Riga [Latvia], June 15: The Baltic States marked the 85th anniversary on Sunday of the mass deportation of tens of thousands of people by the Soviet Union with nationwide commemorative events. On June 14, 1941, and the days that followed, a first wave of deportations saw more than 10,000 Estonians, more than 15,000 Latvians and nearly 18,000 Lithuanians taken to Siberia from the states annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II. A second, even larger wave followed in 1949. Many of those deported died as a result of the harsh living conditions. "The mass deportation was more than just expulsion from their homeland. Four in 10 deportees died in exile. Those who returned to Latvian territory did not truly return home. Because their home was a free Latvia, not a Soviet prison," Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said in Riga.
Source: Qatar Tribune
