00e6nandi, ruplandi og myr\u00f0andi. \u00cd str\u00ed\u00f0slok voru Eystralts\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0irnar \u00ferj\u00e1r innlima\u00f0ar \u00ed Sov\u00e9tr\u00edkin me\u00f0 hervaldi. \u00de\u00e1 byrja\u00f0i martr\u00f6\u00f0 \u00feessara \u00fej\u00f3\u00f0a fyrir alv\u00f6ru, eins og \u00e1\u00f0ur er l\u00fdst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00deessi fr\u00e1s\u00f6gn snart mig dj\u00fapt. Samt var \u00feetta einhvern veginn allt svo \u00f3raunverulegt, svo \u00f3tr\u00falegt, a\u00f0 hugur minn n\u00e1\u00f0i ekki a\u00f0 spanna \u00feessar v\u00edddir grimmdarinnar og s\u00e1rsaukans. \u00c9g gr\u00e9t ekki \u2013 \u00fea\u00f0 var ekki fyrr en l\u00f6ngu seinna, \u00feegar \u00e9g lif\u00f0i mig inn \u00ed fr\u00e1sagnir f\u00f3lks af \u00feessum atbur\u00f0um \u00far eigin l\u00edfi.<\/p>\n
En \u2013 n\u00e1kv\u00e6mlega \u00ferj\u00e1t\u00edu \u00e1rum seinna er \u00feessi sami drengur or\u00f0inn utanr\u00edkisr\u00e1\u00f0herra \u00e1 \u00cdslandi. Og \u00feegar \u00e9g l\u00edt til baka er engu l\u00edkara en a\u00f0 \u00feessi \u00ferj\u00e1t\u00edu \u00e1r hafi veri\u00f0 eins konar undirb\u00faningur a\u00f0 \u00fev\u00ed, sem koma skyldi. Hann haf\u00f0i a\u00f0hyllst komm\u00fanisma \u00ed \u00e6sku, j\u00e1, en hann var\u00f0 flj\u00f3tlega afhuga \u00feeim kreddum og snerist upp \u00ed har\u00f0an andkomm\u00fanista. Og \u00e1hugi hans \u00e1 \u00f6rl\u00f6gum \u00fej\u00f3\u00f0a \u00ed Mi\u00f0- og Austur-Evr\u00f3pu \u00ed heljargreipum r\u00fassneska bjarnarins h\u00e9lst \u00f3breyttur. \u00dea\u00f0 \u00fearf ekki nema a\u00f0 l\u00edta \u00e1 b\u00f3kasafni\u00f0 hans til a\u00f0 f\u00e1 \u00fea\u00f0 sta\u00f0fest.<\/p>\n
\u00deessi forsaga sk\u00fdrir betur en anna\u00f0, hversvegna \u00fea\u00f0 var, a\u00f0 \u00feegar sj\u00e1lfst\u00e6\u00f0ishreyfingar Eystrasalts\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0anna f\u00f6lu\u00f0ust eftir stu\u00f0ningi vi\u00f0 endurreist sj\u00e1lfst\u00e6\u00f0i hj\u00e1 stj\u00f3rnm\u00e1lalei\u00f0togum \u00e1 Vesturl\u00f6ndum, var a\u00f0 minnsta kosti einn, sem m\u00e6tti \u00feeim af meiri skilningi en a\u00f0rir \u2013 hann \u00feekkti s\u00f6guna. Af samt\u00f6lum hans vi\u00f0 menn eins og Meri og Landsbergis, hef\u00f0i m\u00e1tt \u00e6tla, a\u00f0 hann v\u00e6ri einn af \u00feeim.
\n\u00deegar hann flaug af landi brott \u00feann 16. Jan\u00faar, 1991, \u00fe\u00e1 hvarfla\u00f0i a\u00f0 m\u00e9r, a\u00f0 hugsanlega mundi \u00e9g aldrei sj\u00e1 hann aftur. Sov\u00e9ski herinn, gr\u00e1r fyrir j\u00e1rnum, var \u00ed vi\u00f0brag\u00f0st\u00f6\u00f0u vi\u00f0 \u00feingh\u00fasi\u00f0 \u00ed Viln\u00edus, \u00feanga\u00f0 sem f\u00f6rinni var heiti\u00f0. En \u00e9g var einhvern veginn rei\u00f0ub\u00fain a\u00f0 taka \u00f6rl\u00f6gunum. Hva\u00f0 er fallegra en a\u00f0 deyja fyrir g\u00f3\u00f0an m\u00e1lsta\u00f0?<\/p>\n
En af hverju er \u00e9g a\u00f0 segja fr\u00e1 \u00feessu n\u00fana? (Who cares?, eins og einhver sag\u00f0i). Af \u00fev\u00ed a\u00f0 menn eru enn a\u00f0 spyrja: Af hverju? Af hverju ger\u00f0ir \u00fe\u00fa \u00feetta, J\u00f3n Baldvin? Getur \u00fe\u00fa sk\u00fdrt \u00feetta fyrir okkur? Og \u00feetta er svari\u00f0 vi\u00f0 \u00fev\u00ed.<\/p>\n
Og n\u00fana h\u00e9r \u00ed Vilnius, meira en tuttugu \u00e1rum seinna, gengur f\u00f3lk a\u00f0 okkur \u00e1 g\u00f6tu, gr\u00edpur um hendur J\u00f3ns Baldvins og hneigir sig \u2013 sumir kyssa hann og fa\u00f0ma a\u00f0 s\u00e9r. \u00c9g stend bara hj\u00e1 me\u00f0 t\u00e1rin \u00ed augunum. B\u00f3kin sem hann sag\u00f0i m\u00e9r fr\u00e1 endur fyrir l\u00f6ngu \u00ed f\u00e1t\u00e6klegu h\u00f3telherbergi \u00ed Par\u00eds, leiddi hann \u00e1 \u00feennan sta\u00f0 \u00ed tilverunni.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c9g man \u00fea\u00f0 alveg, hven\u00e6r \u00fea\u00f0 var, sem augu m\u00edn opnu\u00f0ust fyrir grimmilegum \u00f6rl\u00f6gum sm\u00e1\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0a handan Eystrasaltsins, \u00ed n\u00e1b\u00fdli Nor\u00f0urlanda. \u00dea\u00f0 var \u00ed Par\u00eds \u00e1 gamla\u00e1rsdag 1958. \u00c9g haf\u00f0i leigt m\u00e9r \u00f3d\u00fdrt herbergi um hausti\u00f0- einhverjir g\u00f6ntu\u00f0ust me\u00f0 \u00fea\u00f0, a\u00f0 \u00fea\u00f0 hef\u00f0i veri\u00f0 \u00e1 h\u00f3ruh\u00fasi \u2013 og drengurinn haf\u00f0i komi\u00f0 \u00ed heims\u00f3kn um j\u00f3lin \u2013 J\u00f3n Baldvin, t\u00e6plega tv\u00edtugur. Amma hans, Gu\u00f0r\u00ed\u00f0ur, haf\u00f0i d\u00e1i\u00f0 \u00feennan dag, og drengurinn gr\u00e9t \u00ed fanginu \u00e1 m\u00e9r (\u00e9g hef bara s\u00e9\u00f0 hann gr\u00e1ta tvisvar um \u00e6vina).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-greinar_og_vidtol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/bs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}