Writing Ona's Tears

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - MLK

¹Mary Evans print

Why this post is about Cossacks

Ona’s Tears is based on real stories from first generation Americans.

A Russian soldier stands before a line of shivering people outside a bakery, methodically shooting each one. He moves down the row until he reaches a young woman clutching a baby; for reasons known only to him, he stops. This was the story told to me by Marion, who lived to be eighty-four and treated me like her own daughter. That woman was her Latvian nanny’s sister—an escape from death so narrow it prompted a mother to send her daughters across the ocean to survive the purge. To heighten the tension of that historical terror, I decided to place that soldier on horseback: I made him a Cossack.

This required some research.

Cossacks were paid agitators

Cossacks are often romanticized as free-spirited frontiersmen, but in the context of the late 19th-century, they functioned as the Tsar’s ultimate tool for suppression. They weren’t just soldiers; they were paid agitators. In Ona’s Tears, I leaned into their historical reputation for exceptional horsemanship.

I stripped away the idea of the “noble warrior” and focused on their role as mercenaries—nomads who aligned with whoever paid the highest price. I portray them as Russian tools who stir up dissent to disrupt the status quo with malicious intent, by using force to turn a peaceful village into a landscape with “every citizen a target.”

Creating drama and tension

There were no family stories about why my four grandparents left Lithuania. I had to learn what was going on near Kaunas, Lithuania before they left. I have yet to find the exact date when my paternal grandparents got off the ship in Locust Point, Baltimore.

I know they were born around 1890 which meant they were fifteen during the Russian Revolution. Bloody Sunday, January 1905, marks the beginning of the violent phase of the revolution when a boy was accidentally shot during a peaceful demonstration by the Tsar’s guard causing a riot and further shootings.

Relevance of Ona’s Tears Today

Bad things happen when peaceful protesters are accidentally shot. America’s Bloody Wednesday, January 7, 2026 has touched a nerve and America is waking up. I started writing Ona’s Tears in 2012 following my retirement from Academia. I became an expert in Russian and Lithuanian history. My book was never meant to be a cautionary tale. That changed when Russia invaded Ukraine again on February 24, 2022. If Ukraine falls, we all fall. Putin, like Stalin is a despot with the following characteristics:

• Absolute Power: They typically hold total control over the state and its people, suppressing opposition.

• Human Rights Abuses: Often associated with mass killings, torture, and severe oppression.

• Cult of Personality: Frequently build a cult around themselves to maintain loyalty.

• Use of Force: Utilize secret police, military, or paramilitary groups to enforce rule.

I will leave you with these facts to ponder on as I share posts from my Substack Village:

• Minneapolis Is Not Far From Ukraine:

  “From those invaded by Russia to those invaded by ICE”

Minneapolis is Kyiv.

I am Renee.

And this line holds until this machinery breaks and the law finally matters again.

—Viktor

• The same day, Stephanie Raffelock wrote:

america lost its capital letter when cities became defiled by military occupation and every citizen now a target - no one is safe from the government - no longer a justice department to help - more, a JUST-ICE department

• And in Honor of Martin Luther King Day, Marisol Muñoz-Kiehne wrote:

Fair Freedom We-Ways

MLK Day, but
white supremacy rules strong.
Up to us how long?

King, web weavers, us?
Bridge-building, joined bridge-crossing.
Splitting gaps closing.

Participation,
play our part, our role, our song.
True to our nature.

I encourage you to take the time to read the complete posts of my fellow villagers.

I participated in a discussion on Sunday. Here are a few takeaways:

• We the people must vote

• America is in a moral crisis

• Can the whim and ego of any single person define us?

I invite you to join the conversation. Please comment.

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