In 2019, Anne-Marie’s memory of the Baltic Way was part of an exhibition organised by the Vabamu Museum in Tallinn that used the memories of ordinary people who took part in the 675-kilometre-long human chain that stretched from Tallinn to Vilnius. This burst of joy was simply contagious!” Inspiring empathy and tolerance today “Everyone was delighted with joy – smiling, singing, and hugging each other regardless of one’s national heritage. When we slowed down the car, the demonstrators started throwing candies to us through the car windows,” Anne-Marie recalled. “By the time we made it to the highway, it was filled with people holding hands. “My mother noticed my wondering gaze from the rear-view window and added cleverly, ‘In an independent state, you can go to a store and buy as many bananas as your soul desires!’” Your bilingualism will no longer beĪn obstacle, but a tool for building friendships.”īut, at eight years old, Anne-Marie’s attention was caught by something else. Languages and get to know various cultures. You will be able to travel around the world, learn foreign If you study and work hard, youĬan choose which university you continue your studies and for which organisation Did her mother want to be sent to Russia? When she asked, in the back seat of an old Lada car on the way to join the human chain, the mother explained.Įvery person is a master of their own destiny. So, when her parents decided to take part in the Baltic Way, she couldn’t understand why. People on their way to join the human chain on 23 August 1989. Something she didn’t understand at the time. As a child of an Estonian father and a Russian mother, Anne-Marie had been bullied at school and told that if Estonia ever gained its independence, all the Russians would be deported. Delighted with joyįor Anne-Marie Riitsaar, 23 August 1989 was a day of mixed emotions – excitement, but also fear and confusion.
Union invaded Estonia and Latvia on 16 June 1940. Second World War on 1 September 1939 with its attack on Poland.
Into respective spheres of influence, which led to Nazi Germany to start the Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania – in violation of international law –
Of non-aggression, the two totalitarian powers divided Finland, Estonia, In the secret protocols that accompanied the treaty Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact – a treaty signed 50 years prior, on 23 August 1939,īetween the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Germany – Vyacheslav Organised in order to draw the world’s attention to the existence of The Baltic Way, also known as the Baltic Chain, was Two million people joined hands, forming a human chain from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius. It was a peaceful protest against the illegal Soviet occupation and also one of the earliest and longest unbroken human chains in history. There were many reasons why people all over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania took part in the Baltic Way, but for eight-year-old Anne-Marie Riitsaar, one of the biggest reasons was bananas.*Īt 7:00 PM on 23 August 1989, approximately two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined hands, forming a human chain from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius, spanning 675 kilometres, or 420 miles.
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