About the crimes of Red Army soldiers in Tukums.
In Tukums, several monuments to the Red Army were erected during the Soviet occupation. Today, they still have not lost their former, Soviet ideological goals and continue to create the myth of the Red Army as liberators. A variety of sources have survived about the crimes of the Red Army soldiers. One group of sources can be found in local newspapers, which vividly describe the permissiveness and extent of the crimes of the Red Army.
(..) In Tukums, the Red Army soldiers murdered several residents [..] In those days and later, the Red Army soldiers raped women on a large scale. Acts of violence were committed even on 12-14 year old girls [..] The Red Army soldiers asked passers-by on the street for time, and when they were told, they took their watches. Wedding rings were removed from many people, bicycles were taken. It often happened that a Red Army soldier, entering a house, would shoot into the air and then completely rob the intimidated residents. (..).
(..) almost no dwelling of the Tukums residents was left unvisited by the Red Army soldiers. Watches, valuables, vodka, jam, honey - were the main values that were sought [..] A Red Army soldier detained a woman of about 30 years old and demanded: "Show me your teeth!" The woman opened her mouth, in which were several gold teeth. The Mongol, without thinking much, knocked the unfortunate woman's teeth out of her mouth right there on the street and left (..)"
The newspaper "Tukuma žinas". It is gone now. 1944, August 29.
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Monument for the Freedom-Fighters
It is located in Tukuma, Mālkalna, Jelgavas street 15A.
The monument was opened in 1975 to highlight the merits of the Red Army during World War II. It served as a means of Soviet ideology and propaganda, symbolically strengthening the presence of the occupation regime in Latvia and creating the myth of the Soviet power as "liberators". The author of the monument is sculptor and resident of Tukums Arta Dumpe.
After the capitulation of Germany on May 8, 1945, the Red Army perceived Kurzemi as a territory conquered from the enemy and not a liberated part of the USSR. The inhabitants of Kurzeme were enemies and their property was considered war trophies. The repressive authorities and the army began the "Cleaning of Kurzeme". Men aged 16-60 were detained, registered and examined. In terms of danger, the inhabitants of Kurzeme - men - were compared to the military personnel of capitulated Germany. The permissiveness of the Red Army and the wave of crimes began - murders, rapes, robberies, arrests and "disappearances of people". The only armed resistance was from the National Guerrilla groups. The Soviet authorities created fighter battalions, including in the Tukum district, to eliminate any counter-action. The wave of violence and terror reached its climax in 1949, when the population was deported throughout Latvia.
Today you can see the monument. Its symbolic meaning is explained in different ways - a battle scene or a mother holding her sons fighting on opposite sides. The monument is installed on a hill with an impressive view.
