News

On Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 16.00 hrs at The Museum of Occupations (8 Toompea, Tallinn),  commemorating the start of mass deportations of March 25, 1949, the Lithuanian charity and support fund "Jauniems" (“For young”) presents the youth expedition “Mission Siberia”.

During the period of 1944-1953, Soviets deported about 1 million Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians from their countries. Fostering national history awareness and patriotism among youth, commemorating the memory of the confined countrymen in Siberia, the project “Mission Siberia” was launched in 2005 and since then there have already been 12 youth expeditions that have rearranged and cleaned over 100 Lithuanian cemeteries and met with local Lithuanians.

“Mission Siberia” participants will tell how they prepare for annual expeditions, present the stories and experiences from the missions in Siberia and tell about public awareness campaigns after return home.

The main presentation will concentrate on “Mission Siberia” of summer 2014 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

The evening will start with the presentation of the Estonian “Kogu Me Lugu” oral history initiative that collects the stories and memories of people who have lived under or fled from the Soviet and/or German occupation in Estonia or migrated as a result of acts committed by these regimes. Unitas Foundation launched the initiative in Estonia in 2013, when more than 500 family stories were collected in a single day. This was followed by a successful public campaign and today video stories are continuously being produced based on the collected materials.

The programme of the evening:

16:00      Estonian Unitas Foundation presentation of “Kogu Me Lugu” story collecting initiative.

16:30      Lithuanian “Mission Siberia” presentation

17:10      Coffee break

17:30      Documentary “Mission Siberia 2014. Krasnoyarsk” screening (English subtitles) (approx. 50

                 min.)

 18:20     Discussion about the documentary

                Afterwards, the opportunity to go to Freedom square in the neighborhood for the

                candle lighting ceremony commemorating March deportations of 1949.

For more information about “Mission Siberia” http://2014.misijasibiras.lt/about-the-project

For more information about “Kogu Me Lugu” http://kogumelugu.ee/

The event is organized by  the Lithuanian Embassy in Estonia (ee.mfa.lt) and the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn (http://www.okupatsioon.ee)