Posted
on June 14, 2016
The
Soviet Union just swarmed the much-smaller Baltic nations with
soldiers...
And
then announced that the U.S.S.R. had taken over those states...
And
then deported many Baltic families, sending them far away to remote
areas of the Soviet Union. Places like Siberia.
These
deportations were done secretly, quietly, and quickly. And en
masse, which means that a LOT of families were deported—hundreds,
not just one or two.
The
first of these terrible deportations occurred on this date in 1941.
Of course, now the Baltic states are independent countries, and the
Soviet Union no longer exists. All three celebrate June 14 as a day
of remembrance, a day of mourning, and even a day of hope that this
kind of thing will never happen again.
Baltic
States?
The
Baltic nations are the three small countries on the eastern coast of
the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
The three nations cooperate with one another in several ways.
However, the people and languages of Latvia and Lithuanita are more
alike, whereas the people and language of Estonia are “Finnic,”
more closely related to the people and language of Finland than to
their Baltic neighbors.
Here
are some things about each of the Baltic nations that sparked
interest for me:
Estonia
The
Valley
of Vanajõe (above) has high, sandy banks and clear (as opposed to
muddy) brown water. And Estonia has bogs (below) that are clean,
swimmable water. Don't you always think of bogs as mucky?
The
Kukka Stone is just a large boulder. Now, I happen to really like
large boulders, but I think it is interesting that this is listed as
a tourist sightseeing spot, as one of Estonia's largest boulders. And
that it gets its own ladder!
Kerli
is a musician with some amazing music videos—and she sings in
English!
Tallinn,
Estonia's capital, looks cheery and colorful!
Latvia
Latvia
has a song and dance festival that is held every five years (I think
2018 is the next one) – and it's supposed to be epic!
Gutmans
Cave is the highest cave in the nation and the largest in the Baltic
states. It has inscriptions that people carved into its walls dating
all the way back to the 1600s.
Ventas
Rumba is not very high, but it is the widest waterfall in all of
Europe.
Latvia's
capital, Riga, is supposed to be wonderful – it was even named the
European Capital of Culture in 2014.
Lithuania
Ninth
Fort is a reconstructed prison meant to remind people of past
horrors.
The
Hill of Crosses is not a graveyard, as I first assumed, but a place
where long-ago people erected crosses to represent their hopes for
independence. Apparently, there are tens of THOUSANDS of crosses on
this one hill!
Trakia
Island Castle...is a castle...on an island! You gotta love that!
Lithuania's
capital city is Vilnius, which has Europe's largest Baroque Old Town.
Also
on this date:
|
|
Plan
ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
No comments:
Post a Comment