Baltic communities to hold remembrance events to commemorate victims of deportations on March 25^th

21 000 candles were lit on Tallinn Liberty Square in March 2010.

As a response to the call for commemoration by the Unitas Foundation, NGO Tulipisar and the Members of the European Parliament, many Baltic communities are holding remembrance events in their country of residence on Sunday. Not only will the candles be lit again in memory of the deportees in the two biggest cities in Estonia on Sunday, they will also be lit in seven more countries.  

In Belgium, the Estonian House in Belgium is organising a remembrance event on Sunday at 7 o’clock in George Henry Park in Woluwe St Lambert, in front of the Belgian memorial of deportees. The event will feature lighting candles for all the victims of deportations. See more at: https://www.facebook.com/events/407674709246031/

In Canada, the Estonian Hamilton Society is holding a commemoration event on Sunday at 7:30, where candles will be lit on the Peace Garden, on the crossroad of the Hunter and Bay Street.

In France, the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian communities in France are holding a remembrance gathering on Sunday at 8 o’clock at the Trocadéro Park.

In Latvia, the Museum of Occupation of Latvia will be lighting candles on Sunday in front of the museum building in Riga, the MEP Sandra Kalniete and Estonian and Lithuanian Ambassadors and the chairman of the Union of Organizations of the Repressed will speak together with the Museum’s historian.

In Russia, on 20th of March a commemoration event will take place in Moscow, organised by the Lithuanian Embassy in Moscow. During the event, candles will be lit and the songs of the exiles will be sung.

In the United Kingdom, the members of the choir Via Baltica, their friends and family intend to gather in the Peace Garden in St Peter's square Manchester to mark the human tragedy of these deportations with a short poignant ceremony. There will be a minutes silence followed by the singing of Lietuva Brangi.

In the United States of America, the Central NJ Chapter of the Lithuanian American Community, the Latvian American Community in NJ and Lakewood Estonian Club are planning to hold remembrance event on 25th of March at the Estonian House in Jackson, NJ. 

Also in the United States of America in Chicago, in the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture a personal tour of the Hope and Spirit exhibit will be given by the curator Audrius V. Plioplys with selected readings of letters from Siberia. The Hope and Spirit exhibit opened in June, 2011, marking the 70 year anniversary of the first wave of deportations from Lithuania, and will continue through April 2012. See more at: http://www.balzekasmuseum.org/Pages/hope_and_spirit_exhibition.html

Also in the United States of America, the New York Estonian Education Society is holding a commemoration event on the 24th of March at 6:45 to hear a presentation“The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us”  by Francis Tapon and to later on light candles in memory of the deportees.

Also in the United States of America, the Washington Estonian House is organising a remembrance event, where candles will be lit in front of the Victims of Communism Memorial, located at the intersection of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues NW in Washington, DC, on Sunday at 7 PM. See more here.

The original call for commemoration is available here.

If you wish to join the candle lighting in Estonia, see the Facebook event page.