Having now returned to the UK, my reflections for this walk are dominated by the history and memorials of the Second World War and the Soviet Occupation in this region. They are so embedded into the fabric of these countries and their people, and it was deeply moving to experience this as I Walked for Peace from Tallinn (Estonia), to Riga (Latvia) and then to Vilnius (Lithuania). A final few days in Warsaw (Poland) only reinforced my feelings. The memories of this past seem to pervade the very soul of the countries and cities I passed through, and even some of the people I came across seem to be held in their past.

It was a strange juxtaposition experiencing this while at the same time conscious of the ongoing conflicts in both Ukraine and Gaza. There were a number of moments when history became fused with the present time.

One such instance was in the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw which is one of the largest in Europe and the world. There was a poem written by a child in the Warsaw Ghetto which expressed the desperate situation then. Eerily, I could imagine the same poem being written by a child at this present time, possibly in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan or wherever there is ongoing conflict.

Have we learnt nothing from our history? It is just too easy to forget our past and to be drawn into conflict, division, war and death. Ultimately we need to drastically increase our efforts to bring about peace. We owe it to the future and to the children who will inherit this world.

Thank you to everyone for your donations.

1 July 2024

Having reached Vilnius and completing the "Baltic Way" I had to cut short my susequent walk to Warsaw. However I spent a few days there before returning to the UK.

(Written before leaving ..... April 2024)

In May and June this year I will be Walking for Peace from Tallinn (Estonia), to Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and then Warsaw (Poland), a distance of approximately 700 miles.

I will be walking close to a war that is ongoing in Ukraine and very conscious of other wars around the world including the war in Gaza. I have again chosen to raise donations for the non-partisan charity Children of Peace because of their inspiring work funding many organisations that help Israeli and Palestinian children in the Middle East bringing communities together to live and work in peace, side by side. www.childrenofpeace.org.uk

This follows my previous Walks for Peace supporting the charity Children of Peace. In 2015 I walked from Rome to Jerusalem www.2015peacewalk.wordpress.com In 2019 I walked from London to Hamburg (via Brussels and Amsterdam), and in 2023 from Hamburg to Helsinki (via Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm). For further information see www.childrenofpeace.org.uk/paul-haines-walk

As before I will walk wearing signs with information about my walk and a 'peace flag'. I will also carry one of my books in which I ask people to write their Message of Peace. I will engage with as many people as I can to help raise the profile and awareness of peace in this world. As previously, I will spend time in the cities I visit researching for my website www.linkstopeace.org

(The cover photo was taken July 2023 outside the Nobel Peace Centre at the start of my Walk for Peace from Oslo to Stockholm).

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Paul Haines