CLASSROOM RESOURCES
Video
Where do you begin learning about the Baltic Revolution and the ordinary people who drove it? One of the best places is the historical record itself.
I have curated these playlists of archival footage so students and educators can witness events as they unfolded.
Click on each link below to view the playlist on the Daiva Venckus YouTube channel
1991 – Revolution Events – Content Note: Includes graphic historical footage
1991 – January 13 – Soviet attack in Vilnius – Content Note: Includes graphic historical footage
1991 – July 31 – Massacre at Medininkai – Content Note: Includes graphic historical footage
About this Video
Western rock music was heavily restricted in the Soviet Union since it threatened the communist ideal. Individuality and total freedom of creative expression threatened the communist ideal because they challenged the strict collective conformity and ideological control required to maintain a communist state.
But as Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the USSR, eased some restrictions in 1987 in the spirit of his “Glasnost” (openness) policy, the music scene exploded in the Baltics, giving youth a voice to express their desire for independence.
This clip comes from the “Rock March” (Roko Maršas) concert tour in Lithuania in 1989, featuring The Polikaitis Family Group, Lithuanian-Americans (from Los Angeles and Chicago) invited to participate alongside new, outspoken Lithuanian bands Foje and Antis.
I am in the audience with a few other Americans (my brother is the long-haired dude in the Hendrix tie-dye shirt – lol).
Toward the end of the song, the lead singer, Darius Polikaitis, yelled:
“Lithuanian youth! You are Lithuania’s future! We, the diaspora, are with you! We pray that God will grant Lithuania independence!”
The crowd then joined in singing:
I’m here – alive, the earth beneath my feet declared; I’m here – alive, son don’t you see; I’m here – alive …
Our hearts filled with emotion as we sang, longing for the dream of independence, which at that moment seemed possible.
But the Kremlin called our pleas treason.
The words of Aš Čia Gyva (I’m Here, Alive) were written by the Poet Bernadas Bradžionis, who escaped Soviet-occupied Lithuania during WWII and became a displaced person who was eventually allowed to emigrate to the United States. He was an active member of my Los Angeles Lithuanian community who kept the dreams of freedom for Lithuania alive for many decades. His inspiring words exemplify the longing for the homeland and the strength and courage of those left behind the Iron Curtain, who kept the memory of a free Lithuania alive.
(Thank you, Andrius from the Sajudis Information Agency, for capturing this historic moment and making the video available to me, and to the Polikaitis family for allowing me to share it on YouTube.)