Immigration

The New Zealand National Film Unit presents a 1949 piece about Displaced Persons.

Tensions in the Baltic

Kaliningrad.

Anniversary of the Later Deportations

March 25, 1949.

Here's an (English-language) account of the 1941 deportations. More here.

Back to the USSR

Travel posters from Soviet, government-run travel agency.

"Affection for the Baltic states is common among Russians of a certain age, a legacy largely of the Soviet Union."

Why some Russians seek exile in the Baltic States.

"The Dancing Diplomat"

John Boehner's account of his visit to Lithuania.

More here.

(Today, US tanks arrived in the Baltics, as promised.)

"Moscow is stationing 'thousands of troops, including mechanized and naval infantry brigades, military aircraft, modern long-range air defense units and hundreds of armored vehicles in the territory.'"

Kaliningrad.

"If I wanted, in two days I could have Russian troops not only in Kiev, but also in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw and Bucharest[.]"

Said Putin.

The Baltic Way

The Baltic States today celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Baltic Way.

Here's Google's Doodle for the day.

ADDED: Video here and here.

"How does one create a record of memories, especially if they are borrowed ones?"

A Latvian photographer visits her ancestral village.

"No Home to Go To"

"No Home to Go To" is a preview of the upcoming "Baltic Displaced Persons Exhibit" organized by the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture:

"After the United States and Ukraine, the countries named as the most hostile to Russia were the three Baltic states -- Lithuania (25 percent), Latvia (23 percent) and Estonia (21 percent)."

"A survey conducted by an independent Russian polling agency."

(Emphasis added.)

"Latvia Casts Wary Eye on Russia"

"A chief concern of the government—which is facing parliamentary elections in October—is the rise of what some officials call 'provocateurs,' people in the country believed to be spreading antigovernment sentiment on behalf of the Kremlin."

(See also here.)

Another Protest

Chicago Loop, December 1970. Here's one of the last images I have of the Simas Kudirka protest.

A march against Russian aggression will take place this Sunday, April 27, 2014, in Chicago.

"'We are non-citizens. They called us occupiers, but now they turn out [to be] occupiers themselves. This is Russia's land'."

Ethnic Russians living in the Baltic States speak out.

Eyes on Estonia

"Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia's treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the use of Russian."

See also here.

There are ethnic Russians living in Lithuania, too.

Anonymous petition asks residents of Klaipėda "to approve the region's accession to the Russian Federation."

ADDED: Here's a map showing the distribution of ethnic Russians in the Baltic States.

A Discussion about Ukraine

Ambassadors from the three Baltic States discuss the crisis on CNN.

An Assessment of Olympic Team Uniforms

Lithuania ties for the fourth worst team uniforms. The reviewers admire the Polo U.S. outfits.

 

I rather like the Russian uniforms; the woven sashes remind me of folk costumes.

"Russian" Knitting

A recent exhibit featured stockings, socks, gloves, and mittens. The Russian Museum of Ethnography's description shows that organizers still think of the former Soviet states as part of their empire: "To protect wrists from the spring and winter winds peoples of the Ukraine, Byelorussia, northern-west part of Russia and in Baltic states wore knitted armlets, which looked like wide, ornamented cuffs."

Many of the designs look Baltic.