June 14th, night of terror

The June long weekend has always meant several things to me, firstly another day of not working, yeah, my sisters birthday, and the deportations of Baltic people by the Soviets. I heave heard such statements that say not one Balt has not been effected by the deportations, and I think its true. Seventy years ago, beginning on June 14th, the Soviets forcibly removed people from their homes during the night, placed them on good trains and transported them to Siberia. Here they remained for years, many never to return home. Their crime, they were educated, owned land, had money, had been in the armed forces, worked for the government, anything that had the future potential to harm the Soviet occupiers. My grandparents feared for their lives as my grandfather was in the Police Force, they never slept the same night in one place in an attempt to avoid deportations.

According to official Soviet records, over 17,500 Lithuanians, 17,000 Latvians and 6,000 Estonians were given a short time to pack their belonging before being herded onto trucks. In a single day 40,000 people were removed from their homes.

The Adelaide Baltic community has always commemorate this event by holding a combined church service and event. In recent years members of the community gather at the Migration Museum in Kintore Ave, beside the bronze plaque that is dedicated to these atrocities.

The popular quote "History repeats itself, it has to because no one listens" bears a reminder that some things shouldn't be forgotten and lets pray, not repeated.

The photo was taken on Saturday June 11, children from the Adelaide Lithuanian school outside the Migration Museum. Photo: Dana Valuzis

Between Shades of Gray

Its not every day you find a book either about Lithuania, or by a Lithuanian. This week I happen to come across the book "Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys, an American of Lithuanian decent. Ruta chose to write about the harrowing theme of the mass deportations that occured in the Baltic states in June 1941. The story is told through the eyes of 15 year of Lina, who with her younger brother and mother are deported to the remote Siberia. It tells of the hardships, sorrows and survival of people who were labelled criminals by the Soviet government. Thousands of Balts were given half an hour to pack belongings and transported in the still of the night to be placed on freight trains bound for work camps in remote regions. They were forced to work, usually on farms for little food and no contact with the outside world. Many did not survive.

The book, although graphic in its content is well researched and written. I would recomend this to anyone who would like to know more about this period in history.
http://www.betweenshadesofgray.com/

Baltic Holocaust

In June each year the Baltic people remember the mass deportations of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians from their homelands to Soviet slave labor and extermination camps that occurred in June 1941. Some 60 000 people were taken from their homes on the nights of June 13 and 14th. Men, women and children starved in cattle trucks en route to Siberia. Many died of cold and disease in the Gulag archipelago.

Each year the Baltic communities gather to commemorate these events so not to forget. A church service is usually held with a laying of a wreath.

In 1988, the 75th year from this tragedy was commemorated with a public demonstration that began at the War Memorial on North Terrace. Balts dressed in traditional costumes carried flags and laid wreaths at the steps of the war memorial. Youth dressed in black with their faces painted white displayed numbers on the front of their clothes. The numbers represented the thousands who perished.

After the laying of the wreaths those present moved to the Adelaide Town Hall. The youth dressed in black, stood on the steps leading into the Town Hall, so each entrant could count the number of people lost. A combined Baltic choir sang “Advance Australia Fair” and “Requiem”. The Baltic Council president Maret Kneebone spoke, followed by Ilze Radzins who read an Estonian and Latvian poem. After an interval cellist Janis Laurs played which was followed by songs sung by the Lithuanian and Estonian choirs. To finish the combined choirs sung the national anthems of each country.

A plaque has also been placed at the Migration Museum, remembering the atrocities of 1941. The Balts were the first to place a plaque outside the entrance to the museum, which is now surrounded by other nationalities who wish to remember atrocities that occurred in their own country.

Musu Pastoge 4/7/1988 nr 26