A coalition of European groups has urged Baltic communities in Ireland and across the world to organise events on 25 March to commemorate the ‘Priboj’ or ‘wave fall’.
On that day in 1949, the Soviet Union began the deportation of more than 95,000 people – mostly women and children – from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in just four days.
“Soviet mass deportations from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are among the most disheartening events in the history of the Baltic states,” said a statement from members of the European Parliament with the Unitas Foundation and the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.
The coalition noted that during Stalin’s rule, more than 220,000 people were deported to Siberia – not including political prisoners in gulags, whose numbers were even greater.
Since 2010, commemoration events have been held in Estonia and by Estonian communities in more than 10 countries abroad. This year on 25 March, thousands of candles will again be lit in memory of the deportees.
A commemoration will also be held in Brussels by Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian members of the European Parliament.
For further information visit www.komisija.lt
