Communist tyranny make newspaper headlines daily. from Cuba to Hong Kong. from the Berlin wall to the Mekong River. So great is their suffering. so appealing their plight. that we may tend to forget at times that this is a continuing story. Today we have the sad and solemn opportunity to mark the 21st anniversary of the first mass deportations from the three Baltic States of Lithuania. Latvia. and Estonia. This tragic event took place during the dark days of June 14. 15. and 16. 1941. While the worlds attention was centered on the Battle of Britain. the Soviet Union cynically snuffed out the light of independence and freedom which the Baltic countries had gained at the end of the First World War. In Lithuania alone. an estimated 30.000 people were deported to Siberia. and 5.000 more lost their lives. Sad. this day must be called. for we all recall the suffering and exile of proud peoples from these independent and flourishing nations. fallen before the hammer and sickle. Sad. too. because the ruthless subjugation of the Baltic States is symbolic of the events in Asia and Eastern Europe over the past two decades.
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deported deportations