25 March 1949 Soviet Union organised mass deportation of 90,000 Baltic nationals to Siberia.
Today, we light 22 000 candles to honor and remember those innocent people.
It affected every family here in Estonia including mine.
Called Operation Priboi, as many as 72% of the deportees are believed to have been women and children. The goal was to crush the opponents of Soviet occupation and lessen resistance to collectivist farming by deporting entire families who were involved in resistance activities, relatives of those previously deported, and affluent farm families. Few of those deported to Siberia were ever able to return home.









