Celebrating the Baltic Way and commemorating Black Ribbon Day
August 23rd is a double anniversary for the three Baltic nations, a day of mourning and a day of pride - mourning because, on that day in 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that put much of Eastern Europe under the Kremlin's control. But it's also a day of pride because on August 23, 1989, ordinary Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanins formed a human chain and demonstrated their yearning for freedom.
On August 23, 1989, approximately two million people formed a human chain spanning the Baltic nations from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius- over 675 km - to draw the world’s attention to the existence of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and to demand an end to the Soviet occupation. The event has become known as the Baltic Way or Baltic Chain (Balti kett in Estonian). This protest was one of the earliest and longest unbroken human chains in history.
August 23rd has become an official remembrance day both in the Baltic countries, in the European Union and in other countries, known as Black Ribbon Day or as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.
Black Ribbon Day commemoration events are happening in Estonian communities abroad including Toronto, Vancouver, and Stockholm.
Join the 2023 Black Ribbon Day Social Media Awareness Campaign here:
https://www.blackribbonday.org/neverforget/
Read more:
The Baltic Way – the longest unbroken human chain in history
Estonia in the grip of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the realpolitik of great powers
