Commemoration of the Day of Defenders of Freedom
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Community in Ireland joined Lithuanians all over the World in commemoration of those 14 Lithuanians who have been killed and hundreds wounded on the 13th January 1991, when the Soviet Union paratroopers stormed TV centre in Vilnius in the last attempt to break a newly restored Independence of Lithuania.
Unarmed civilians guarded vital institutions of a reborn State. It was not enough to safeguard TV centre, but Lithuania’s commitment to freedom and innocent victims were enough to discourage the occupants from trying to advance on Parliament, where tens of thousands were crowded.
Candles on the entrance to St. Andrews church in Dublin, where the commemoration took place last Sunday, was a sign of gratitude and remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives defending freedom of Lithuania.
