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Most Americans know nothing about the Baltic Countries. It’s sad really, because these are some of the most beautiful, fairytale-looking places in the world. But there is more than meets the eye when it comes to these countries full of amber, snow, and beautiful churches. Though they are all fully functioning democracies in the European Union, not more than 20 years ago, these countries were still under the control of the Soviet Union. Like the rest of modern day Russia, they were persecuted by the government, hundreds of thousands sent to work camps or Siberia, and (one of the most glaring signs) still have run-down soviet-bloc apartments built to aid in the eavesdropping of every citizen by the KGB. A couple of days in these countries would not convince any average tourist that these incidents happened in the Baltics. The people are friendly, most speak english, and they seem very content with their current governments. It is only once you scratch the surface that you see some of the most obvious and chilling examples of the fact that most of the adults still living today were not always free. The picture above is of the concert hall of the opera house in Tallinn, Estonia. It’s beautiful inside, and the concert we attended there (a medley of Estonian musical theatre tunes) was interesting and pretty entertaining. However, it was not until the very end that we noticed something very strange. During curtain calls when most Westerners would be whistling, yelling, and applauding, this crowd of adults was clapping in unison. It began with a smattering, but by the end of the applause, every person in that audience was absolutely clapping to a non-existent beat. There was no music playing behind it. All of us were somewhat confused at first, but most of our group just joined in because it seemed the right thing to do. Later, our professor told us that this was no coincidence. These people were trained to clap that way by the government of the former soviet union. A practice that we do mindlessly in the west was made into a precise execution of obedience in these countries. I found myself embarrassed for clapping the wrong way. Can you imagine that? Every moment for these citizens 20 or so years ago was a practice in not standing out. Being an individual elicited suspicion and even jail or deportation. People were taught to blend in with the crowd and never make a spectacle out of yourself. Even an act as simple as applauding at a casual concert had a formula so that no one would stand out. It is traits like that that were so ingrained into these people’s heads that makes you realize that their history (and by extension, ours, because we did nothing to help) is not so far in the past. The formulaic applauding, as a theatre and music lover myself, is one of the most chilling things I’ve experienced while I’ve been here.

Most Americans know nothing about the Baltic Countries. It’s sad really, because these are some of the most beautiful, fairytale-looking places in the world. But there is more than meets the eye when it comes to these countries full of amber, snow, and beautiful churches. Though they are all fully functioning democracies in the European Union, not more than 20 years ago, these countries were still under the control of the Soviet Union. Like the rest of modern day Russia, they were persecuted by the government, hundreds of thousands sent to work camps or Siberia, and (one of the most glaring signs) still have run-down soviet-bloc apartments built to aid in the eavesdropping of every citizen by the KGB. A couple of days in these countries would not convince any average tourist that these incidents happened in the Baltics. The people are friendly, most speak english, and they seem very content with their current governments. It is only once you scratch the surface that you see some of the most obvious and chilling examples of the fact that most of the adults still living today were not always free.

The picture above is of the concert hall of the opera house in Tallinn, Estonia. It’s beautiful inside, and the concert we attended there (a medley of Estonian musical theatre tunes) was interesting and pretty entertaining. However, it was not until the very end that we noticed something very strange. During curtain calls when most Westerners would be whistling, yelling, and applauding, this crowd of adults was clapping in unison. It began with a smattering, but by the end of the applause, every person in that audience was absolutely clapping to a non-existent beat. There was no music playing behind it. All of us were somewhat confused at first, but most of our group just joined in because it seemed the right thing to do.

Later, our professor told us that this was no coincidence. These people were trained to clap that way by the government of the former soviet union. A practice that we do mindlessly in the west was made into a precise execution of obedience in these countries. I found myself embarrassed for clapping the wrong way. Can you imagine that? Every moment for these citizens 20 or so years ago was a practice in not standing out. Being an individual elicited suspicion and even jail or deportation. People were taught to blend in with the crowd and never make a spectacle out of yourself. Even an act as simple as applauding at a casual concert had a formula so that no one would stand out. It is traits like that that were so ingrained into these people’s heads that makes you realize that their history (and by extension, ours, because we did nothing to help) is not so far in the past. The formulaic applauding, as a theatre and music lover myself, is one of the most chilling things I’ve experienced while I’ve been here.

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