The Lithuanian Embassy in Ottawa invites us to join a virtual commemoration
Lithuania officially recognizes June 14, 2021 as the Day of Mourning and Hope. This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the start of mass deportations of civilian population from Soviet-occupied Baltic states which at the time included Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, to remote areas of the USSR including Siberia. In order to commemorate the tragic loss and resilience of these prisoners, the Embassy of Lithuania to Canada, the Lithuanian Canadian community and the Canadian Lithuanian Youth Association are organizing events for all Lithuanians in Canada.
On June 12, 1 PM (ET) Lithuanian Canadians are invited to join a virtual event, during which Aistė Eidukaitytė, the head of “Mission Siberia” project, will provide an overview of the 15-year project. Marija Čyvaitė will share her experience as a participant of Mission Siberia 2019.
Kristina Kliorytė, an artist of Lithuanian descent in Montreal, will perform a specially created set of partisan and deportee songs.
The director of “Partizanas”, Agnė Zalanskaitė, will speak about the film and links to the screening of the movie (in English and Lithuanian) will be provided, and shared on the Embassy’s website and the Facebook event. The screening will be open from June 12-14.
The commemoration event will be hosted in Lithuanian. The link to join via ZOOM is https://bit.ly/34MgyDn (Meeting ID: 967 371 8438, Passcode: Lietuva). Registration in advance is not required. Everyone is welcome. Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/KPpfGaci
On June 12, 12 PM (ET), the Embassy will host a virtual event for children “Kur tas dulkėtas traukinys…” To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the mass deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia, the story of the exile will be presented to participating children and their parents with age-appropriate materials. During the event, children will be introduced to the history of the deportations. The guest speaker – American-Lithuanian Marija Čyvaitė, participant of Mission Siberia ’19, will introduce Mission Siberia project and share her experience. Children will complete an topic-related task and create an art project. The event will be held on ZOOM. The main language of the event will be Lithuanian (speaker slides will be in English). Recommended age: 6+. Registration in advance is required. Registration is open by email [email protected]. Registered attendees will receive an email with a link to join as well as printable materials for the art project. Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/ElJPCwrx.
The Embassy also invites Lithuanian Canadians to join the initiative “Ištark, išgirsk, išsaugok” (Say, Hear and Remember) on June 14.. The object of the event is to recite and commemorate the names and subsequent fates of Lithuanians who tragically suffered from the Soviet Deportations 80 years ago over the course of the day. Join the commemoration virtually as Lithuanians across the globe will come together in mourning and reflection. Would you like to recite a name? Register to read here: www.birzelio14.lt. Spread the word. Invite your friends, families and colleagues, and help keep the memory of those thousands of exiled compatriots alive.
The event organizers are Mission Siberia and the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania, as well as the Lithuanian Youth Council (LiJOT) and the Scouts of Lithuania.
News from the Lithuanian Embassy in Canada
