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Nearly 250 guests gathered on Sunday, August 25 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way. The Consulate General of Lithuania in Los Angeles invited the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian community members to remember that unique spirit of freedom, unity and brotherhood by getting together at St. Casimir Parish where exactly 30 years ago people joined hands to support this peaceful demonstration.

Guests had an opportunity to watch two short documentary movies made specifically for this occasion and hear the recollections of participants and active supporters of the Baltic Way, including Estonian Honorary Consul in Los Angeles Jack Treiman, the leader of the Latvian Association of Southern California Ivars Mičuls and the founders of The Baltic American Freedom League Danutė and Antanas Mažeika.

Consul Agnė Gurevičienė stressed the importance of this historical event and thanked local Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian communities for their valuable contribution and relentless efforts to restore the independence of the Baltic States.

The cheerful crowd dressed up in national flag color attributes formed a human chain and sang the song “The Baltics Are Waking Up” also known as the anthem of the Baltic Way. Everyone held a gladiolus flower - a symbol of determination, strength and peaceful protest.

On August 23, 1989, about two million people from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined hands over a distance of 370 miles that is similar to the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This human chain, linking the three Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius, was to protest the Soviet occupation on the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian communities around the world including Los Angeles held hands on August 23, 1989 in solidarity for the freedom of the Baltic nations.