A symbolic Baltic Way will unite the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian communities on 23 August at 3:00 PM at Norrmalmstorg Square to encourage and support those who are struggling for their independence today and commemorate the victims of totalitarian regimes, as 23 August is the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.
The Baltic Way was a peaceful political demonstration that was held on August 23, 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning over 600 kilometers across the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Demonstration originated in the “Black Ribbon Day” protests held in the western cities in the 1980s. It marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The pact and its secret protocols divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and led to the occupation of the Baltic states in 1940.
The series of commemorative events will conclude with the premiere of the film “The Excursionist” by Lithuanian filmmaker Audrius Juzėnas (6 PM at Filminstitutet Svenska / Swedish Film Institute, address: Borgvägen 1-5 Gärdet, Stockholm).
The film is based on an incredibly true story of 11-year-old girl from the Baltics who escaped from a Trans-Siberian train on its way to Gulag in the 1950s and travelled 6.000km back home to Lithuania. It`s a road movie and a historic drama about hope and destiny, love and friendship.
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