U.S. SENATE CALLS ON RUSSIA TO ADMIT THE ILLEGALITY OF SOVIET OCCUPATION OF THE BALTIC COUNTRIES 1940--1991

On May 19, 2005, the U.S. Senate passed S. Con. Res. 35 (previously S. Con. Res. 32) calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to issue "a clear and unambiguous" statement acknowledging and condemning the illegal occupation and annexation from 1940 to 1991 of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The S. Con. Res 35 is a companion resolution to and has the same text as H. Con. Res. 128 introduced in the House by Mr. Shimkus. Several newspapers in the Baltic countries erroneously reported Monday that the House had also passed Mr. Shimkus' resolution. That is not correct. H. Con. Res 128. has been referred to the House International Relations Committee where it awaits further action by the Committee. For the resolution to advance more cosponsors are needed than the twenty currently aboard.

The Baltic American Freedom League strongly supports the resolution and calls on YOU and the Baltic American community to work vigorously for the adoption of H. Con. Res. 128. For more information and instructions on the resolution under BAFL ACTION.

The greatest tragedy of the 20th century was not, in fact, the dissolution of the Soviet Union as President Putin claims, but its creation. The Soviet Union was the organizational model and inspiration for Hitler's National Socialism and one of the greatest evils of the 20th century.

The Soviet-Nazi friendship was the immediate cause of World War II. This friendship was sealed by the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939. Under the aegis of the Pact Hitler gave the Baltic countries and part of Poland to Russia and in return Stalin gave Hitler the green light to invade Poland. On September 1, 1939, both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia entered World War II on the same side. This lasted for the first two years of the war.

In the end, Nazi Germany was destroyed while the Soviet Union remained a predatory state. The Red Army did not liberate the Baltic countries, it imprisoned them. For nearly a half century the Balts were subject to repression, terror, mass murder, deportations and cultural genocide that was on a scale only equaled by Adolf Hitler's rein.

WE ASK YOU TO GET THE RESOLUTION PASSED FOR THOSE WHO ENDURED AND SUFFERED UNIMAGINABLE TERROR, BRUTALITY, INHUMANITY AND DEATH UNDER SOVIET RULE.

The Kremlin just celebrated the Russian victory over Germany in World War II without a single word of apology or remorse for the 50 years of violence the victory brought to the Baltic nations. The Russian government should be made to realize the importance of speaking the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may be to the Russian people and government, and needs to take the high moral ground when human life and human dignity are at stake. But it does not.

The Kremlin steadfastly refuses to accept the simple fact of Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries and to apologize for it. On May 4, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the audacity to issue an official statement denying that the USSR had ever occupied the Baltic countries, saying the Red Army had been invited by those countries' governments and that the Balts voluntarily joined the Soviet Union. Instead of admitting the truth, the Kremlin is trying to deflect criticism and to put the Baltic countries on the defensive by absurdly accusing them of fascism.

Recently President Putin claimed in the German and French media that the disavowal of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact by a resolution of the U.S.S.R. Congress of Deputies in 1989 was sufficient. In fact, the resolution only blamed Stalin personally and determined that his action in 1939 contradicted "Leninist norms" and "the Soviet people's interests."It failed to acknowledge, let alone assess the occupation of the Baltic countries, and did not recognize their right to be independent."

Germany has fully admitted its sins of the past. Japan has repeatedly apologized for its war time crimes. While in Riga, President Bush acknowledged that the 1945 agreements at Yalta will be "remembered as one of the greatest wrongs of history." The only exception is Russia. As a commentary in The Economist (5/5/05) noted, "...its [Russia's] failure to come clean about the inequities of its own past is part of a wider story that helps to explain why post-Soviet Russia remains so prickly and troubling...They [U.S. and Europe] should urge Mr. Putin to confront and transcend the dictatorship of memory by normalizing Russia's borders with the Baltic states, to reopen archives that reveal the terrible truth of the communist tyranny, and to abandon any atavistic dreams of empire."

H.Con.Res. 128 will not single handedly get the Russians to admit the truth, but it is a giant first step in the right direction.

In over a month, we have been able to get only about twenty cosponsors. We should have at least twice that number by now. You can accomplish this.

The Baltic American Freedom League urges you to take 15 minutes, half an hour, or a couple of hours out of your life to call, to write, or to send an e-mail, or to visit your representative to ask him or her to cosponsor the resolution.

Never before has there been so much positive discussion in the media about the Hitler-Stalin Pact and the occupation and annexation of the Baltic countries. Let's exploit it to our advantage! Let's not let it pass because of our inactivity and apathy. IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DO IT, WHO ELSE IS?
YES, WHO?

For additional information on the resolution, for names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, sample letters, etc. go to BAFL ACTION then Call to Action. You may also obtain additional information and talking points on H. Con. Res. 128 by checking the news articles posted under NEWS.

We suggest you do the following regarding H. Con. Res. 128:

• Fax a letter to your representative to urge him/her to cosponsor the resolution. Because of security measures, sending letters to Congress by postal mail takes too long to be effective. You may send a fax for a small fee from most copying/printing businesses.
• Send the hard copy of your original letter to the congressperson's local office. You can get the address off the congressperson's website or by calling his/her office.
• Send a e-mail to your congressperson. A representative on the average gets about 2000 e-mails a week, so a fax or a letter to the local office is more effective. But since e-mail does not cost anything, you should send one anyway. It won't hurt.
• Very important! Follow up your fax, letter or e-mail with a phone call preferably to your representative's Washington office, but a call to the office local will do. The important thing is to call. Ask for the person
  who handles the congressperson's foreign affairs or Baltic issues.
• Make an appointment to visit your representatives' and senator's local staff either by your self or with a group. Leaders of local Baltic organizations should be organizing joint visits, but don't wait too long
  for them to do it.

Leaders of local Baltic organizations should write letters on behalf of their organizations to their area congressperson to ask for their support.

If your representative has not signed on as a cosponsor in a week or two, start the process all over again: fax, calls, e-mails, letters, etc.

You can find cosponsor names on Thomas Guide to Congress --- http://thomas.loc.gov/. Go to Search for Bills and Resolutions type in the resolution's designation and number, then go to Bill Summary and Status.

We would like to get the resolutions adopted as soon as possible. We have four dates we could tie the resolution to depending upon when they are passed by the Congress---June 14, June 23 (in 1940 U.S. Undersecretary of State Summer Well established continued recognition of Baltic independence as official U.S. policy the Non-recognition policy), July 28 (in 1922 the U.S. recognized the Baltic countries) and August 23.

Thank you for your support and cooperation. NOW LET'S GO TO WORK!

Valdis V. Pavlovskis
Director
Baltic American Freedom League