Baltic communities across the world to commemorate victims of deportations

 

 As a response to the call for commemoration by the Unitas Foundation, NGO Tulipisar and the Members of the European Parliament, many Baltic communities are holding remembrance events in their country of residence on Sunday. Not only will the candles be lit again in memory of the deportees in the two biggest cities in Estonia on, they will also be remembered in 8 other countries.

Remembrance events will take place in 3 states in the US—New Jersey, New York, Illinois and also in other countries-- Belgium, Canada, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and in the United Kingdom. Several events are organised by all the three Baltic communities together.

The initiative aims to draw attention to the crimes against humanity committed by communist regimes in the Baltic States and elsewhere and to remember those who fell as victims of the evil regime.

According to Uve Poom, the head of the Unitas Foundation, the organisation behind the call, the positive and active response of Baltic communities everywhere has been amazing. “We are delighted that so many communities have chosen to hold commemoration events. One must not forget that most of these communities did not leave the Baltics to just find a better life—many of them were seriously afraid for their lives and the possible repressions of the communist regime. Unfortunately, almost every Baltic resident has close relatives for whom to light candles for,” added Mr Poom.

The call for commemoration is only a part of the Unitas Foundation’s activities. The Foundation was established in 2008 by the two-time Estonian prime minister Mart Laar, entrepreneur Meelis Niinepuu and philanthropist Damian von Stauffenberg and is dedicated to building reconciliation within and between societies divided by totalitarianism.

The detailed list and character of remembrance events can be found here: http://www.unitasfoundation.org/remembrance/. 

Märtsiküüditatuid mälestatakse ülemaailmselt

23. märts 2012

Vastusena Sihtasutuse Unitas, MTÜ TuliPisara ja 38 Euroopa Parlamendi saadiku kutsele korraldavad välisbalti kogukonnad 25. märtsil üritusi Siberisse küüditatute mälestamiseks.

Kui pühapäeval süüdatakse tuhanded küünlad Tallinnas Vabaduse Väljakul ning Tartus Raekoja platsil, toimuvad mälestusüritused samaaegselt ka kaheksas teises riigis—Belgias, Kanadas, Leedus, Lätis, Prantsusmaal, Venemaal, kolmes eri osariigis USAs ning Ühendkuningriikides.

Üleskutse algatanud sihtasutuse Unitas juhi Uve Poomi sõnul on imetlusväärne, et nii mitmed kogukonnad küüditatute mälestamiseks küünlad süütavad. „Lootsime üleskutsega tõmmata märtsiküüditamistele ülemaailmset tähelepanu ning tänu väliskogukondadele see ka õnnestub. Eriti hea meel on selle üle, et mitmed üritused on korraldatud kas kolme Balti riigi kogukondade koostööna või siis Eesti Majade eestvedamisel. Selline koostöö võiks toimida sama hästi ka poliitilisel tasandil, et meie hääl kostuks Euroopa poliitikas valjemalt,“ lisas Poom.

Enamikul välismaal toimuvatest üritustest süüdatakse küünlad küüditatute mälestamiseks, mitmete ürituste programmides on ka erinevad ettekanded, presentatsioonid ning arutelud Balti riikide saatusest Nõukogude Liidu koosseisus.

Üleskutse välisbalti kogukondadele on vaid osa sihtasutuse Unitas tegevusest. Sihtasutuse asutasid 2008. aastal Mart Laar, USAs resideeruv filantroop Damian von Stauffenberg ja ettevõtja Meelis Niinepuu eesmärgiga saavutada kommunismikuritegude rahvusvaheline hukkamõist sarnaselt natsikuritegudega, tehes seda ühiskondliku lepitamise nimel.

Täpsem nimekiri ja ürituste detailid on leitavad Unitase kodulehelt: http://www.unitasfoundation.org/remembrance/

Call for Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian communities to commemorate victims of deportations on March 25th

Members of the European Parliament with the Unitas Foundation and NGO TuliPisar invite Baltic communities across the world to hold commemoration events on March 25^th, the launch day of the 1949 March deportations.

21 000 candles were lit on Tallinn Liberty Square in March 2010.

Soviet mass deportations from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are among the most disheartening events in the history of the Baltic States. During Stalin’s rule, more than 150 000 people were forcefully taken to Siberia, thousands not even surviving the road there. Since 2010, commemoration events have been held in Estonia and by Estonian communities in more than 10 countries. On March 25^th 2012, thousands of candles will again be lit in memory of the deportees. Among others, the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Members of the European Parliament are hosting a commemoration event in Brussels.

Baltic communities across the world are invited to join the initiative and hold remembrance events around March 25^th, regardless of format. The Unitas Foundation and NGO TuliPisar would be delighted to receive a notification from the organisers of such events at anna.karolin@unitasfoundation.org. Additionally, please visit www.unitasfoundation.org/remembrance for a free information kit on Soviet deportations from the Baltic States as well as information on how to contribute to the cause in other ways.

Please join us in keeping alive the memory of people who endured inequitable suffering and perished to no avail.

Members of the European Parliament

Algirdas Saudargas (Lihtuania) Alojz Peterle (Slovenia) András Gyürk (Hungary) Andreas Schwab (Germany) Andrey Kovatchev (Bulgaria) Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (Sweden) Ashley Fox (UK) Bernd Posselt (Germany) Bill Newton Dunn (UK) Filip Kaczmarek (Poland) Gabriele Albertini (Italy) Hannu Takkula (Finland) Indrek Tarand (Estonia)

Inese Vaidere (Latvia) Ioannis Kasoulides (Cyprus) Ivari Padar (Estonia) Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (Poland) József Szájer (Hungary) Kārlis Šadurskis (Latvia) Konrad Szymanski (Poland) Kristiina Ojuland (Estonia) Krišjānis Kariņš (Latvia) Laima Liucija Andrikienė (Lithuania) László Surján (Hungary) Leonidas Donskis (Lithuania) Manfred Weber (Germany)

Mario Mauro (Italy) Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (Spain) Roberts Zīle (Latvia) Roger Helmer (UK) Sandra Kalniete (Latvia) Siiri Oviir (Estonia) Zigmantas Balčytis (Lithuania) Tunne Kelam (Estonia) Véronique Mathieu (France) Vilja Blinkevičiūtė (Lithuania) Vilja Savisaar-Toomast (Estonia) Vytautas Landsbergis (Lithuania)



Platform of European Memory and Conscience to be established in Prague

October 14, 2011

On Friday, 14th October, heads of 19 organisations dedicated to researching and raising awareness of the European totalitarian legacy will sign the founding document of the platform. Among the initiators there are six organisations from the Baltic States.

The ceremony will take place in the Lichtenstein Palace in Prague and will include the Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Petr Nečas and Vice-President of the European Parliament László Tökés.

Mr Uve Poom, head of one of the founders—the Unitas Foundation—expressed his enthusiasm for the newly created platform: “So far we have mainly focused more on the Baltic co-operation and this will make the creation of Pan-European projects considerably easier. The Unitas Foundation has a special focus on innovation in education and we hope to share our activities with other platform members. For example, our project “Different Nations—Shared Experiences” could be of help to other European nations wishing to share their history and raise consciousness on past events.

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience unites governmental and non-governmental institutions and organisations active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education on totalitarian regimes. The European Parliament and the European Commission were among the numerous institutions which called for the creation of a Pan-European co-operation network to increase collaboration among national research institutes specialising in the subject of totalitarian history.

Other founders from the Baltic States in addition to the Unitas Foundation include the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, the Occupation Museum Association of Latvia, the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, and the Occupation of Latvia Research Society.

The Unitas Foundation was established in 2008 by the former two-time Prime Minister of Estonia, Mart Laar, the US philanthropist Mr Damian von Stauffenberg and entrepreneur Meelis Niinepuu with a mission to build reconciliation within and between societies divided by totalitarianism.

Call for Researchers - extended!

The Unitas Foundation is recruiting 4 researchers to conduct an cross-cultural study on history curricula and teaching methods in history in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Sweden.
The aim of the research is to determine to which extent a) curricula and b) teaching materials foster sense of togetherness and awareness of each others’ history. Also, we seek to obtain an overview of teaching methods in use to apply these curricula. We will apply the results to generate input for educational materials and outreach activities to foster cohesiveness and togetherness of the four project countries: Estonia, Latvia, Sweden and Finland.

Expected tasks
The research group members develop the method of the data collection and collect data, they also contribute to the data analysis and interpretation and finally in writing the report of the study.

Candidate requirements

• At minimum, currently obtaining a PhD in a relevant field;
• Experience in doing qualitative research;
• Proficiency in English and also in any of the 4 languages: Estonian, Latvian, Finnish or Swedish.

Application procedure
Please send your CV along with a short description about your relevant research interests and experiences to Ms Maris Vainre: maris.vainre[at]unitasfoundation.org by 25th September 2011. Feel free to contact the same address for any enquiries regarding the position.