European Union Parliament’s declaration

Posted on March 29, 2012

It was an honor for me to participate in the commemoration of Stalin’s deportations, as part of the European Union’s parliamentary declaration requesting international cooperation. This commemoration dealt with the March 25 to 28, 1949 wave of deportations from the Baltic republics.

I presented a PowerPoint lecture about this subject, at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, in Chicago on Sunday, March 25. The attendance was excellent. After the talk, I gave a personal tour of the Hope and Spirit exhibit that I had organized, which dealt with this subject.

Much more significantly, however, was the presentation I gave Tuesday, March 27, at St. Rita High School, also here in Chicago. This is the high school from which I graduated. This was a 45 minute PowerPoint presentation, reviewing Stalin’s deportations, with an emphasis of why this subject is so important in our contemporary world.

There were 250 students in attendance, and the talk was broadcast live, on line, throughout the Augustinian order’s high school system in North America. Over 150 classrooms listened to my presentation. The total number of students who heard my talk is estimated to have been between three and four thousand.

The major reason for my past two years of dedication and hard work has been to educate the general public about Stalin’s atrocities. If one forgets history, it will repeat itself. Thus, I am very glad to have had the opportunity of informing several thousand high school students.

The presentation has been videotaped and will be available on-line in the near future, on the St. Rita High School website. The photographs were made by Ms. Laura Fleck.