2. Hirvepark

Estonia’s first public demonstration against Soviet rule took place on 23 August 1987. It was held in Tallinn’s Hirvepark on a flank of the citadel hill in the Old Town and was organized by a group of dissidents and freedom fighters. Several thousand people turned out to hear speakers such as Lagle Parek, Tiit Madisson, Heiki Ahonen and Eve Pärnaste make calls for the secret protocols of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to be made public and the consequences to be redressed.

The message from the demonstration hit a sensitive spot for the Soviet regime – the fact that its annexation of the Baltics had occurred with criminal collusion with Nazi Germany. Furthermore, reversing the consequences of the Soviets’ deal with Hitler necessarily meant restoration of the independence of the Republic of Estonia.

Thanks to the role of Baltic activists in exile in the West, who lobbied for US senators to write Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in support of the demonstration, the Communist Party refrained from using force to quash the demonstration.

The Hirvepark rally was an early demonstration by courageous men and women and emboldened the entire nation, giving birth to a new independence movement.

Видео 2. Hirvepark канала otse info