Estonia commemorates 83rd anniversary of June 1941 deportations
The 83rd anniversary of the June 1941 deportations, when more than 10,000 Estonians were exiled to Siberia by the Soviet Union, was marked across Estonia on Friday (June 14).
On Friday afternoon, a ceremony was held at the Victims of Communism Memorial at Maarjamäe in Tallinn where officials made speeches and laid wreaths of flowers to remember those who never returned home.
Dozens of new names were also unveiled on the memorial which had been discovered during research by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory in cooperation with relatives of those who died.
An exhibition by the Human Rights Institute explaining the impact of the deportations and how they were carried out, was opened on Tallinn's Freedom Square. The story can be read online in English here and the exhibition can be viewed on the square until June 16 (Sunday).
On June 14, 1941, Soviet Union authorities deported more than 10,000 Estonians to Siberia and Kazakhstan to eliminate moral, physical and legal resistance to the occupation regime. Of those, approximately 7,000 were women, children, and the elderly. Anyone who resisted was branded an enemy of the state.
Many of the people who had contributed to the development of the first Estonian Republic between 1918 and 1941 were executed in Siberia.
In total, the Soviet regime deported more than 30,000 people from Estonia between 1941 and 1951. Nearly 10,000 were minors
President: Evil tried to silence us but failed
Both President Alar Karis and Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) marked the date on social media, drawing parallels with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Attending a commemoration event on the island of Hiiumaa, Karis said: "Today's Deportation Memorial Day touches everyone in Estonia, reflecting our tragic past & the current cruelty in Europe. Russia's aggression & crimes against humanity in #Ukraine shatter Europe's security. Evil tried to silence us but failed. We emerged stronger & support."
Today's Deportation Memorial Day touches everyone in #Estonia, reflecting our tragic past & the current cruelty in #Europe. Russia's aggression & crimes against humanity in #Ukraine shatter Europe's security. Evil tried to silence us but failed. We emerged stronger & support pic.twitter.com/YnYNGpspHd
— Alar Karis (@AlarKaris) June 14, 2024
Kallas wrote: "On 14 June 1941, 10 205 Estonians, including infants and elders, were deported to Siberia by the Soviet regime. Most of them died, only a few managed to return. But we remember them all. Today, Russia uses deportations as a weapon against Ukraine."
On 14 June 1941, 10 205 Estonians, including infants and elders, were deported to Siberia by the Soviet regime.
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) June 14, 2024
Most of them died, only a few managed to return. But we remember them all.
Today, Russia uses deportations as a weapon against Ukraine.https://t.co/MShqKztnjF pic.twitter.com/gnVcLwkOvP
You can read more about the deportations on the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory's website here.
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Editor: Mirjam Mäekivi, Helen Wright
