Program of Events

Join us next to the Pond Cafe at Elizabeth Park in Hartford, CT for an afternoon of celebrations to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Baltic Way. Participants are encouraged to wear national folk costumes and to bring Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian flags. Speakers include the Consul General of the Republic of Lithuania in New York, Dovydas Špokauskas.

History of the Baltic Way

The Baltic Way, also known as the Baltic Chain or Chain of Freedom, was a peaceful political demonstration that took place on August 23, 1989.

Approximately two million people from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined hands to form a human chain spanning about 690 km (430 miles) from Tallinn, Estonia down to Riga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania.

This demonstration marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that led to the occupation of the Baltic states by the USSR in 1940.

The Baltic Way was organized by the pro-independence movements in each of the three countries: Rahvarinne in Estonia, Tautas fronte in Latvia, and Sąjūdis in Lithuania.

The event was a powerful symbol of unity and a call for independence, drawing global attention to the Baltic states’ desire for freedom from Soviet rule. It is remembered as a significant moment in the struggle for independence, which was eventually achieved by all three countries within two years of the demonstration.

On August 23, 1991 - the second anniversary of the Baltic Way - the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian Alliance of Connecticut (ELLA) planted a weeping cherry tree next to the pond in Elizabeth Park and designated it the “Freedom Tree,” while also placing a commemorative stone monument dedicated to Baltic independence.