Über die Besetzung Lettlands
The existence of the independent state of Latvia in 1940 was interrupted by the occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union, or incorporation into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
"June 17, 1940 arrived. A lady came into the bookstore and said that there was a Russian tank in the station area. I went to see. There was a Russian tank, a tanker was walking inside the tank, some people were standing around, nothing happened. there is some big change.
Late in the afternoon I went there again - to the station square. The goods station had, on the one hand, one-storey buildings with shops, rather chic shops, and there were such large glass windows. I saw several boys throwing stones at these windows, and one cried out to me - the sixth!
"There were rumors that something was happening around where the Metropole Hotel was, two protesters were shot dead, I once knew their names. army, but at the Esplanade ... The situation was tense, there were also arrests. Guards from the countryside were mobilized. "
"When did the envoys in London and Washington start protesting? Neither on June 17 nor on June 21. At first it seemed - what General Dambitis told me - that there would be an independent Latvia, friendship with the Soviet Union without Ulmanis, and everything."
"How cunningly it was played out - there are no communists in the first governments in all three republics. Then the local communists start to appear, then the Latvians from Russia, who were sent as deputy ministers, start to appear.
You know, in the early days, when someone shouted, "Long live Soviet Latvia!", The Communists called him - it was forbidden. The elections took place quickly, and from the time of Ulmanis, there was a box in your passport whether you took part in the elections - I know a lot of people went because they were afraid - if they can't go to trouble, no matter what the outcome. Ninety-seven percent is funny. ”
The memories were published in 2011 in Atis Klimovičs' book "Personal Latvia".
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Lettisches Okkupationsmuseum
Die Museumsausstellung beleuchtet die Geschichte Lettlands von 1940 bis 1991, also die nationalsozialistische und die sowjetische Besatzungszeit.
Das „Haus der Zukunft“ ist ein Projekt des renommierten lettisch-amerikanischen Architekten Gunārs Birkerts zur Renovierung und Erweiterung des lettischen Okkupationsmuseums sowie zur Schaffung einer neuen Ausstellung. Die Ausstellung „Die Geschichte des KGB in Lettland“ befindet sich im sog. Eckhaus, dem ehemaligen Gebäude des Staatssicherheitskomitees der UdSSR (KGB). Das Lettische Okkupationsmuseum wurde 1993 gegründet.
Es erinnert an die lange verdrängte Geschichte Lettlands: den Staat, sein Volk und das Land unter zwei totalitären Mächten von 1940 bis 1991.
2020 umfasste der Museumsfundus mehr als 70000 Objekte (Dokumente, Fotos, schriftliche, mündliche und materielle Zeitzeugnisse, Gegenstände und Erinnerungsstücke). Museumsmitarbeiter haben mehr als 2400 Videozeugnisse aufgezeichnet – eine der größten Sammlungen zum Phänomen Besatzung in Europa. Die Ereignisse, die über die Menschen in Lettland, Litauen und Estland hereinbrachen, sind ein lebendiges Zeugnis für die Erfahrungen der Völker zwischen zwei totalitären Regimen.
