Lithuania marks Day of Mourning and Hope

Lithuania is observing the Day of Mourning and Hope on Sunday, a day dedicated to remembering the Soviet-era mass deportations and honoring their victims, reports BNS.

A commemoration ceremony will be held in the Seimas Hall of the March 11 Act, where awards will be presented to organizations of political prisoners and exiles, including the Union of Political Prisoners and Exiles, the Community of Political Prisoners and Exiles, the Laptev Sea Exiles Brotherhood “Lapteviečiai,” and the political prisoners’ community “Kolyma.”

At noon, a moment of silence will be observed to honor the victims. The national flag will be raised in Independence Square in Vilnius, followed by a procession to Victims’ Street. Wreaths will be laid at monuments to political prisoners and exiles, and a civic historical memory action, “Atminties neištremsi” (Unbroken Memory), will take place, with the names and fates of exiles and political prisoners being read aloud.

A mass bicycle ride, “Minu už Lietuvą” (A Minute for Lithuania), will also be held in Vilnius. Commemorations will take place in other cities as well.

In Kaunas, a concert titled “Išgyventi ir atminti” (To Survive and Remember) will feature carillon player Roberta Daugėlaitė, the Kaunas music ensemble “Ainiai,” actor Vytautas Gasiliūnas, and soloists Neringa Nekrašiūtė and Vygantas Bemovas.

In Klaipėda, a reading of the names and fates of exiles and political prisoners will take place at the Unity of Lithuania monument “Arka,” followed by an official commemoration in Exiles Square and a Mass at the Christ the King Church.

Šiauliai will host the “Atminties neištremsi” action, a Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, a commemoration at the railway ramp, and a concert. In Panevėžys, the event will begin at the Holy Trinity Church, followed by a reading of names in Independence Square and a screening of a documentary film.

The Day of Mourning and Hope marks the beginning of mass arrests and deportations of Lithuanians to remote areas of the Soviet Union, including Siberia, on June 14, 1941. According to the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Centre, around 23,000 Lithuanian residents were deported, killed, or imprisoned during the first Soviet occupation. By 1953, approximately 130,000 people had been deported from Lithuania, with an additional 156,000 Lithuanians imprisoned.