On August 23, the Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC), the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, the embassies of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and about 100 participants gathered on McPherson Square outside the Victims of Communism Museum in Washington, DC, to celebrate 35 years since the Baltic Way, and to commemorate Black Ribbon Day.
Thirty-five years ago, on August 23, 1989, approximately two million people from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined hands over a distance of about 430 miles in what became known as the Baltic Way. This human chain connected roughly a quarter of the populations of the three nations in a peaceful demonstration against the Soviet occupation. It happened on the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in 1939 which divided Europe and brought the Baltic countries under a half-century of terror, occupation, and ethnic cleansing. That terrible anniversary is now known as Black Ribbon Day.
Finally, in 1990-1991, all three Baltic countries regained independence from Soviet occupation. The Baltic Way was a major milestone on their road to regaining freedom.
Karl Altau, Managing Director of JBANC welcomed those gathered at the event and gave opening remarks.
Other speakers at the event included Dr. Eric Patterson, President and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation; Inga Bowden, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Estonia; Evita Čikute, Political Counselor and Congressional Liaison at the Embassy of Latvia; Giedrė Šidagytė-Gudaitienė, First Secretary, Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Lithuania; Patrick Flood, Senior National Security Policy Advisor from the office of Congressman Don Bacon, the Co-Chair of the House Baltic Caucus; Michael Sawkiw, Vice-President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; and Gabrielė Avicolli, a Lithuanian-American high school student from Brooklyn, New York.
Thanks to Ms Avicolli’s initiative, 200 handprints of summer youth campers at Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian camps were collected and incorporated as a “virtual chain” into the circle formed in the park.
The handprints were a collaboration with Jõekääru (Estonian camp in Ontario, Canada), Nujorkas Draudzes Nometne Katskilos (Latvian camp in Catskills, New York), CYM Oselia-Ellenville (Ukrainian camp in Ellenville, New York), and Ms Avicolli’s own Lithuanian Camp Neringa in Vermont. Each handprint was crafted by a summer camper, with messages regarding the Baltic nations and in support of Ukraine’s fight for freedom.
The event ended with participants holding hands in a circle and singing “The Baltics are Waking Up!,” a trilingual song composed in 1989 by Boriss Rezniks for the occasion of the Baltic Way.
JBANC
