In the late evening of June 14 - the Day of Mourning and Hope - the bell tower of the Vilnius Cathedral was painted with the Tricolor and the symbol of the memory campaign "Think, Hear, Save" - a July flower. This is how the country commemorates the 80th anniversary of mass arrests and deportations of the Lithuanian people.
This year, the organizers of the reading of the names and fates of exiles and political prisoners "Speak, hear, preserve" - the project "Mission Siberia" - gave meaning to the initiative with a July flower. It symbolizes 80 years ago on June 1941, 14. deportations of Lithuanians that began. According to the organizers, it was at that time that lindens began to bloom in the country, so it became one of the last images of the homeland that the exiles took to distant Siberia. This symbol also decorated the bell tower of Vilnius Cathedral tonight.
The organizers of the "Mission Siberia" project invite Vilnius residents and city guests to pass by the Cathedral Square and remember those who were deported.
"For the second year in a row, we remind Vilnius residents and guests of the city about the Day of Mourning and Hope with a July flower on the bell tower of the Vilnius Cathedral. With this, we try to make that second while driving by encourage us to look, remember and make sense of this day in the forms that are acceptable to everyone. After all, this day is not only about mourning, but also about hope and the determination to bloom", says Aistė Eidukaitytė, head of the project "Mission Siberia", organizing the campaign "Think, hear, save".
This year, for the sixth year in a row, the campaign "Speak out, hear, save" aims to pronounce the names, surnames and fates of more than 40 exiles and political prisoners by reading them during live and virtual readings. The campaign can be watched live on the platform www.birzelio000.lt until June 14 at 15 noon.
It is estimated that almost 300 inhabitants of the country suffered from the Soviet repressions, who were exiled and imprisoned. The fate of some of them is still unknown.
Photo: Organizer 
Photo: Organizer
