Today, on the 80th anniversary of the mass deportations in the Baltic states by the Soviet Union occupation forces, we are yet again reminded of the crimes perpetrated by this bloody regime:
- On the night of 13–14 June 1941, the NKVD, the Soviet secret service, started the operation aimed at purging the Baltic space of the most active anti-Soviet forces.
- Tens of thousands of people were deported to the Soviet Far East without trials in whole families (check the infographic below for the breakdown by countries).
- The month of June also marks deportations from the territories of other countries occupied by the Soviet regime: Poland (mostly present-day West Belarus and western Ukraine) and Moldova.
- Mass deportations were an integral part of the Soviet system, taking various forms, from the removal of the so-called “anti-Soviet” elements to deportations of entire nationalities.
- Overall, the total number of victims of different forms of Soviet repression in the years 1940/1941 is estimated at 34,000 in Latvia, 60,000 in Estonia, and 75,000* in Lithuania.
*The numbers are estimated. Source.
