Zvārdenieka's childhood in the shadow of bomb explosions - Polygon summers
Ich verbrachte meine Kindheit in der Nähe des Zvārde-Schießstandes, unter den Geräuschen von Explosionen und fliegenden Düsenflugzeugen, aber manchmal konnte ich am Wochenende den Schießstand betreten. Nach dem Abzug der sowjetischen Armee war das Land mit Bombenkratern und vielen explosiven Gegenständen übersät, nicht nur aus der Zeit der Deponie, sondern auch aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg.
Polygonsommer (1980-1990)
Während der Sowjetzeit konnten die Bewohner der umliegenden Kolchosen im Sommer zwei Wochen lang die Deponie betreten, um Heu zu sammeln. Wenn man Glück hatte und das Wetter gut war, konnte man viel Heu sammeln, aber wenn das Wetter ausfiel, dann blieb das Heu auf der Deponie.
Imitation von zwei Landebahnen
Auf dem Trainingsgelände wurde von Montag bis Samstag bombardiert, Sonntage waren Feiertage. Auf der Deponie wurden zwei Landebahnen - Imitationen - gebaut und darauf Flugzeugmodelle aus Brettern aufgestellt. Die Landebahnen befanden sich etwa 3-4 km von Kurgan entfernt entlang der Auce-Straße. Mein Vater arbeitete auf der Deponie, baute und reparierte Flugzeugmodelle und nagelte neue Modelle aus Brettern, wenn die vorherigen in die Luft gesprengt wurden. Auch die Bombengruben wurden rekultiviert – mein Vater fuhr an bestimmten Tagen mit einem Raupentraktor T-150 zum Zielgebiet der Deponie und deckte die Gruben mit Erde zu. Zwischen den beiden Start- und Landebahnen war eine Art Grünfläche, und es gab keine Büsche oder Bäume drumherum, weil alles zugewachsen war, so dass ein Loch nach dem anderen entstand.
Am Stützpunkt „Lapsu“ wurde das kleine Stück Asphalt extra mit Brettern belegt, damit der Vater mit den Spuren den Asphalt nicht beschädigt.
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Über den Friseursalon:
Es könnte 1989 oder 1990 gewesen sein, als mein Klassenkamerad R. an einem Werktag mit dem Fahrrad auf die Deponie gefahren war und es zu einem Bombenanschlag kam. Ich hatte wirklich Angst, aber alles endete gut.
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Zvārde shooting range and former Soviet military base "Lapsas"
The landfill's service base is located approximately 2 kilometres east of Striķu Manor, on the Saldus-Auce road. The former Soviet Military Aviation Target Range (military unit No 15439) in Zvārde is located south of Saldus. The territory of the airfield is home to several sights - the ruins of Zvārde and Ķerkliņi churches, the ruined Rīteļi cemetery, the observation post of the airfield, the so-called "Officers' Kurgan" and the former airfield personnel base and shooting range "Lapsas".
The Zvārde air target range required a unit of approximately one company to service the air target range - to install targets, repair damage, guard the air target range and coordinate air flights. It was based on the site of the house called "Lapsas" until the Second World War. With the construction of the airfield, barracks, transport sheds, a flight control tower and a firing range for training personnel were built.
After Latvia regained its independence, the Zvārde Defence Forces Training Centre operated here, but since 2007 the site has been owned by the municipality and leased by several hunting collectives. The former barracks house an exhibition on the history of Zvārde parish.
Soviet Army Observation Tower (Kurgan of Officers)
The "Officers' Kurgan" is located less than a kilometre from the ruins of Zvārde Church. The Kurgan is made of the ruins and remains of the surrounding houses and manor house, which have been bulldozed together. An observation tower was built on the kurgan. According to the inscription, the present tower was built in 1981. The tower was used to record bomb hits. The training bombs had a reduced explosive content, so their hits had to be watched more carefully. Unexploded bombs were neutralized immediately, but not all could be found.
The remains of the tower can be seen here today - the brick walls. As the barrage is relatively high, you can even see the Lithuanian oil refinery in Mažeikiai on a clear day.
Soviet air force target firing ground in Zvārde
Zvārde landfill is located in Zvārde municipality, Saldus region. It is a former military aviation training ground of the USSR, covering more than 24 000 hectares.
The territory of the former airfield is home to several sites: the Officers' Kurgan, the ruins of the Zvārde and Ķērkliņi churches, the Rīteļi cemetery, the former army base "Lapsas", and others. Until the Second World War, the site of the observation tower was home to the "Vairogi" house. During the construction of the polygon, what was left of the farm - walls, the remains of the apple orchard, and part of the ruins of the Veczvārde manor - was piled together to form a mound and the observation tower was built on it. It was used as an observation point for coordinating the army's training manoeuvres. This place is popularly known as Kurgan. The mound overlooks the former training ground and the wooded areas of Zvārde Nature Park and Nature Reserve. A good place for bird watching. The surroundings of Kurgāns are not landscaped.
Riteli Cemetery
After the airfield was established in this area in 1953 at the request of the USSR Ministry of Defence, the Zvārde Church, the Ķerkliņi Church and the Rīteļi Cemetery were actually located in the centre of the airfield - next to an artificial airfield with access roads and defence positions, which was used as a target by Soviet pilots. Planes flew here from airfields in Latvia and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. In less than 40 years, the church, the cemetery, the former manor house and dozens of surrounding buildings were reduced to ruins. Today, the site is cared for by the Saldus Martin Luther Church. The surrounding area is still contaminated with unexploded ordnance and it can be dangerous to walk off the roads.
Barbarism reached its peak in 1988, when the Rīteļi cemetery with its graves and monuments was bulldozed.
On 21 July 1990, in one of the first actions in which the Latvian population demanded that the USSR army leave the territory of Zvārde, a protest rally was held in Saldus, after which people went to the Rīteļi cemetery. The rally participants were allowed into the landfill site, and they cleaned up the cemetery a bit and dug white crosses.
The landfill continued to be used until 1992 and even as late as March 1992 a plane taking off from Lielvārde crashed in the landfill for unknown reasons. The Latvian Defence Forces started demining the site in May 1993, after the withdrawal of the Russian army. In 2008, Zvārde residents installed a memorial stone "Forgive us for not saving you" in the Rīteļi cemetery.
