The Forgotten Ones

It happened at this time of the year, forty years ago. On August 3, 1940, the Baltic states were granted admittance to the USSR. They had not asked for this privilege, except through “elections” held under duress in mid-July. On June 15, Soviet forces had occupied Lithuania, moving into Estonia and Latvia two days later. The Soviets thus had about four weeks to soften up the populations before herding them to the polls.

A subsequent four decades of forced incorporation into the Soviet empire have not extinguished the fire of Baltic resistance to tyranny. In Riga (in occupied Latvia) 17 sportsmen have congratulated those who refused to take part in the Moscow Olympics and denounced Lord Killanin of the International Olympic Committee for not acknowledging the simple truth that all Soviet sportsmen are professionals.

BC

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Brian Crozier

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It happened at this time of the year, forty years ago. On August 3, 1940, the Baltic states were granted admittance to the USSR. They had not asked for this privilege, except through “elections” held under duress in mid-July. On June 15, Soviet forces had occupied Lithuania, moving into Estonia and Latvia two days later. The Soviets thus had about four weeks to soften up the populations before herding them to the polls.

A subsequent four decades of forced incorporation into the Soviet empire have not extinguished the fire of Baltic resistance to tyranny. In Riga (in occupied Latvia) 17 sportsmen have congratulated those who refused to take part in the Moscow Olympics and denounced Lord Killanin of the International Olympic Committee for not acknowledging the simple truth that all Soviet sportsmen are professionals.