Menu

Mass Deportations in the Baltic States by the Soviet Union

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.