History Shadows
History Shadows is a history podcast by historian Dr. Simonas Strelcovas, who has spent over two decades tracing stories of war, resistance and survival across Europe and Asia.
The first series, Visas for Life, runs from the Évian Conference of 1938, where the world closed its doors to refugees, to the fall of Lithuania in 1940: the small republic that kept its border open, the refugees, intelligence officers and soldiers who filled Vilnius in autumn 1939, and the Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara, whose transit visas opened a way out. Strelcovas is the author of a Japanese-language monograph on the refugees in Lithuania and Sugihara (Tokyo, 2020).
Each episode is built from archival research and eyewitness accounts, and told as a story. In English, for listeners anywhere.
Episodes
4 episodes
Visas for Life, Episode 3: The Underground Republic
In autumn 1939, Vilnius changed hands yet again, becoming a petri dish for the chaos that would define World War II. Into a temporary gap in totalitarianism flooded not just ordinary refugees, but professionals—intelligence operatives and milit...
Visas for Life, Episode 2: The Lost Republic
In September 1939, as Europe dissolved into war, refugees flooded across borders by foot and train, carrying sacks of belongings and layers of fear. Lithuania—a tiny republic under impossible pressure—did not close its gates.This episode...
Visas for Life, Episode 1: Into the Grey
In July 1938, thirty-two nations gathered at a luxurious French resort to address the growing refugee crisis. The question was simple: Would anyone help? The answer was no.This episode explores the Evian Conference—a pivotal moment when ...
