Memorable days in Lithuanian history: THE DAY OF MOURNING AND HOPE

THE DAY OF MOURNING AND HOPE
In Lithuana we have special Days of Memory, when we remember tragic, but very important events in our history – the Day of Mourning and Hope, which we commemorate
on June 14th.


70 years ago, in June 1941 one year after Lithuania and other Baltic states were occupied by the Soviet Union, the the repressive structures, led by Communist party and KGB started massive arrests and deportations of Lithuanian population – the whole families were exiled to Siberia, Altaj region or behind the Polar Circle, by the Laptev Sea. In this way Soviet regime decided to get rid of so called „socally alien elements“. Among them were the most educated part of Lithuanian society - politicians, teachers, officers, journalists, policemen, lawers, bussinessmen and members of their families They had to endure unimaginable hardships, cryelty, injustice and humiliation. The first deportation period lasted only for one week, as on 22 June 1941 Hitler invaded Lituania, but during that week about 13000 people were deported (about 40% of all the exiled were children under the age of 16).



The place were we live, Naujoji Vilnia was the last train station in Lithuania, were men were separated from wives and children, all people put into cattle train vagons and were sent ten thousand kilometres from their motherland into the hell of cold, starvation and physical extermination. (from this deportation suvived only about 5% of Lithuanians.



The daportations continued after the Second World War and during 1945-1952 about 135 500 Lithuanians were deported to Siberia, among them – about 32000 children.
This day is the Day of Mourning ... that thousands of innocent people were killed because of inhumanity, injustice and heartlessness and the Day of Hope ... that it will never happen again.
In the photos you can see the ceremony in Naujoji Vilnia train station by the memorial to the dported Lithuanian people.



The ceremony was opened by Vilnius choir “Laisvė” who sang songs of the exiles. After the moving songs, poets and actors were reading poems, dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s repressions. Among the speakers were Vilnius Mayor A. Zuokas and member of Parliament E. Zingeris, who stated that Lithuania fro Stalinist repressions 1941-1952 lost about 300000 people including the executed, imprisoned in concentration camps and deported citizens.


After the official speeches according to the sounds of music, Lithuanian girls put the garlands of oak-tree leaves on the memorial cross.
One of the most impressive was the speech of Rimantas Kupšys, who was deported the same day as he was born, and after returning to Lithuania became the trainmaster of Naujoji Vilnia train station.


Lina Krilavičiūtė, the member og the organization „Mission – Siberia“ spoke about young people, mainly students, who go to Siberia every year and tidy and restore the cemeteries, where there are graves of Lithuanian people. At the end of the ceremony, everybody sang together with the choir the songs of Lithuanian exiles, full of love to Lithuania and hope to see it again.


Text and photographs by Laura and Dovile


JANUARY 13th THE DAY OF FREEDOM DEFENDERS IN LITHUANIA

On the 13th of January all people of Lithuania are commemorating the Day of Freedom Defenders. 20 years ago the Soviet troops – the Pskov division and the KGB elite Alfa Special Forces attempted to crush the newly reborn Lithuanian state. Some died from the shot wounds; the Soviet tanks crushed some. In total 14 peaceful civilian freedom defenders lost their lives, hundreds more wounded.
The January 13 events are deeply imprinted in the Lithuanians‘ hearts. We can say that this date is one of the most important events in the Lithuanian history. It would be called Lithuania’s ‘Winter War’ which took place in January 1991 and was a crucial for the survival of our nation, because it was our war for Lithuania’s freedom, which was declared in March 1990.
We were not born when tese events happened, but many of those, who were standing in front of tanks and armed soldiers that night by the TV tower were the same age as we are now.

We feel proud of those young people who sacrificed their lives for motherland and freedom.
One of the young men, who was standing in front of the parliament that day wrote: „I had a honour to be amongst thousands in the square in the front of the Parliament, listening to the creaking Soviet tanks coming after they already ‘done their duty for the Soviet motherland’ next to the TV tower. The Parliament was the heart of our statehood, the square around it was a human shield which had nothing just their love of freedom, motherland, believe, hope. Our only weapon was against the Soviet tanks and the Kalashnikovs was our bear arms and our songs, which made a huge crowd as a one body. Then you wait, hoping that by standing on this spot you will be an obstacle on the way of the solders and tanks that will storm the Parliament. You, hope that maybe you will prolong Lithuania’s freedom for a tiny wee second. You and people around you are preparing yourself for a final sacrifice, final duty to your motherland…“


The people, standing there day and night made a miracle – they stopped the soviet tanks, the soldiers retuned to they barracks. A little nation became a big nation – we made the Soviet Empire collapse.
Every year on that day we lit candles at our school, go to the parliament, to the TV tower, where different ceremonies take place. It is interesting to meet the defenders of Lithuanian parliament, listen to their stories about the details of the resistence to Soviet agression, to stant vy the fires and listen to the same songs, which people were singing that tragic night, when bullets broke the song, but did not break the love to motherland and freedom.


The exposition in the Parliament hall shows what primitive guns the defenders had at that time, what letters they wrote to the families and how they were ready to stand against the well armed and trained professional soviet army till their last breath.


We come to see the barricades by the Parliament walls, which were erected during several hours by the defenders and now stand as mute witnesses of those days. We read the inscriptions, made by the people in those days, from the photographs at us look the faces of those who lost their lives for our feedom.