At the beginning of today’s sitting, the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) held a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of the June deportation, and adopted the Statement which says that the Riigikogu remembers the people who were violently deported 75 years ago and of whom many lost their families and lives.

“Today is one of the saddest days of the year for us in Estonia,” President of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor said.

The Statement of the Riigikogu says: “Today is the 75th anniversary of the tragic day of 14 June 1941, when thousands of people in Estonia were hit by a bloody action of violence of communist Soviet power. On that tragic date, the armed representatives of the occupation power arrested more than 10,000 inhabitants of Estonia under the darkness of night and in the early hours of morning.”

The Statement also notes that although 75 years have passed, it is our duty to remember that date and the tragic fate and unlived lives of the victims of violence. “It is our moral duty to commemorate the victims of totalitarian regimes and pass the knowledge about those events on to the coming generations,” the Statement declares.

To commemorate the victims of the June deportation, all factions of the Riigikogu and 27 members of the Riigikogu initiated the Statement of the Riigikogu “75 Years since June Deportations” (255 AE) on the initiative of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union Faction. 83 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Statement.

Riigikogu Press Service
Epp-Mare Kukemelk
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