St. Paul University Amphitheatre, 223 Main Street, Ottawa (Preferred entrance: 110 Hazel Street - also the accessible entrance)
FREE - please register
Milí přátelé, milí priatelia,
We warmly invite you to join us on Wednesday, August 19 for Ottawa’s annual Black Ribbon Day commemoration — an evening of remembrance, reflection, and a reaffirmation of the freedoms we share today.
Black Ribbon Day, observed in Canada in remembrance of the victims of Nazism and Communism in Europe, recalls the consequences of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939, whose secret protocols divided much of Central and Eastern Europe between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
This year, we will also remember one of the most extraordinary peaceful demonstrations against Soviet occupation: The Baltic Way. On August 23, 1989, nearly two million people joined hands across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, forming a human chain hundreds of kilometres long in a powerful call for freedom and national independence.
We are honoured that The Honourable Greg Fergus, P.C., M.P., Member of Parliament for Hull—Aylmer, will be our keynote speaker.
The evening will also feature a short film on the Baltic Way, followed by time for remembrance and reflection.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 7:00 p.m. — doors open at 6:30 p.m. Saint Paul University, Amphitheatre
223 Main Street, Ottawa
We hope you will join us — whether this history is part of your own family story or simply because you believe it is important that these experiences are remembered.
Lest we forget. United for freedom. Together, we remember.
Těšíme se na vás / Tešíme sa na vás,
Michelle (Míša) Čipera
Předsedkyně, České a slovenské sdružení v Kanadě (ČSSK – Ústředí)
Chair, Czech and Slovak Association of Canada (CSAC-Headquarters)
Ottawa Black Ribbon Day Committee cssk.csac@gmail.com | ustredi@cssk.ca www.cssk.ca | www.blackribbonday.org
