The Baltic Way

About two million people joined hands for fifteen minutes and formed a human chain of about 675 km, from Tallinn through Rīga to Vilnius. It marked 50 years since the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, whose secret protocols divided the region between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

The Baltic Way, stop by stop

1. Tallinn. In Estonia the chain was organized by the Popular Front, Rahvarinne, and the day was declared a public holiday. At 19:00 Estonian Radio went live from Toompea, beside the Tall Hermann tower, where the Estonian flag had flown since 24 February 1989.
2. Rapla – Türi. The Estonian stretch was first planned through Pärnu. In early August the route was changed to run inland, through Rapla, Türi and Viljandi. Monuments to the Baltic Way at Käru and Särevere were unveiled a few hours before the chain formed.
3. Viljandi. From 17:00 Estonian Radio ran a three-hour live program, “Meie hoiame ühte” (We Hold Together): songs, poems, reports from along the route and traffic news. Many people stood with portable radios. Along the Estonian section, the word “Freedom” was passed from mouth to mouth.
4. Estonian–Latvian border. Leaders of the Estonian and Latvian Popular Fronts gathered at the border, where a giant black cross was set alight. After the chain, many people came here, between Nuia and Rūjiena, to burn slogans of the totalitarian regimes in bonfires.
5. Valmiera. In Latvia the chain was organized by the Popular Front of Latvia, which estimated that about 400,000 Latvians took part.
6. Cēsis – Sigulda. Free buses took people to their assigned stretch of road. Some employers sponsored them; others refused to give workers the day off. Footage filmed from airplanes and helicopters showed an almost continuous line of people across the countryside.
7. Rīga. The chain crossed Rīga, the middle link between the three capitals. Two years earlier, on 23 August 1987, people had laid flowers at the Freedom Monument on the pact’s anniversary, and the crowd was dispersed.
8. Ķekava – Iecava – Bauska. South of Rīga the chain followed the Via Baltica road through Ķekava, Iecava and Bauska towards Lithuania.
9. Latvian–Lithuanian border. In Lithuania the chain was organized by Sąjūdis. The Lithuanian section was about 220 km long.
10. Pasvalys – Panevėžys. Estimates of the turnout varied. Reuters reported about 1,000,000 Lithuanians and 700,000 Estonians; organizers had expected 1,500,000 people in all.
11. Ukmergė – Širvintos. The last stretch followed the A2 highway through Ukmergė and Širvintos and into Vilnius along Ukmergės Street. Airplanes flew over the chain to help coordinate it.
12. Vilnius. The chain ended at Gediminas Castle Tower, where the Lithuanian flag had flown again since 7 October 1988. About 5,000 people gathered in Cathedral Square with candles.

Timeline

• 23.08.1939: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is signed. Its secret protocols divide Eastern Europe between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
• 23.08.1987: At a meeting in Hirvepark, Tallinn, the secret protocols are raised in public.
• 23.08.1989: The Baltic Way: about two million people join hands from Tallinn to Vilnius.
• 11.03.1990: Lithuania declares independence.
• 20.08.1991: Estonia restores its independence.
• 21.08.1991: Latvia restores its independence.
• 2009: The Baltic Way documents are added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

From the archive

• A placard in Estonia: “End the occupation of Estonia”. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Holding hands along the road in Estonia. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Waiting by the road with the Estonian flag. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• “Half a century of the MRP, half a century of slavery.” MRP is the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• “Smile. No pact lasts long.” (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Estonia, 23 August 1989. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The chain across open fields in Estonia. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Estonia, 23 August 1989. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• At the 10th kilometer of the Cēsis–Valmiera road. (Laimonis Stīpnieks, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• On the Rīga–Pskov highway near Ropaži. (Valdis Vīksne, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Young people at the foot of the Freedom Monument in Rīga. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Rīga, 23 August 1989. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Rīga, 23 August 1989. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Rīga, 23 August 1989. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• On the Rīga–Bauska highway near Ķekava. (Uldis Pinka, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• A road sign in Lithuania: 110 km to Rīga, 421 km to Tallinn. (Kusurija, CC BY-SA 3.0)
• An event in Panevėžys on today’s Freedom Square, then Lenin Square. (Jonas Ambraška, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Buses and cars on the Vilnius–Panevėžys highway, heading to their assigned places. (Antanas Gylys, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Near Širvintos, Lithuania. (Radvilė Morkūnaitė, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• An airplane over the chain. Airplanes helped coordinate it and were used to photograph and film it. (Janina Kafemanaitė-Lesickienė, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• At the Green Bridge in Vilnius. (Jonas Kernagis, Lithuanian State Central Archives, CC BY 4.0)
• Candles and Lithuanian flags with black ribbons of mourning, as published in Moteris magazine. (L. Vasauskas, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The traffic jam afterwards, as people drove back to Panevėžys. (Petras Kareckas, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• A banner across the road: “Eestimaa eestimaalastele” (Estonia for the people of Estonia). (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Arms outstretched along the road in Estonia. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Holding hands under a banner, against the low evening sun. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• A line of people holding hands across open country in Estonia. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• A bus parked by the road, and the Estonian flag. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Placards beside a bus in Estonia. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Holding hands under the trees, with Estonian flags. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Waving from a car in Estonia. (Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• A crowd at the Freedom Monument in Rīga. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Flowers at the foot of the Freedom Monument in Rīga. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Flags above the crowd in Rīga. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The chain on Lenin Street, today’s Brīvības iela, in Rīga. (Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Holding hands in Lithuania, under a black flag. (Rimantas Lazdynas, CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The chain along a road in Lithuania. (Rimantas Lazdynas, CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Near Maišiagala, about 22 km from Vilnius. The photographer came here with his family. (Gasparas Genzbigelis (Europeana 1989), CC BY-SA 3.0)
• On the Vilnius–Ukmergė highway, in the Molėtai area. (Saulius Gruodis, Lithuanian State Central Archives, CC BY 4.0)
• The chain on the highway in Vilnius. (Vladas Ščiavinskas, Lithuanian State Central Archives, CC BY 4.0)

Sources: Estonian History Museum: The Baltic Way, ERR archive: “Meie hoiame ühte”, Estonian Radio, 23 August 1989, Wikipedia: Baltic Way, Vabamu: Balti kett, lithuania.lt: The Baltic Way from Vilnius to Tallinn, UNESCO Memory of the World: The Baltic Way, Wikimedia Commons: Baltic Way photographs