Lithuania marks Day of Mourning and Hope with speaker’s call to defend freedom

Lithuania observed its annual Day of Mourning and Hope on Sunday, with Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas urging citizens to remember that freedom must be actively defended by each generation.

“Freedom is not inherited. Every generation must protect it, defend it, and pass it on. This is one of the most important lessons taught to us by the exiles, political prisoners, and all those who did not break even in the most difficult circumstances,” Olekas said during a solemn Seimas session, as reported by LRT.

He described June 14 as a date in Lithuanian history marked by shattered families, destroyed lives, children separated from parents, and people torn from their homes and deported to unknown destinations. “When we speak about the deportations, we often cite numbers. But behind every historical fact lies a real person: a name, a home, a life, and dreams. All of this was mercilessly destroyed in a single night,” Olekas stated.

The speaker emphasised that the day is not only about historical events but also about remembering the individuals who endured them. He shared that his own family history is tied to these experiences, recalling stories from his parents and relatives about loss, hardship, longing for their homeland, and unyielding hope to return.

“The stories of exiles and political prisoners speak not only of suffering. They also speak of human resilience, of language passed down to children, of prayer that gave strength, and of love for Lithuania, which at that time was stronger than the biting cold, hunger, and violence,” Olekas noted.

Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, a Member of the European Parliament and honorary chairman of the Social Democratic Party, also addressed the session. Born in Yakutia, where his parents were exiled, Andriukaitis called June 14 a day of double grief: the loss of Lithuania’s freedom and the deportation of its people.

He stressed the need to resist all forms of discord and division, and to deeply understand the importance of the rule of law, democracy, and human rights. “The Day of Mourning and Hope is dedicated to freedom, justice, and the great realisation that human dignity must never, under any circumstances, be violated,” Andriukaitis said.

He also urged adherence to the principles of the March 11 Act of Independence, which commits Lithuania to uphold international law. “No matter what seeks to destroy it, we must defend it. We must not tolerate new war crimes or genocide, whether in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, or Iran. This is what the victims of past genocide and their lessons demand of us. This is what hope obliges us to do,” he added.

June 14, 1941, marked the beginning of mass arrests and deportations of Lithuanians to remote regions of the Soviet Union, particularly Siberia. 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 imprisoned.