January 13th is observed as Defenders of Freedom Day in Lithuania, dedicated to commemorating the tragic events of 1991. The symbol of this day's remembrance is the "neužmirštuolė" flower.
On March 11, 1990, Lithuania declared its independence (the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania). In response to this declaration, on January 13, 1991, Soviet army units entered the capital and seized strategic objects. To defend their independence, a crowd of Vilnius residents surrounded the TV tower to ensure that broadcasts reporting the entry of Soviet troops would not be interrupted. People lay on the ground, creating living barriers in front of the tanks.
On that day, 14 defenders of freedom were killed (another person died in February from injuries suffered), and 600 more were injured or otherwise harmed.
Students, along with the Director of the Vilnius University branch, Dr. hab. Jerzy Halicki, paid tribute to the memory of those who lost their lives and lit candles at the site of the bloody events near the Vilnius TV tower.
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