On 12 May, Estonia, in cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania, opened an exhibition entitled Lessons of World War II. The Baltic Way to UN Membership at the UN Headquarters in New York, aimed at raising awareness of the crimes committed by the Communist regime of the Soviet Union (USSR).
The exhibition recalls the devastating consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (MRP), signed in 1939, which divided Europe into zones of influence and destroyed the independence of the Baltic States. As a result of the pact, the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic States and incorporated them for half a century in grave violation of international law. During the occupation, the USSR committed thousands of crimes against humanity and carried out violent Sovietisation against the Baltic nations.
“In light of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, it is worth recalling in the UN that one of the triggers for the outbreak of the war was the agreement between two totalitarian regimes, resulting in Stalin’s terror wiping the independent Baltic States from the world stage for 50 years,” Estonian Ambassador to the UN Rein Tammsaar said. “With the joint Baltic Way, we finally broke out from Russia’s decaying sphere of influence and rejoined the free nations of the world. With the joint exhibition of the three Baltic States, we commemorate the victims of the crimes of totalitarian regimes, take an undistorted look at our history and the struggle for independence, and recognise those who supported the international return of the Baltic States at home and abroad.”
The exhibition consists of descriptions of events and illustrative photos compiled by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, covering events from the signing of the MRP to the restoration of the independence of the Baltic States and their accession to the UN. The exhibition was supported by the representations of Finland, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine to the UN and the delegation of the European Union. The exhibition will be open from 12 to 23 May.