Monthly Archives: August 2021

August 20th marked 30 years since the restoration of Estonia’s independence. The Museum of Estonian’s Abroad, VEMU, celebrated this historical day with an online event. We offered the full VEMU 9th Fundraising Dinner program from spring 2021 including interviews, music, and archival footage at a discounted price. The archival footage of professor Marju Lauristin’s November 4, 1989 lecture held at the University of Toronto and titled “Estonia’s Political Situation” (Eesti poliitiline olukord) was also available to view free of charge. How precise were her predictions on Estonia’s independence? You can find out by watching the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VQAs6oIgQY&t=705s

To mark the 30th anniversary of the renewal of diplomatic relations between Canada and Lithuania, Richard Martin-Nielsen of the Embassy of Canada to Lithuania opened the “Sharing our Stories” exhibition at the President´s Valdas Adamkus Library-Museum in Kaunas on August 26.

In her newest book, the author Regina Gytė Narušienė, J.D. writes about dual citizenship—a pressing issue in Lithuania for almost thirty years. She is convinced that the decision on the issue of citizenship can no longer be postponed because the country will lose even more Lithuanians.

The 2021 Annual General Meeting of Baltic Heritage Network will take place on the first day of the Baltic Heritage Network Conference.

2019 Lithuania; 91 min; director Jurgis Matulevičius Three friends, separated by war and emigration, Andrius, Gediminas and Elena, meet again after twenty years. During the war, Andrius committed a terrible crime. After his return to Lithuania, Gediminas wants to make a film about the massacre of Kaunas Jews at the Lietūkis garage in 1941. Andrius realizes that in order to start living again he would have to make amends for what he did in the past. The film, based on the short story of the Lithuanian émigré writer, Antanas Škėma, tells a story about friendship and love and delves into the participation of Lithuanians in the Holocaust. The film combines elements of a detective and Soviet thriller.

Although summer at the Museum of Estonians Abroad (VEMU) has been quieter than usual in regard to cultural events, intense work has continued despite the heat. This summer’s biggest undertaking has been the packing and moving of the collections from the Estonian Central Archives in Canada (EKK) located in the Toronto Estonian House to VEMU.

Estonia’s most popular radio station Vikerraadio will once again provide a home for the weekly program “Hajala ringvaade” where historian and BaltHerNet board member Maarja Merivoo-Parro shares news from global Estonians. The program showcasing community events and fascinating personas is financed by the Ministry of the Interior and takes place every Sunday morning. After airing, it is archived as a podcast that can be freely listened to and shared. See more at vikerraadio.err.ee or download the Vikerraadio app. Maarja welcomes suggestions for topics and can be reached via e-mail: hajala@err.ee

On July 17-31, the courses for teachers who teach at the Lithuanian schools abroad were organized at the Academy of Education of Vytautas Magnus University. This year, teachers from 28 Lithuanian schools from 13 countries attended the courses.