Lithuania marks the Day of Mourning and Hope on Wednesday, commemorating the victims of Soviet deportations that began on June 14, 1941.
Events are planned in the Lithuanian parliament and other venues across the country, as well as at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
On June 14, 1941, the Soviet Union launched mass deportations of the Lithuanian population to Siberia. Over the following 11 years, the Soviet authorities deported more than 130,000 people from Lithuania and imprisoned around 150,000.
A minute’s silence
Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the representative of the International European Platform for Memory and Conscience, historian Monika Rogers, daughter of Stanislovas Vitkus, a participant in the Lithuanian Freedom Fighters’ Movement, and the granddaughter of Alfredas Dauginis, a soldier of the Lithuanian Freedom Army, and Social Security Minister Monika Navickė are among the speakers of the event at the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas.
The commemoration will feature a filmed speech by political prisoner and exile Ona Butrimaitė-Laurinienė, performances by the Liepaitės Choir and young singers from the Zarasai Ąžuolo Gymnasium, and readings of exiles’ letters.
One minute before noon, the country will declare a general minute of silence – a civic action in memory of the victims of the Soviet occupation and deportations.
At noon, the national flag will be hoisted at Independence Square in a solemn ceremony.
In the afternoon, a ceremony to honour the victims of Soviet repressions will take place at the monument to political prisoners and exiles in Vilnius’ Aukų Street, as well as the historical memory action Atminties Neištremsi (Memory will not be Exiled), near the Museum of the Occupations and Freedom Fights in Vilnius. In the evening, Mass will be celebrated at Vilnius Cathedral.
The calendar of events also includes exhibitions at the President’s Palace: Scars of Memory and Identity.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament will officially commemorate the mass deportations from Central and Eastern Europe with a read-out of the names of the victims of Soviet repressions from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine and Moldova.
Events across Lithuania
Historical remembrance actions will also take place across Lithuania. In Šiauliai, in the square in front of Šiauliai Town Hall, the event will begin with a minute of silence, followed by the reading of the names of all the people who were exiled.
The town will also pay tribute to the exiles at the railway platform.
In Kaunas, the commemoration will begin with the laying of flowers at the monument to the Mother of the Fighters for Lithuanian Freedom in Ramybės Park and on the platform of Kaunas railway station. The victims will be remembered at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Freedom Monument in the garden of the Vytautas Magnus War Museum. Victims of the war in Ukraine will also be honoured.
At noon, the names of exiles and political prisoners will be read out in the garden of the Vytautas Magnus War Museum, by the Eternal Flame, and in the evening, a concert of carillon bells will be held in the vicinity of Vienybės Square.
In Klaipėda, just before noon, a reading of the names of exiles and political prisoners will take place at the Arka monument. At noon, the Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor will organise a free one-hour excursion around the city, visiting sites related to the history of exile and resistance.
In the afternoon, the commemoration will take place in the Square of the Exiles, with a concert by the Lithuanian Armed Forces Naval Brass Band and the Atminties Gaida choir of former political prisoners and exiles of Klaipėda.
LRT English
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