Escape attempt from the USSR

The border zone of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was heavily guarded during the Soviet era. Every evening, the beach was swept all the way to the sea so that in the morning the traces of potential border violators could be seen. People who were dissatisfied with life in the Soviet Union showed a lot of creativity in order to escape the USSR illegally. Most of these attempts were unsuccessful.

The last known escape from Liepāja took place in 1984, under the leadership of Raimonds Bitenieks, the later founder of LCTAG* “Helsinki-86”. On a windy night, two brave men, together with their teenage children, push a boat into the sea at the end of Pērkones Street and head towards the free world. The course is set for Gotland, which fate has not decided to reach. The waves are too high for the small boat, which the storm is churning like an eggshell in the sea. Water is constantly pouring into the boat and drowning the engines. The children are constantly pumping water out. The situation becomes critical. While trying to start the engines, which have stopped, Raimonds’ friend is thrown overboard in the storm and breaks his arm. However, no one loses heart. Neutral waters have been reached, and the refugees cling tightly to the hope that a Swedish ship will pick them up. Things turn out differently. At dawn, border guards have noticed the footprints left on the beach and raised the alarm. Instead of the expected Western world, they have to experience KGB interrogations and Soviet prisons (the Committee for State Security (Russian)). The Latvian human rights group "Helsinki-86" was founded by Linards Grantiņš, Raimonds Bitenieks and Mārtiņš Bariss in the summer of 1986 in Liepāja.