Monument to Soviet activists killed in 1941
Memorial site
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Located in the Rauna Castle Ruins area, opposite the stage.
You can visit the monument to Soviet activists killed in 1941 and the ruins of Rauna Castle.
When Nazi German troops occupied the territory of Latvia and entered Rauna, on July 8, 1941, 14 Soviet activists were shot in the ruins of Rauna Castle.
Among them were trade union activist Roberts Ogriņš and his son, a schoolboy Ādolfs Ogriņš, pioneer leader Jānis Lakats, farm workers Kārlis Palsis, Jānis Zariņš and Antons Noviks, member of the Rauna parish executive committee Jūlijs Gailītis, farmer Jānis Geižins, tractor driver A.Alders, blacksmith Jānis Kaštanis, members of the auxiliary militia Jūlijs Ceriņš and Artūrs Milnis and worker Ēvalds Plētiens. Official articles describe this event as a showdown with supporters of the Soviet regime, however, in the memories of local residents, this event is more often treated as a personal showdown between one Rauna resident and other Rauna residents.
After the killings, the victims were buried right there at the foot of the castle ruins, but were later reburied in the cemetery. After the end of World War II, a temporary monument was erected at the site of the shooting, which was later replaced. The current monument in the castle ruins was erected in 1982.
Used sources and references:
http://old.rauna.lv/turisms/pieminas-vietas/piemineklis-1941-gada-nogalinatajiem-padomju-aktivistiem?css=1&gads=2015
Rauna Museum
Whatever was written in the official documents, even in Soviet times, my grandfather was extremely angry that his brother's name was shamelessly tarnished. Jūlijs Ceriņš was never a communist activist. The story is quite simple. He, as a militia official, had arrested one local malak who, when the Germans entered Rauna and joined the guards himself, took revenge on Julius and whispered to the Germans that Julius was "the red one". They shot Julia without trial and justice. The younger brother Peter Oskar also remained in the Stutthof death camp as a German hater and political prisoner. Mother's heart could not take it. So hatred destroyed a whole family. And no Soviet activists.