t
cN9 *9335.4A?70
Given By
Charles J. Kersten
J9-'
^
SPECIAL
REPORTS OF
— ' SELECT ca3.IITTEE OH
CaaiUl^ST AGGRESSION
GOil^NIST TAKEOVER AM) OCCUPATIOI^
^-^c/O
pts. 1-16
UNITED STATES
GOVERN! '.SOT PRII-ITING OFFICE
WASHINGTON: 195^-1955
^)i2s , V "' oJ70
/ 4.^,1 /-^.'i
COUTEWTS
No. 26814., pts. 1-16. Special reports of Select Com-
mittee on Coipjnunist Aggression,
Pfc.
1* Coir^jp.unist takeover and occupation
of Latvia.
2» Coimnunist takeover and occupation
of Albania.
3« Communist takeover and occupation
of Poland.
I4.. Appendix to Committee report on
communist takeover and occupation
of Poland,
5» Treatment of Jews under communism.
6» Communist takeover and occupation
of Estonia.
7« Communist takeover and occupation
of Ukraine.
8. Communist taJceover and occupation
of Armenia.
9» Communist takeover and occupation
of Georgia.
10. Communist talceover and occupation
of Bulgaria.
11. Communist takeover and occupation
of Byelorussia.
12 ♦ Communist takeover and occupation
of Hungary.
13* Communist takeover and occupation
of Lithuania,
llj.. Communist takeover and occupation
of Czechoslovakia.
15. Communist takeover and occupation
of Rumania.
16 • Summary report of Select Committee
on Communist Aggression.
Union Calendar No. 929
83d Congress, 2d Session - . - - House Report No. 2684, Part 1
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND
OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
SPECIAL REPORT NO. 12
OF THE
SELECT COMMITTEE
ON COMMUNIST AGGRESSION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EIGHTY-THIRD CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
UNDER AUTHORITY OF
H. Res. 346 and H. Res. 438
////o/^ (^
December 30, 1954.— Committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
UNITED STATES
government PRINTING OFFICE
42008 WASHINGTON : 1654
f PUBLIC )
jH^)
HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE COMMUNIST AGGRES-
SION AND THE FORCED INCORPORATION OF THE BALTIC STATES
INTO THE U. S. S. R.
CHARLES J. KERSTEN, Wisconsin, Chairman
FRED E. BUS'REY, Illinois RAY J. MADDEN, Indiana
ALVIN M. BEXTLEY, Miihi^ran TIIADDEU.S M. MACHRUWICZ, Michigan
EDWARD J. BONIX, Pennsylvania THOMAS J. DODD, Connecticut
PATRICK J. HILLINGS, California MICHAEL A. FEIGHAN, Ohio
James J. McTigcb, Committee Counsel
EDWARD M. O'Connor, Staff Director
II
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction v
Historical backsroimd 1
Independent Latvia 4
Absorption of Latvia into tlie Soviet Union 7
Latvia under Soviet Russian domination 12
The liistorical mission of Latvia 25
III
INTRODUCTION
The committee wishes to express its appreciation for assistance in
the preparation of this report to Georgetown University, its faculty,
and to the group of experts from various parts of the United States
who cooperated Avith the university. The record of hearings of the
committee, together with individual sworn depositions from eye-
witnesses, documents, exhibits, and other authoritative evidence
formed the basis for this report.
The purpose of this report is to telescope the essentials of the his-
tory of Latvia and its people, including the period of Communist
takeover and occupation of that nation. It is hoped that this report
v\'ill help the American people to understand better the nations and
people enslaved by communism and thereby to more fully appreciate
the true nature, tactics, and final objectives of the criminal conspiracy
of world communism.
Union Calendar No. 929
3d Congress ) HOUSE OF REPKESENTATIVES j Kept. 2684
M Session ] \ Parti
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
December 30, 1954.— Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. Kersten, from tlie Select Committee on Communist Aggression,
submitted the following
REPORT
[Pursuant to H. Res. 346 and H. Res. 43S]
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Latvia is situated in northern Europe, on the eastern shore of the
Baltic Sea. The Latvians belong to the Baltic branch of the Indo-
European family; they are distinct from both Slavs and Teutons.
Their geographical position on the borderlands of Western civiliza-
tion and their cultural associations resulted in their close ties with
the Western World. The conquest of the Latvian territories by the
Russian Empire in the 18th century did not change this Western
orientation of the Latvians. Under a foreign domination, they pre-
served fully their national spirit, their traditions, and their language.
This national self-consciousness of the Latvian people acquired a
particularly dynamic character in the lOtli century. This was due
to the rapid spread of education and the growth of the middle class
and a class of intellectuals. The Latvian press, civic and political
organizations, cultural and economic associations became the real cen-
ters of a powerful nationalist movement.
The revolution of 1905 had a unifying and galvanizing effect on
the Latvian people — for the first time a demand for a Latvian state
was publicly made by the All-Latvian Conference of Rural Com-
munity Representatives on November 10, 1905. When by 1907 the
revolutionary movement in Latvia had collapsed, thousands had fled
to the United States, Canada, and Brazil, going into exile, thus broad-
ening their political background and forging new weapons for the
renewed struggle which was inevitable. One of the results of the
insurrection of 1905 was the granting to the Latvians the right to
have limited representation in the Imperial Russian Duma. The two
2 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
Latvian deputies to the Russian Duma in 1912-17, Janis Zalitis and
Janis Goldnianis (the latter now residing in the United States) had
a profound influence on the history of Latvian liberation in its incip-
ient stages, in spite of the fact that they, notwithstanding their rather
moderate progi-am, failed to achieve autonomy for Latvia at that
time.
When the German Army invaded Latvia in 1915, over 400,000
Latvians abandoned their homes before the German advance to be-
come refugees in Russia. Tlie Latvian plea to permit the organiza-
tion of Latvian voluntary rifle regiments under Latvian officers, hav-
ing their own colors, the red-white-red flag of Latvia, and made up
wholly of Latvians, was granted. The Latvian Rifles held the Riga
front against strong German forces for 2 years and until the Russian
revolution of 1917. From a contingent of 180,000 men the Latvian
Rifles lost some 32,000 — a heavy toll for a small nation like the Lat-
vian. But the Latvians were willing to pay this price for their long-
cherished freedom. A conference of 128 Latvian delegates elected
on August 30, 1915, in St. Petei-sburg the Latvian Central Refugees
Relief Committee, regarded by all Latvians some^yhat as a National
Assembly, which worked in closest collaboration with Goldmanis and
Zalitis, the Latvian representatives in the Duma.
The Russian Democratic Provisional Government, established after
the revolution in the spring of 1917, granted the Latvians territorial
self-government on July 5, 1917. The Latvians had anticipated this
move by electing provincial councils for Vidz?me (Livonia), Kur-
zeme (Courland) and Latgallia. These Latvian representative or-
ganizations in close cooperation with the Central Refugee Organiza-
tion paved the way to the organization of an overall group that was
authorized to be the supreme representative of the Latvian nation and
of the Latvian lands. This First Latvian National Assembly met in
Valka on November 17, 1917 and was opened by J. Goldinanis. The
Assembly proclaimed itself the Latvian Provisional National Coun-
cil and Avas entrusted with the convocation of a Latvian Constituent
Assembly. The Latviaii Provisional National Council issued on No-
vember 19, 1917, a Declaration to Foreign Countries and Peoples in
which it asserted the claim for Latvian independence based on the
principle of self-determination proclaimed by "Woodrow Wilson, the
President of the United States. This declaration was the initial step
that bridged the transition from autonomy to independoiice. A Su-
preme Board was elected to serve as the Executive of the Council.
Voldemars Zamuels, a lawyer and leader of the Latvian Constitutional
Democratic Party, served as President.
The Latvians fully realized that their independence was Jeopar-
dized by the Connnunist revolution of November 1917. The National
Council therefore announced I^itvia's separation from Ikilshevik Rus-
sia and this act of secession was conuuunicated by Deputy J. Gold-
manis to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly on January 5, 1918,
several hours before its dissolution by the liolsheviks.
The Latvian National Council was recognized as the Government of
Latvia by the British Government on November 11, 1918. _ Seven
days later (November 18) the fii-st Latvian provisional Parliament,
the National Council, at its inaugural meeting proclaimed the inde-
pendence of Latvia. This new Parliament or National Council was
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 3
established on a coalition basis, and all national minorities of Latvia —
Germans, Jews, Poles, and Russians — were represented. The politi-
cal program of the National Council provided that, x)ending the con-
vocation of the Constituent Assembly, legislative power was vested in
the council, to which the provisional Government was responsible.
Provision was made for a republican form of government based on
democratic principles. The German Republic, on November 2G, 1918,
recogniz3d the Latvian National Council as the repository of the state
power of Latvia and the provisional Government as its executive body.
On December 5, 1918, Soviet troops invaded Latvian territory.
They captured Riga on January 3, 1919. A Latvian Soviet Govern-
ment was set up and it was recognized on December 22, 1918, by the
Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia. This first Soviet
occupation of Latvia was an open breach of the declaration of the right
of self-determination for all peoples, a right which was solemnly pro-
claimed by Tjenin on November 15, 1917. The Constitution of the
Latvian Soviet Republic, as approved by the Congress of the So-
viets on January 13, 1919, provided for the adoption of the Consti-
tution of the R. S. F. S. R. A series of nationalization decrees
were passed, including the nationalization of land and of banks.
Huge taxes were imposed. Capital punishment and confiscation of
property became the usual penalty, even for minor offenses. Revolu-
tionary tribunals were set up, and during the 5' months of Soviet
domination in Latvia (January 3-May 22, 1919, according to the
Communists' own records, at least 3,632 persons were executed by fir-
ing squads. If Ave compare the mass executions of 1919 in Latvia
with those of tlie next Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940-41 it be-
comes obvious that nothing really changes in the Soviet strategy of
terror. The first occupation of Latvia by the Red army was, however,
of short duration. On May 22, 1919, Riga was liberated by joint
action of the Latvian Army with German militia (landeswehr) and
other German units.
German attempts to overthrow the Ulmanis government and to set
up a mixed German-Latvian government headed by Pastor Niedra
and to defeat the Latvian-Estonian allied army were thwarted after
their defeat in the decisive battle near Cesis ("Wenden), June 22, 1919.
The German militia was disbanded and the Ulmanis government re-
turned to Riga July 8. The Latvian Army repelled, with the assistance
of the Allied Navy, the forces of the adventurer Bermandt, another
German intervention. On February 1, 1920, an armistice was signed
between the R. S. F. S. R. and Latvia and on August 11, 1920, the
final peace treaty, negotiated in Moscow, was conducted in Riga. The
Latvian Army which had been created from a handful of enthusiasts
in 1918 had liberated Latvian territory possessing 1.6 million in-
habitants. During World War I, Latvia lost about a million people.
During the years from 1919-27, 236,000 refugees returned; still the
total loss was about 700,000 or almost 27 percent of the prewar popula-
tion. The freedom of the new Republic was indeed bought at a
heavy price.
The legal and interjiational significance for Latvia of signing peace
with the U. S. S._ R. and obtaining de jure recognition was very ap-
preciable. In this treaty, the Soviet Union recognized unreservedly
the independence and sovereignty of the Latvian Republic, volun-
H. Kept. 2684, 83-2, pt. 1 2
4 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AXD OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
tarlly nnd forever renouncing all sovereirrn rifihts over the Latvian
jDeopie and territory. Tlie unprovoked Soviet afffiression in 1940
a^rainst Latvia and the illeixal occupation of its territory as well as
its sovietization was therefore a clear-cut violation of signed agree-
ments which ilhistrates the Communist contempt for the pledged word
of the U. S. S. 11.
On January 26, 1921, Latvia was recognized de Jure by the Su-
preme Council of Allied Powers acting on behalf of the great powers
of Europe. By this act of full recognition all the states represented
on the Supreme Council (Belgium, the British Empire, France, Italy,
and Japan) finally recognized Latvia as an independent state. De
jure recognition by the greater part of the Latin American Republics
ensued. After Latvia had been admitted to the League of >sations
on September 22, 1921, recognition by other nations followed. The
United States extended its de jure recognition to Latvia on July 28,
1922. Tims, Latvia had received full international recognition as
an independent and sovereign state by admission into the family of
sovereign nations with all rights devolving upon her under inter-
national law.
INDKPEXDEXT LATVIA
The election of the Constituent Assembly on April 17-18, 1920, re-
sulted in a representative body composed of persons from all walks
of life and all ethnic groups. Meeting on May 1, 1920, it adopted
a provisional constitution and agrarian reform. Vast landed estates
were broken up pursuant to the Latvian agrarian reform and Latvia
became in a very real sense, "a country of small and medium farmers",
having 275,098 farms according to the 1935 census.
The Latvian Constitution, passed on February 15, 1922, by the first
regularly elected Latvian parliament, was the product of 2 years of
study by the Constituent Assembly and centuries of national aspira-
tions and was of a progressive, democratic type.
Economic development
The establishment of an independent state confronted Latvians with
the task of building a self-sustaming national economy. The farmer —
the representative Latvian — found his purchasing power underwrit-
ten by price guaranties, subsidies, and cheap credit; wliile his con-
sumer i)otential and his standard of living were raised by every en-
couragement to increase and improve his yields. AVith the financial
situation firm, employment at a maximum, foreign trade and shipping
expanding, prices and real income both rising, Latvia had good rea-
son to consider herself a socially and economically stable nation, fully
able to contribute her share to the European connnunity.
Tyatvian industries operating mostly Avith local raw material mainly
for home consum])tion were on the increase and Latvians luul also
engaged extensively in the development of power, a necessary con-
comitant for any expanding economy.
Trade, both domestic and foreign, developed steadily. The for-
eign trade, as shown by statistics for 1939, was oriented almost en-
tirely toward the West. Latvian export also showed substantial
progress — this aiijdied to its merchant fleet, railroads, and motor
transportation alike. The Latvian road system also advanced
markedly.
COMRIUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 5
Social and cultural life
Latvians constituted 75.5 percent of Latvia's total population of
1,941,421 (census of 1935). The national minorities were Russians,
Germans, Jews, Poles, Lithuanians, and Estonians. Latvia was pre-
dominantly a Lutheran country. About 55.1 percent of the popula-
tion belon'ced to this denomination and 24.4 percent to the Roman
Catholic Church; the Greek Orthodox made up 8.9 percent and the
Old Believers, a dissident Russian Orthodox group, 5.5 percent of
the total population. The church was separated from the state. Full
religious freedom was granted throughout the land. Religious in-
struction was carried on in schools under special conditions deter-
mined by the size of the various denominations represented. Churches
were, moreover, paid subsidies from the state treasury.
Elementary education was free and compulsory. So great was the
concern of the Government for the education of its citizens that one-
eighth of the national budget was devoted entirely to education. At
the university level there were 3 major institutions with a total at-
tendance numbering almost 7,300 with a faculty of 575. The Uni-
versity of Latvia became a recognized center of study and research,
is^early 10,000 students were graduated from it during the 2 decades
of independence. A number of museums, libraries, and other cultural
institutions enriched the life of the nation.
Foreign policij
The fundamental principle of Latvian foreign policy was strict
neutrality within the collective security framework of the Le<ngue of
Nations on whose Council she held a seat prior to the Soviet occupa-
tion. From the very moment she joined the League of Nations on
September 22, 1921, Latvia played a positive role in the broader
schemes for international efforts to maintain world peace, European
security, and Baltic cooperation.
In the Peace Treaty of Riga (August 11, 1920), it will be recalled,
the Soviet Union had recognized the independence and sovereignty of
Latvia, and forever renounced all sovereign rights over the Latvian
people and territory. In addition, Latvia signed on February 5, 1932,
a treaty of nonaggression with the Soviet Union. Article I of this
treaty provided :
Each of the high contracting parties undertakes to refrain from any act of
aggression directed against the other and also from any acts of violence directed
against the territorial integrity and inviolability or the political independence
of the other contracting party, regardless of whether such aggression or such acts
are committed separately or together with other powers, with or without a
declaration of war.
Tlie above treaty was on April 4, 1934, extended until December 31,
1945.
The Baltic policy of the U. S. S. R., however, while outwardly
friendly, tended toward isolating the Baltic States one from another,
from their neighbors, and from the League of Nations. The Com-
munist Party which continued the infiltration of the Baltic Republics,
served as the vanguard for the Soviet imperialistic policy of expansion
to the shores of the Baltic Sea.
Latvia's fate was sealed when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany
delimited their spheres of influence in Eastern Europe by signing
secret protocols to their nonaggression pact of August 23, 1939,
6 COMMUNIST TAKEO^'ER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
■wherein Hitler sanctioned Latvia's occupation along with Estonia's
and Lithuania's whenever the U. S. S. R. considered the time oppor-
tune. With British or French assistance unthinkable, with Estonia's
sovereipity already violated, and with IG divisions of the Red army
on her border, Latvia was forced to sign with the Soviet Union a
mutual-assistance pact on October 8, 1940. The U. S. S. R. gained
control of the Gulf of Riga by obtaining bases and airfields, and also
by the right to set up coast artillery between Ventspils and Pitrags,
two strategically important points on the Baltic coast. Thirty thou-
sand Soviet troops were to be garrisoned on Latvian soil for the dura-
tion of the war.
Public opinion was shocked by the conclusion of the pact. It was
expected that a complete occupation would follow in due course. The
situation became particularly tense after the Finnish surrender on
Marcli 12, 1940. The Soviet Legation in Riga flooded the country
with Soviet propaganda materials, incessantly threatening to take
appropriate action whenever the Latvian Government tried to regu-
late its distribution and to prohibit items which contained subversive
matter advocating violent overthrow of the Latvian Government.
Simultaneously, Latvia was invaded by spies and enemy agents under
cover of seemingly innocent missions, posing as Soviet "technicians"'
to supervise construction work for the needs of the Soviet garrisons, or
persons who were simply flown into Latvian territory by air to the
Soviet-occupied airports and taken by cara to the Soviet Legation in
Riga, the center of ooviet conspiracy against independent Latvia.
Despite Molotov's professions on March 29, 1940, that Latvia need
not fear for its independence, the Latvian Government, especially
after the Finnish surrender, had no illusions about the future develop-
ment of Soviet policy. On May 17, 1940, a secret decision was reached
by the Latvian Government in order to provide for the political and
constitutional continuity of the country. In event of emergency, the
powers of the Government were to be conferred on Karl is Zarins,
Latvian Minister in London, while Alfred Bilmanis. Latvian Minister
to "Washington, was designated as his substitute. The recognition of
these special emergency powers by the United States Government as
well as by the Holy See, Spain, and other countries, made it possible
for Latvia to continue to be represented internationally by diplomats
and consular agents. By virtue of these emergency powers Minister
Zarins has the right to appoint, to remove, and to transfer such repre-
sentatives. He also has full authority to handle all Latvian state
funds, as well as movable and immovable property at the disposal of
Latvian diplomatic and consular missions; to give the missions bind-
ing orders ; and to defend the interest of Latvia. In conformance with
these emergency powers. Minister Zarins appointed Jules Feldmans,
former Latvian Minister to Switzerland and permanent delegate to
the League of Nations, Charge d'Allaires in the United States, to suc-
ceed the deceased Dr. Alfred Bilmanis. This appointment was ac-
cepted by the United States on June 28, 1949. After the death of
Minister Feldmans, Minister Zarins appointed Prof. Arnolds Spekke,
former Latvian Minister to Italy, Bidgaria, Greece, and Albania, as
his successor. On March 5, 1954, Professor Spekke was accepted by
the United States Government as Latvian Charge d'Ail'aires. Sim-
ilarly acting consuls were named in Canada and Australia and were
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 7
accepted by the respective governments. Negotiations with the Span-
ish Government resulted in the appointment by Minister Zarins on
February 20, 1953, of Roberts Kampus, counselor of the Latvian Lega-
tion in London, as diplomatic representative in charge of protection
of Latvian interests in Spain. Thus, there exists in the free world an
official representative of the last legitimate Government of the Re-
public of Latvia, as well as a number of diplomatic and consular
representatives, who all recognize the state emergency powers which
had been conferred upon Minister Zarins by the legal Latvian Gov-
ernment. . _ ^ . ,
On June 16, 1940, the day after the Red army occupied Lithuania,
the Latvian Minister to Moscow, Col. Fricis Kocins, was handed a
Soviet ultimatum, requiring an answer within 6 hours. Under threat
of air bombardment, Latvia was told to grant free passage to Red
troops in unlimited numbers and to form a pro-Soviet government.
]\Iolotov, on the occasion of the delivery of the ultimatum, is reported
to have remarked cynically that "whether or not the ultimatum would
be accej^ted, Red army troops would be ordered to cross the Latvian
border." At the same time hundreds of tanks, with strong artillery
and mechanized infantry support, were assembled on Soviet territory,
just over the Latvian frontier. Latvia was completely isolated since
Lithuania had already been overrun by the Red army and Estonia
had been served with an identical ultimatum. Although the Latvian
Government was fully aware of the fact that acceptance of the Soviet
demands meant military occupation of Latvia, it had no other choice
but to bow to Soviet brute force. The Latvian Government offered
its resignation, but the President of the Republic asked the Cabinet
members to remain in their posts until the formation of a new govern-
ment. Thus the Latvian Govermnent, acting under duress and coer-
cion, and to avoid bloodshed, submitted to the totally unfounded de-
mands of the LT. S. S. R., whose army occupied Latvia on June 17,
1940, and immediately cut it oft' from the free world — the Iron Curtain
had been lowered on independent Latvia.
ABSORPTION OF LATVIA INTO THE S0\T:ET UNION
On June 17, 1940, Molotov informed the German Ambassador to
ISIoscow that a special emissary of the Soviet Government had been
dispatched to Latvia in order to negotiate the formation of a new
Latvian Government. This emissary was A. Vishinsky, Deputy
Chairman of the Council of the People's Commissars and Deputy
Foreign Commissar of the U. S. S. R., who brought with him a list
of the new members of the Soviet puppet Latvian Government.
On June 20 Vishinsky presented the list of new Cabinet members
to President Ulmanis, and told the President that he could not reject
any of them and also that he could make no changes as Moscow had
already approved all the names of the ministers for the new Cabinet.
Along with Prof. Augusts Kirchensteins, president of the Latvian-
Soviet Friendship Association, there were only two other Commu-
nists; all the rest were "fellow travelers" used by the Kremlin as
front men to create the illusion that the Latvian people themselves
had freely chosen to exchange liberty and prosperity for peonage in
the slave state of the Soviet Union. On June 20, 1940, the Latvian
National Government ceased to exist and the power was officially
S COMlVrUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
lianded over to the Kirchensteins rejiime, the obedient tools of Vishin-
sky and the Kremlin. President Ulmanis remained at his post until
the meeting on June 21, 1940, of the People's Diet, chosen in fake
elections. The actual Government passed into the hands of Vishinsky
■who worked through the Soviet Legation in Riga. The "Announce-
ment of the Secretariat of the President of the Republic" dated June
20, 1940, and published in the official gazette, VaJdihas Vcstnesis,
crypticly stated that a new Cabinet of Ministers had been formed.
It did not bear the signature of the President, nor of Chancellor
Minister Rudzitis, or any other Government official. Tlie text of the
communique, as well as its format, showed failure to conform to con-
stitutional procedures.
Contrary to Soviet expectations, after the entrance of the Red army
into Latvia no uprising took place and no "Soviets" were proclaimed
and the Latvians, except for a very small number of alien fellow
travelers and a few Communists, were gi'im and taciturn. The Lat-
vian Communist Party, whose leaders, emerging from the under-
ground, had their ranks supplemented by experts from the Soviet
Union, presided by Janis Kalnberzins, First Secretary- of the Com-
munist Party of Latvia, knew that every move it made would have
the support of Red tanks and bayonets. As Kirchensteins, the head
of the Latvian puppet government, said in his speech of July 6, 1940,
only the "friendly support received from Latvia's mighty neighbor,
the Soviet Union, and from the Red army," enabled the new regime
to remain in power and to stage the elections to the People's Diet.
The Kirchensteins government in a declaration explicitly promised
preservation of Latvian independence. This was in line with the
Kremlin's general policy of creating the impression that the L^. S. S. Rj
was not trying to run Latvia's ali'airs. In an address from the bal-
cony of the Soviet Legation in Riga, on June 21, Vishinsky publicly
rebuked overzcalous Communist demonstrators who requested incor-
X)oration of Latvia into the U. S. S. R. He even finished his speech
with a greeting in the Latvian language: "Long live free Latvia!
Long live the unbreakable friendship between free Latvia and the
Soviet Union !" The government promised to maintain Latvian inde-
pendence and stressed its intention of strengthening state sovereignty
and of retaining the Latvian Constitution. In contrast to all these
propaganda declarations the Government actually issued many de-
crees destroying the old public order and preparing Latvia's sovietiza-
tion and its annexation by the U. S. S. R. An amnesty law for all
crimes directed against the state, including high treason, was passed,
in tlagraiit contravention of article 81 of the Latvian Constitution
which ex]ilicitly forbade the Cabinet such legislation.
After the criminals had been released and many of them assigned
high posts in the administration ^e. g., the chiefs of the Liepaja and
Daugavpils police had been convicted thieves), the Latvian i)opula-
tion was compelled to surrender all arms, rendering it easy prey for
the Soviet secret police. The Latvian police force was disbanded,
and a new "auxiliary police force" consisting of pereons belonging
to the "working classes took its place. After all arms had been sur-
rendered to the Government under threat of imprisonment, the
50,000-man home guard organization, considered an auxiliary to the
regular army in case of mobilization, was dissolved. Disruption, so-
viet izat ion, and annihilation of the I^^itvian Regular Army (some
COMIVIUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 9
20,000 men) was accomplislied by the following moves: Firsts a new
commander in chief was appointed by Vishinsky on June 20, 1940, to-
gether with the new Cabinet. Second^ a number of officers were dis-
missed and their places taken by Soviet officers from the U. S. S. R.
in order to secure infiltration of Russians into the Latvian Army.
Third, the Latvian armed forces got a new name— the "People's
Army," to make the Latvians more easily forget that it had been
their national army. Fourth, to accelerate infiltration of Soviet
agents into the army and to promote disintegration, political com-
missars (politruki) were appointed. A'/iSA, soldiers' committees were
organized (o "protect the interest of the soldiers, to regulate their life
and to further discipline," as well as to assist the dissemination of
the propaganda of the new regime (Pravda, July 1, 1940). Sixth,
shortly after Latvia's incorporation into the U. S. S. R., the "People's
Army" was made part of the Soviet Army, having been integrated
into the subdivision of the Baltic Military District, and the Latvian
soldiers were forced to take an oath of allegiance to the U. S. S. R.
Thus the army of independent Latvia ceased to exist. The stage thus
being set during this first period of sovietization, the Kremlin ordered
elections for a new Latvian Diet, with the sole aim of bringing into
power a small ruling trroup — the Moscow-educated Communists who,
above all else, owed allegiance to the U. S. S. R. and to its Communist
Party, the vanguard of the world revolution, thriving on the skillfully
disguised violent overthrow of governments of peaceful democratic
countries throughout the world. The unfortunate Latvians and the
Baits in general were the first to fall into the trap which was later
to be prepared for other peoples of Central and Western Europe.
When Prime Minister Kirchensteins announced on July 6, 1940,
the forthcoming elections to the new Diet, he told the Latvian people
that "the Red army is assisting .us in the defense of our freedom and
the preservation of our state" and added that "once again I salute
the freedom and independence of the Latvian Republic. We are and
will remain free, for we believe in the promises of Stalin, the highest
authority of the Soviet Union." All fears of a forthcoming annexa-
tion of Latvia by the U. S. S. R. were officially termed unfounded
rumors spread by the "enemies of the people" and "anti-Soviet pro-
vocateurs." The election law of July 4, 1940, was an illegal and un-
constitutiorial act, because article 81 of the Latvian Constitution de-
nied the Cabinet the right to change the Diet elections law. Although
this law ostensibly provided for equal, direct, secret, and universal
suffrage with proportional ref)resentation, it actually contained pro-
visions which assured the new Government control over the elections,
discarding all safeguards of the 1922 election law aimed at the pre-
vention of all Government influence in the elections. Although the
new election law expressly provided that any group of 100 Latvian
citizens might submit a list of candidates to the Saeima, the Commu-
nist puppet government in Latvia was fully aware that under the
Kremlin's orders only a Communist-sponsored list would be admitted.
The illegally rejected Democratic Bloc's united election ticket of
non-Communists represented a coalition of all important Latvian
political parties (the Farmers' Union, Democratic Center, Small-
holders, Christian Democrats, and other smaller groups), except for
the Social Democrats who had decided to side with the Communists.
The list representing the will of the majority of the Latvian people
10 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
was suppressed and the one-ticket elections took place on July 14-15
under conditions characteristically Comnninist. Not only were the
voters thus forced to <j:o to the polls to vote in the one-ticket elections,
but they were also denied the right to express their opposition when
at the polls. The use of booths at the polling places was discouraged
and open threats were made against such voters who tried to use the
booths. Judge Atis Grantskalns witnessed himself such an incident
during the elections and testified before the committee as follows:
In 1941 in July, I went to tho place where the hallots were cast, the voting
booth. At that time I saw a woman who came into that voting place. There
was only one list of candidates. No more were allowed. If somebody wanted
to examine that list he could no in the corner behind the dresser. The wumau
made use of this rifiht and when she came out she went to the ballot box with
the list of candidates folded in her hand and tried to put that list of candidates
in that ballot box. Right at that time two of the Hed guards who stood by that
ballot box slapped her hand. That list was taken out of her hand by tlie two
Red guards. The election officials went together and had a look at that list
of candidates and that woman was immediately arrested and taken away and
never returned to her community.
This violation of the secret ballot was an attempt to reduce the
number of mutilated and spoiled ballots which a closed booth would
have encouraged. Another ingenious device for this i)urpose was
article 27 of the Communist election law which provided that the
voter fold the ballot fourfold and personally put it in the ballot box,
but not until a member of the election connnittee had stami)ed it so
that the election official could later check each person's ballot.
Counting ballots produced an occasion for another fraud : There
was no i:>i^iblic count but only a secret one in the presence of Com-
munist agents who were able to tamper with the tabulations. Figures
were given which were several times higher than the number of votes
actually cast. It was no wonder that the residt of the "election" was
a victory for the Communist Bloc. Of a total of 1,181,323 votes cast,
it obtained 1,155,807, or 97.8 percent. The results of the elections
were officially announced by the official Soviet News Agency Tass
12 hours in advance of the closing of the polls. Judge Veruers
Yitins testified to this fact as follows:
I heard about it at 12 o'clock at noon, the last day of the elections. The
results of the elections from all the Baltic States. They had still about 12
hours to vote, but the results had been published from Moscow, from Tass.
That means the Soviet Telegraph Agency. On the noon of the last election day,
many hours before the election was closed. The percentage was very high,
about 09.
The puppet parliament held its first session on July 21, 1940,
against a Ibackgi'ound of Red Hags and large juctures of Stalin and
Lenin. Most of the 100 participating representatives had never been
active politically and were virtually unknown to the people of the
country. Prior to the meeting of the Saeima, on July 19, Karlis
Dlmanis was deposed from the Presidency of the Kepublic and at
the same time street demonstrations, organized by the Soviet Legation
and the Latvian Conununist Party, displayed large posters, reading,
''We demand establishment of Soviet Latvia as the 14th republic of
the Soviet Union." ^'ishinsky, who had returned to l\iga, speaking
from the same balcony of the Soviet Legation from which he had
exclaimed "Long live free Latvia," now expressed the hope that the
Diet would establish a new happy life under the Red flag.
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 11
Keferring to a spoecli 2Ir. Vishinsky made, ^Minister Berzinsli
testified :
Vishinsky told to all the world that the Latvian people were willing to go into
the Soviet Union. I can answer here that it is lies, that the nation was never
willing to go freely into the Soviet Union as one subjugated people. The Latvian
people liave fought for liberation over 100 years. Our jreedoni was achieved with
blood in wars. Mr. Vishinsky lies. We can qualify Vishinsky as the greatest
murderer of the Latvian nation. Vishinsky is the greatest murderer in the world,
one of the murderers which has gone to this time unpunished.
Properly, indoctrinated, the People's Diet proclaimed the "Latvian
Soviet Kepublic'' and "reipiested" tne Supreme Soviet of the U. S. S. li.
to admit Soviet Latvia as a constituent republic of the Union. A
number of bills for the sovietization and nationalization of most of
Latvia's national wealth, all elaborated by the Kremlin, were also
hurried before the Saeima and adopted by it unanimously in its initial
meeting of 71/2 hours.
Premier Kirchensteins, on July 25, 1940, sent telegrams to Latvian
diplomats abroad, ordering them to return home. Except for Min-
isters in Estonia and Lithuania, countries equally occupied by and
incorporated into the U. S. S. II., all other Latvian diplomatic repre-
sentatives ignored the orders of the illegal government to return home
and remained at their posts, continuing to represent the legitimate
Latvian Govermnent and refusing to recognize the new Conimunist
regime or the ensuing incorporation of Latvia into the U. S. S. R. _
The Government of the United States did not overlook the Soviet
breach of solemn treaties and of elementary rules of international law
and did not hesitate to take the necessary steps to implement its policy
of nonrecognition. As early as July 13, 1U10,_ President Roosevelt
ordered the "freezing" of the assets of Latvia in the United States
so that they slioidd not fall into the hands of the Latvian puppet gov-
ernment. On July 23 the Government of the United States, m a care-
fully worded declaration which was drafted by President Roosevelt's
own hand, strongly condemned the Soviet aggression in the Baltic
States as "devious processes"' and "predatory activities." By this
statement the United States assumed a strict nonrecognition policy
toward the illegal annexation of the Baltic Republics by the U. S. S. R.
and has not departed from it since. The American Government im-
plemented this declaration by permitting diplomatic and consular
representatives of the Baltic Republics to continue their activities in
the United States.
The final destruction of Latvian national independence by the
U. S. S. R. was staged on August 5, 1940, in Moscow. There the
Soviet Latvian parliamentary delegation, consisting of 20 Latvian
Communists and pretending to speak in the name of the Latvian
people, asked the 7th session of the Supreme Soviet of the U. S. S. R.
to admit Soviet Latvia into the U. S. S. R. as a constituent republic.
On that memorable day, when Latvia was finally subjugated by the
ruthless Soviet power and absorbed into its empire, a special Soviet
law made Latvia the 15th Soviet Republic, preceded by Lithuania
and followed by Estonia.
A Soviet constitution, the draft of which was brought from Moscow,
was "mianimously" adopted by the People's Diet which simultaneously
declared itself the temporary Supreme Soviet of the Latvian S. S. R.,
H. Kept. 2684, 83-2, pt. 1 3
12 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AXD OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
pending elections. Tlie Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
Latvian S. S. 11. was appointed the same day and was lieaded by
Ivirchensteins, the old Conununist Vilis Lacis becoming chairman of
the Council of People's Commissars. The proletarian dictatorship
proclaimed m article 2 of the new constitution was ofFicially estab-
lished. Furtlier sovietization of the subjugated country could now
proceed by progressive stages, carefully devised by the Kremlin.
L.VTVIA TNDER SOVIET RUSSIAN DOMINATION
A. Taking over of the information media
A decree of September 30, 1940,- established a special section in the
Commissariat of Communications to have exclusive monopoly over
the distribution of newspapers and periodicals. The ollicial gazette
could announce on October 1, 1940, that all non-Communist news
agencies were closed. At the same time, the Latvian foreign corre-
sjjondents were instructed that in the future, the sole source of foreign
information was to be the Soviet News Agency Tass. All corre-
spondents of foreign papers were to leave Latvia, and all internal
communication media, including tlie cinema and the theater, came
nnder rigid government control. With press and radio presenting a
fuitliful copy of the Russian model an intense glorification of the
Soviet LTnion and of the Soviet Constitution began. The theater,
the opera, and motion pictures came under the same pattern set by
Moscow's propaganda agencies.
Three lists of books which had to be removed from bookshops and
libraries were issued between Xovember 1940 and March 1041 and
these embraced some 4,000 volumes, chiefly works dealing with Latvian
history, political parties, and religion.
Everything that reflected a "bourgeois viewpoint," which, in effect,
meant any non-Communist literature or work of art, was condemned.
At the present moment, not only the published word, but also art
exhibitions, movies, theater, opera, and concerts, even circus perform-
ances, are subject to political control. The nationalized theaters,
movies, and opera houses are either subordinated directly to the Min-
istry of Education, or controlled by the city executive connnittees.
Lender Soviet rule in Latvia neither literature nor art, neither music
nor the theater, nor science are permitted to have any other tasks
or aims tlian the influence, guidance, and control of the nation's
political outlook in accordance with the aims of the onniipotent Com-
munist Party. "Writers, artists, musicians, actors, and scientists are
forced to follow the Communist line and are j^ressed into the service
of Soviet propaganda. Their livelihood is made dependent on their
suitability and willingness to serve as propagandists of Soviet
ideology.
Free expression of opinion is a mafter of complete impossibility in
Soviet Latvia. In Latvia, subjugated by the Soviet Union, the entire
press is nothing but an instrument for the political indoctrination
of the masses. A. Vishinsky, the Soviet oflicial who manipulated
Latvia's sovietization, has bluntly admitted that "in our state, natu-
rally there is and can be no i)lace for freedom of speech, press, and
so on, for the foes of socialism."
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 13
B. Reduction in standard of living
One of the most difficult tasks confronting the Soviet conquerors
after Latvia's incorporation into the Soviet Union was the urgent
necessity to reduce the standard of living of Latvia to that of the
U. S. S. R. , ^
After a series of spectacular wage increases, the Government an-
nounced that prices had been considerably increased. The Soviet
scheme was to raise the wages of the Latvian workers nominally to
the level of the Soviet Union, while fixing the prices considerably
lower than they were in the U. S. S. R. Then prices were to be raised
slowly, the currency was to be altered and the wages increased again
in order to create an illusion of gain, and to make it difficult for the
individual to realize exactly where he stood. On November 23, new
steps with regard to this policy were taken which affected the cur-
rency, prices, and wages. The newspapers of November 24 and No-
vember 25 published an announcement of the Latvian People's Com-
missar of Finance that the Russian ruble would replace the lat as of
November 25, and that the exchange rate would be 1 lat for 1 ruble.
This change of currency decreased the purchasing power of the lat
approximately 10 times. On November 24, 1940, new price lists were
issued, indicating the prices in rubles, and disclosing a substantial
increase in the cost of living. As of November 25, the Latvians had
to pay up to 200 percent more for food than on the previous day, for
clothing 110 to 400 percent more, and most luxury items were almost
entirely out of reach. Thus, a wristwatch, which cost about 50 to 60
lats prior to the Russian occupation, could now be purchased at the
price of about 1,200 rubles. The only item that had remained more or
less on the preoccupation level was rent, but even this was only on the
surface since the living space to be normally occupied was fixed, and
for every square foot in excess of this allotted space a threefold rent
was now charged.
The same day changes with regard to wages were announced. A
Communist decree stipulated that in order to further improve the
material well-being of the workers, wages would be "increased" to the
level of the Leningrad workers' pay. The earnings of Government
employees, engineers, technicians, teachers, and other categories were
established at the level of the same professions in the rest of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
All these wage and price increases were rather confusing to the
average Latvian. Nevertheless, it did not take him long to discover
that in spite of all the promises of economic betterment the standards
of life had actually been greatly lowered. All in all, the average wage
increase between June and November 1940 was about 150 percent,
while price increases amounted to 200 percent.
C. Sovietization of industry^ trade, and transport
One of the major declarations of the People's Diet of July 22, 1940,
was that concerning the "nationalization of banks and big enterprises."
All large commercial, industrial, and transportation enterprises, as
well as "banks with all their valuables," were declared "property of
the people, 1. e., property of the state." The Sovietization started
immediately. Special committees on reorganization of industry and
trade were created at the Ministry of Finance. These committees
appointed commissars to supervise the work of every large under-
taking.
14 COiMJMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
After tlie "larj^e" commprcial onterprisos had been taken over by
the regime, the socialization of movie theaters, hotels, private hos-
])itals, polyclinics, ])harniacies and pharmaceutical warehouses fol-
lowed on October 29, 1940, and from November 29, 1940, the whole
field of entertainment, including circuses, was subject to expropria-
tion. Later, in February 1941, all hardware stores and lar<;e numbers
of other stores and most restaurants were made "property of the
people"' by decree of the Communist masters of Latvia. All this later
socializiition of small enteri)ri.ses was carried out in spite of article 8
of the '"Constitution'' of the Latvian S. S. R. permitting ''small private
industrial and tradinj^ enterprises" as well as the "small ])rivate
economy of individual peasants, artisans, and handicraftsmen." The
last of the decrees which brougrht to a close expropriation without
any compensation was passed in May 1941. It affected 2.012 business
enterprises "with a turnover of over 50,000 rubles." This amount
was a very small sum in the days after the Latvian currency had
iin(ler<2,()ne a considerable devaluation.
The entire Latvian transport system, vital for the proper function-
in<T: of trade, industry, and agriculture, was socialized and thereupon
sei)arated from local administration. The chief branches of trans-
portation, railroads, motor transportation, and shippinfj; were expro-
priated without any com])ensation. The Latvian railroads, wliich
had belonoed to the state in indej^endent Latvia, were incor]:)orated
into the Soviet railroad system and subordinated directly to the Fed-
eral People's Commissariat of Transportation in Moscow, whose
director in Latvia, A. Yorobiov, was a Russian.
The laroer motor transport com]ianips were expropriated toirether
with buses, <iarao;es and private automobiles of former owners of so-
cialized industries, commercial establishments, houses, and ships.
Nationalization of the Latvian merchant marine was effected on
October 5, 1940. However, on July 27, 1940, and afjain by decree of
July HI, 1940, all Latvian ships re<2;ardless of their carjzoes were or-
dered to proceed immediately to the Soviet ports of ^Murmansk and
Vladviostok. As most captains refused to follow this order, a few
days later another radio messajj^e was dispatched to all Latvian ves-
sels at sea, followed by cable^jrams addressed to the fu-st mates of each
ship, orderinf» them to treat the captains who refused to follow the
instructions of July as nnitineers, to take charge of the vessels, and
to set a course for Soviet ports. But most vessels outside of T^atvia
escaped to foreign countries and attempts on the part of the U. S. S. K.
to recover these shi})s through foreign courts were unsuccessful in
most cases.
The nationalized shipping concerns with their entire assets came
under the direct subordination of the U. S. S. K. People's Commis-
sai'iat foT" Shi])piuL^ in Moscow and not of the Govenunent of the
Latvian S. S. 11. The nationalization of shipping was broad in scope
as it affected not only the seagoing merchant marine, but also ships
for river and coastal traflic, including wooden barges over 5 tons and
niotoi'])oats.
'Jhe foiiner owners or managers were iiiunediately upon national-
ization excluded fi'om the management of the businesses. According
to the l?olshevik theory the owner of an industrial or trade enterprise,
no mattei- how small, was a capitalist, an enemy of the working people,
and tiiereioro the proper object of persecution l)y the Connnunists.
COMRIUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 15
These owners and directors belonged to the hated class of capitalists
and therefore had to be not only deprived of their income, jjut also
systematically' dispossessed of their personal property.
Janis Zalcmanis, former vice president of the chamber of commerce
and industry in Riga, has testified about this in the following words :
The income tax was very high in 1939. We got permission to pay from onr
Income of the ships, the first and second part of the taxes, but deferred on the
fourth. They refused to allow it, and said we have to pay ours from our income
which we had none. We could not do it. They took away our furniture, silver,
and our personal property. They took our personal property away. Even then
they taxed so that we could not pay even the taxes and we were always in the
tax department, so they would have the right some time to jail us.
Outstanding taxes and other debts on the socialized businesses were
to be collected from the former owners as well as all personal debts
contracted prior to socialization. Taxes and loans had to be paid by
December 15, 1940. In case of inability to meet such "obligations"
the personal belongings, furniture, and clothing of these former
owners were sold at auction. In such a way thousands of innocent
persons were completely ruined though they had committed no ofi'ense.
In fact, their only offense was that they had managed to attain a cer-
tain amount of prosperity because of hard work and initiative in
business. Suicides were frequent, many were arrested, and almost all
of the survivors who had not been jailed were placed on the long list of
Latvians marked for deportation.
The Latvian industrial and commercial enterprises, as soon as they
had been socialized, were fitted into the economic system of the Soviet
L^nion in a way which has not changed down to the present time
(December 1954).
In September 1940 the management of Soviet Latvian industry was
subordinated to a number of People's Commissariats, which since
have become Ministries, as well as partly renamed and partly split up
into more specialized Government agencies. Essential industries, in-
cluding all metal works and machine manufacturing plants, were
made directly subject to Commissariats in Moscow. For direct ad-
ministration of the factories and plants the Commissariats appointed
"trusts," i. e., commissions headed by a director and responsible for
running the individual factories. Usually former workers, seldom
qualified for their new responsibilities, were appointed. Many of the
top technical personnel of the factories, accused of being "enemies
of the state," were dismissed and replaced by less experienced workers.
Soviet principles were introduced in the management of the socialized
business so that each establishment constituted an independent eco-
nomic unit and these units were urged to compete with one another in
order to surpass the tasks assigned in a special plan which had to fit
into the general "Five- Year Plans" of the U. S. S. R. The trusts of
each unit were assigned Government capital with which profit had to
be produced with the competitive vigor of a private enterprise. Of
course, as time has shown, appeals to idealism coupled with threats of
punishment were not to become an effective substitute for private
initiative. At the ])resent moment the chief incentives besides higher
wages for the so-called stakhanovites are various honorary distinctions
for individual enterprises, such as titles of "Hero of the Soviet Union"
and banners or letters praising distinctive performance and services.
As to trade, it was divided into two basic groups — state trade, con-
centrated mostly in urban areas, and cooperative trade, extending
16 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AXD OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
Iirincipally into rural arep.s. State trade was placed under the Latvian
People's Commissariat for Trade (now Ministry of Trade) with
luinierous subordinate divisions in towns and cities. The trade depart-
ments, in turn, ruled over the various combined commercial enter-
prises, the so-called "torj^s," which in fact are independent economic
units havin<j their own budp^ets and planning systems. Some of them
combine socialized enterprises of every kind while others specialize
in one specific branch.
D. CoJJectivization of agriculture
Latvia has always been a typical agrarian country. Two-thirds of
the inhabitants are farmers who live from the ])roductivity of their
soil. The distinctive feature of Latvian agriculture prior to Soviet
occupation was that the Latvian farmer had always preserved his
individuality. Farms M'ere handed down from father to son for gen-
erations, thus establishing unbreakable ties between the tiller and the
soil. During the last years of Latvian independence there were 274,-
000 individual farms. Their sizes varied from 5 to 425 acres. The
majority were 50 to 90 acres and were worked by 1 family. Hired
farm labor did not exceed 15 percent of the total farm population.
Ilie nuiin agricultural products were milk, cheese, meat, eggs, flax, and
grain, produced not only in sufficient quantity for local needs but even
jiroviding a surplus. This agricultural surplus and timber were the
chief articles of Latvian export to foreign countries. In August 1040
the Communists initiated their program of "dividing the land'' which
was expropriated from all farmers who owned more than 75 acres
(30 hectares) . The expropriated land was to be used by those who had
not previously owned land. But no credits were granted for the erec-
tion of necessary farm buildings; accordingly, the new owners were
installed in the buildings of the former owners. The former land-
owners, in turn, were deprived of part of their cattle and faiining
e([uipment which were turned over to the families that were to till the
expropriated land. In the spring of 1941, the first kolkhoz or collective
farm was founded in eastern Latvia. The farmers were asked to join
it "voluntaril3\" In the early stages no one was forced into a kolkhoz,
but the Communist government announced that those who accepted
the offer would be granted large subsidies.
The largest private farms were expropriated and turned into
sovkhozes (state farms). Smaller farms still remained in the hands
of their owners, but by Government decree this land also belonged to
the state. Later, similar decrees expropriated all farming equipment
and, instead of being owners of property, the small farmers were only
])ermitted to use what tliey had once owned. Propaganda on the ad-
vantages of joining kolkhozes was intensified. Individual workers
on the land were further coerced by the imposition of high taxos which
(hov wore unable to pay. Farmers became indebted to the state and
tlicu- farms were expropriated as payment for unpaid taxes while the
collective farms (kolkhozes) were offered credits for the erection of
buildings and the purchase of cquij^ment.
In 1940, the Latvian Communist Party received large delegations of
"various specialists" from the Soviet Union who insisted on a final
liquidation of the former landowning class. They arrested some
70,000 farmers and their families and deported them to Siberia. This
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 17
extreme measure broke the resistance of the farmer completely and by
the end of 1949 the process of collectivization was completed. There
were then 4,035 kolkhozes, combininfr over 90 percent of the former
individnal farms. The Vice Prime Minister of Soviet Latvia, Ostrov,
reported in Moscow that from October 1949 to March 1952, 98.4 per-
cent of all Latvian farmers were incorporated in kolkhozes.
There was an average of eight kolkhozes in each rural community.
This arrangement soon proved disadvantageous since large adminis-
trative apparatus was not adapted to the smaller kolkhozes and it was
comparatively difficult to supervise the farmers and control their ac-
tivities. Therefore the 4,035 small kolkhozes were reorganized into
1,448 large kolkhozes.
Working conditions on the kolkhozes are very bad and most of
the young people are driven to seek employment in factories where
they are paid more for less work. But the kolkhoz peasant is per-
mitted to leave the kolkhoz only in three cases: (1) If he is expelled
from the kolkhoz (in which case he is generally sent to a slave labor
camp in Siberia), (2) if he is admitted to another kolkhoz, or (3) if
he is authorized to accept other employment. In order to move to
another kolkhoz or a new place of employment, the peasant requires
a special permit from the administration. The kolkhozes afford a
made-to-order captive audience for propaganda. Kolkhoz propa-
ganda workers have two purposes : (1) To indoctrinate kolkhoz peas-
ants in the spirit of Lenin's and Stalin's ideas, and (2) to incite them
to intensified work. Discussions and lectures are organized. "Red
corners," providing Communist literature and displaying the pic-
tures of top-ranking party officials, are installed in every kolkhoz.
Each peasant is also worked on individually, i. e., a propaganda worker
is assigned to visit a certain number of families in their homes and
persuade them of the advantages of communism. Propaganda work-
ers are trained in special schools under the leadership of party offi-
cials. These classes are compulsory for all members of the Com-
munist 3^outh organization and rural party units.
Both working and living conditions on the kolkhozes in Latvia
are very hard. There is no limit to the working time. A "day's
production rate" has been set, but if this rate cannot be met in normal
working hours between sunrise and sundown, the next day's time has
to be included, and of course, without extra remuneration. Produc-
tion rates are extremely high. A strong and healthy farmer would
require 10 to 12 hours to produce the established quota and there is no
difference between the rate for men and for women.
Each morning the peasants have to gather in front of the manager's
office for daily assignments. Some of them live several miles away,
but have no means of transportation. The day's rates are set by the
manager. Besides the kolkhoz administrator and manager, the su-
pervision of AYork is also exercised by the so-called "units of ten,"
consisting of party members, candidates for party membership, and
members of the Communist youth organizations.
The farmer is granted the right to use a small strip of land for his
vegetable garden, the so-called garden plot. This can be worked only
in free time, which means late at night or on Sundays, and this little
plot of land must serve the entire family. The peasant may also be
i^ermitted to have a cow, some chickens, and one jiig. The farmer
18 COAEMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
has to pay taxes on his cow and pig and on the strip of land and must
also deliver I3U0 liters of milk to the kolklu^z. lie is required to urow
a certain amount of potatoes on his small strip of land but is paid for
these only accordino; to fixed rates, which are very low as measured
by the real value of potatoes shown by black market prices. Fifty
Ivilo^frams (110 pounds) of rye is priced at 5 rubles by the Govern-
ment, but tlie same amount can be bought on the black market for IGO
to 180 rubles. One kilogram (2.02 pounds) of butter is priced at 26
rubles on the market, but it brings 40 rubles to black marketeers, while
the Government pays to farmers only 6 rubles per kilogi-am. With
the standard price of 300 rubles for a pair of shoes and 1,200 to 1,500
rubles for an overcoat, it is quite impossible for a kolkhoz peasant to
provide clothing and shoes for himself and his family. Usually the
farmers weave tlieir own clothes from an}' available remnants of
wool and linen and wear shoes made from old automobile tires.
E. Persecution of religion
The fundamental law of the land (article 124 of the constitution of
the U. S. S. I\. and article 9G of the constitution of the Latvian S. S. IJ.)
provides for tlio freedoms of conscience, religious Avorship, and anti-
religious ])ropaganda. Actually, however, freedom of conscience
means not merely the separation of church and state, but means also
the separation of school from the church, i. e., the prohibition of any
religious instruction. Freedom of religious worship exists only on
paj^er and this mock freedom is further made a farce by a most forceful
antireligious propaganda Avhich is sponsored and strongly supported
by the I^atvian Connnunity Party and its diil'erent agencies and aflili-
ates. During 1954 antireligious propaganda has again increased in
force and scope, a fact witnessed by the great number of antireligious
pamphlets as Avell as articles in the two oflicial daily organs of the
Communist Party of Soviet Latvia: The Cina (in Latvian) and the
Sovietskaia Latvia (in Russian). Since sovietization of Latvia
started in 1940, the clergy has become one of the most mistreated popu-
lation groups and the tlieological vocation has been ]')ractical]y out-
lawed, since it lost its academic standing and was made subject to far-
reaching restrictions. Not only were the clergy evicted from their
houses which, like all other church property, were subject to nationali-
zation, but they were also deprived of other rights and ruthlessly
persecuted.
The persecution of religion and of the church began in Latvia as
soon as the Soviet regime was established on July 21, 1940. The
teaching of religion, universal in all primary schools in I^atvia, was
abolished and forbidden. Denominational schools and religious orders
were closed and tlieir property confiscated. The theological (Lu-
theran, Greek Orthodox, and Koman Catholic) schools of the State
X'niversity of I>atvia at liiga were closed. All religious publications
were suppressed.
Testifying before the committee, IMs^r. Edward Stukelis, former
counselor of the Koman (^itholic Arclidiocese of liiga, recounted
these facts in the following:
As soon ns Liitvia was Incorimrnfed Into the Soviet Union ♦ ♦ ♦ nil property
of tlie Cliurcli was iiadonali/.cd nnd all ratliolic oriianizations. ns well ns reli-
pious orders, were <-l<ist>d and their proiirrty was conflseated ♦ • ♦ The teach-
Inp of reli;,'ion in the schools was prohibited. Antireli.^ions instruction was
uiade a conipidsory subject in all schools.
COMaiUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 19
These facts also were confirmed by the testimony of Dean Jekabs
Kullitis, representing the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in
the United States. He stated :
* * * In order to express disdain of all holy things, the Communists imme-
diately issued an order forbidding capitalization of the word "God". News-
papers had to sijell the word "God" with small letters. Schools were forbidden
to teach Scriptures and Christian ethics * * * Teachers and Communist propa-
ganda workers taught antireligious subjects * * *
The Soviet Government also closed both theological faculties at the Latvian
State University in Riga — the Evangelic Initheran faculty and the Roman
Catholic faculty, which were the country's only institutions preparing clergy-
men * * * All religious publications were discontinued in order to give the
people only antireligious literature and propaganda in the newspapers ♦ ♦ ♦
Dean Kullitis further disclosed that :
Shortly before the Communist invasion, the Latvian Evangelic Lutheran
Church had 18,000 copies of hymn books printed which had to be bound before
distributing. The Bolshevists immediately confiscated these books and later
ordered them sent to political prisons for use instead of toilet paper. Bibles and
other religious books were removed from public and school libraries.
Mr. Kersten. On that point, Dean, I think I saw an order in Russian listing
as a criminal offense the possession of a Bible. Is that in accordance with what
you are telling us now? In other words, it was criminal for a person to possess
a Bible?
Dean Kullitis. Yes, and the distributing of Bibles was criminal. The pastors
used to distribute Bibles for confirmation. This was a criminal deed ; it was
prohibited.
All churches and church property were nationalized by the Soviets.
Many churches were transformed into atheistic museums, motion-
picture theaters, bowling alleys, Red army clubs, and one church in
Liepaja (Libau) was even turned into a circus. Divine services were
so seriously curtailed that they were permitted only in a few churches.
Exorbitant taxes were imposed on churches and congregations; e. g.,
in 1952 a small country congregation in Vecpiebalga had to pay
almost $5,000 (18,000 rubles) in taxes. Congregations are often
unable to meet the high tax requirements and therefore cannot pay
the rent for their church. A statement of Msgr. Edward Stukelis
discloses that the rent which Catholics had to pay for the use of their
churches was 10 times more than that or rents paid for housing space.
The Catholic places of worship with all their appurtenances, including
even the holy vessels and vestments, were delivered to be the property
of the state by a decree of March 20, 1941. The churches and places
of worship which were not returned for use to the parishioners were
used as storage places, as dance halls, or for other purposes. The
apostolic nuncio, Archbishop A. Arata, was expelled (August 1940) ;
the Latvian Ambassador to the Holy See, Prof. H. Albats, who at
that time was in Riga, was deported to Siberia, where he died in a
forced labor camp. No Catholic periodicals or books are allowed to
be published and even consecrated cemeteries were liquidated. The
Christian symbol, the cross, was removed wherever the Communists
found it. Sundays and religious holy days were replaced by workless
days. The Catholics and the Lutherans, as well as the Greek Ortho-
dox, were persecuted alike. During the 9 months of the first Bolshevik
rule (1940-11) 41 clergymen suffered death at the hands of the Bol-
sheviks, were reported missing, or were deported to Soviet Russia.
Thus, the elimination of the clergy is carried out by means of murders,
arrests, and deportations. According to a statement by Dean J.
Kullitis, representing the Latvian Evangelic Lutheran Church in the
20 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
United States, during 1940-41 8 pastors, 2 professors of theolojr)',
and 2 nienibers of tlie Supreme riiurch Board of the Evanfi^elical
Lutheran Church of Latvia were deported, and many clerfrymen were
murdered or died in forced labor camps. Several Jewish rabbis were
subjected to the same treatment. The Catholic Church of I^atvia
also had a heavy death and deportation toll amoiifr its priests.
AVliile the Christian Church is subjected to humiliation and persecu-
tion in the Latvian S. S. R., atheist organizations are subsidized and
encouraged by the state and receive large contributions for their activi-
ties. The atheists do everything to discredit Christianity in the eyes
of tlie younger generation, trying to "prove" the supposed harm done
by the church. On July 17-18, 1948, the Iviga radio broadcast an
appeal to the members of the Communist Party and the Communist
youth to destroy the last remnants of religious "prejudices'' and to
light the preachers and defenders of religion. On October 23, 1953,
the same radio invited the young pioneers in the schools to fight the
Christian belief about the creation of the world by God. On June 30,
1954, the Riga radio broadcast an atheistic and anti-Christian lecture
by Professor Gagarin on the origin and class character of the Chris-
tian religion. It called for a more active atheistic propaganda cam-
paign, as well as for "an antireligious system of education in the school
and in the family."' This is only part of a strong antireligious cam-
paign which began once again throughout the Soviet Union in 1954
and is still being carried on with undiminished force at the present
moment.
F. MoJdbig of Latvian youth
''One of the essential tasks of Communist education is the erasing
of the remains of religious morality from the conscience of Soviet
peoples," stated a member of the propaganda division of the Latvian
Conununist Party in an antireligious speech transmitted on ]\[ay 30,
1952, over the Riga radio station. This commissar outlined the aims
of Soviet education in the Latvian S. S. R. in the following words:
The Soviet Union has developed a new individual, a new nior:il, wliich is con-
trary to the moral and ideology of the capitalistic countries. * » ♦ Tlie church
tried to persuade its uienihcrs that moral is to be considered as something eternal,
something that stands over the classes and cannot he changed, a virtue given hy
God. There is no (iod and therefore there can be no moral given l)y Gud. » » ♦
The church has always approved and blessed all acts of force directed against
the working i^-oples and at the same time preached love for neighbor and enemy.
* * * Th(>se examples prove that the moral of the church is hostile to and un-
acceiitable to the Soviet iieople, the constructors of conununism. The working
peoples prefer the moral of conununism to the moral of the church. Tlie liasis
for communist moral, teaches Lenin, is the struggle for defending and develop-
ing communism. This is also the foundation of communistic education.
Viewed uiuler the scope of the destructive erasing of the princi})les
of Christian moi-ality from the conscience of the Latvian ])eople and
of Communist indoctrination as the paramoimt aims of education in
the T/il vian S. S. R., the methods used in T/itvia are the same methods
Avhich have been used for this jiurpose for 37 years in the Soviet Union
and are now in use in all the Conununist subjugated countries. One
of the chief devices designed to reach the ultimate goal — a basically
submissive generation, self-dedicated to (he Conununist theories and
way of life, is to widen the gaj) between the parents, strongholds of
Christian moral belief, and their children. This is achieved in dif-
COMMUNIST TAKEO\'ER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 21
ferent ways, one of the most effective being the planning of different
activities for elders and youngsters so that the adults have to attend
a great ninnber of compulsory lectures, meetings, and discussions,
while the youth will be forced to participate in separate after-school-
hours communistic indoctrination courses, propaganda movies, super-
vised tours of industrial enterprises, and organized sports and con-
tests. As a result, homelife in the old sense is rapidly disappearing.
Thus the Latvian youth has become a primary target of the Commu-
nist indoctrination policy in Latvia. Since education is a monopoly
of the Communist Party and the state, the parents are not even con-
sulted by the school authorities concerning the education of their
children.
Disruption of Latvia's judiciary
Disruption of the judicial system of Latvia has been eloquently
described by Veniers Vitins, director of the department of the courts
of Latvia, in the following testimony before the committee:
We had a man who took over as a secretary of justice. He put the imprisoned
people in kev jobs. I shall give you two examples : For instance, the president
of the circuit court in Riga, it was a pretty big court, they appointed a man by
the name of Franzmanis, who had been punished by the Latvian courts, 4 years
in the correction house, because he had stolen horses. I spoke with the next
one. He was a sheriff from one city in the eastern province. He had been
punished in the Latvian courts as a thief, with IV2 years in prison, and he was
a sheriff.
Thereupon, despite Vishinsky's professions about freedom and se-
curity, arrests of court officials, judges, and members of the bar
started. Out of a total of the 19 supreme court justices 10 were de-
ported to Soviet Russia. Judge Vitins gives this summary of depor-
tations of judges :
Including the mass depoi'tations, there have been deported from Latvia, killed
and arrested, 157 judges. We had 201. All together it would be 54.13 percent
of the judges have tieen liquidated during these I3 months of communistic
regime — deported, arrested, or simply killed.
After the annexation of Latvia a new judiciary was set up patterned
on the Soviet model and broad jurisdiction was assigned to the peo-
ple's courts, consisting of 1 judge and 2 people's assessors who were
not lawyers. Mr. Vitins testified on these courts as follows :
They appointed the people's courts after the annexation. They discharged
all judges, and now the whole jurisdiction was in the hands of the people's
judges simply appointed by the Communist Party. There was one case where a
man was appointed as a people's judge, who couldn't sign his name. He was from
an eastern province.
Arrests^ deportations^ Red terror
The very basis of Communist power has always been terror. Every
inhabitant of a Soviet-controlled country, whatever the position he
holds in party or in state administration, lives under the permanent
threat of being arrested any time and subject to punishment, most
commonly by virtue of an administrative decree of the MVD, the
secret police organization, which can pronounce sentence of death, or
of incarceration in forced labor camps which it runs in Siberia as
well as in other places of the U. S. S. R. The secret police stands out-
side the judiciary. It renders verdicts without having given the ac-
cused any opportunity to present his evidence or to produce witnesses,
trials are considered unnecessary, or are held months after the ac-
i J. ,, — . .. «
22 COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
ciised has boon serviiifr his term in a forced-labor camp, the presence
of the accused for an indictment is not required and there is neither
an arrai<j:ninent procedure nor the possibility of being represented by
defense counsel. The Latvian secret police is directly subordinated
to the IT. S. S. I\. central secret police whose branch it is. The XKVD,
as it Mas then called, caine to Latvia on June 17, 1940, together with
the Ived ami}'. It could go to work without delay because the Tied
terror in Latvia had been carefully planned in advance, as proved
by documents found in Latvian XKVD headquarters in Riga, after
the Soviet retreat from Latvia in the summer of 1941.
The first wave of terror was launched against the "outspoken
enemies of the regime," the President of the Republic of Latvia, the
Cabinet members, party leaders, the individuals who dared to set up
an election list separate from that of the Workers' Union's list of
Communists and "independents." All of these people were arrested
and either deported to forced-labor camps or executed. Having
eliminated the actual and potential leaders of any possible opposition,
terror was directed against another local group in order to stimulate
class hatred. Those among this second group who were not imme-
diatelv arrested or rendered completely helpless by being deprived of
their property and means of existence, were scheduled for mass re-
prisals to come as their names were entered on carefully prepared
lists for later mass deportations. Termed "byvshie liudi" (persons
of some importance in the past), as they were listed in XKVD in-
structions and tiles, these innocent people were persecuted as "op-
pressors and exploiters." When the wave of kolkhozation started
in 1946, the inde])endent farmers were on the list of persecutees, and
later the workers also experienced the iron fist of the secret police.
The activities of the XKVD in Latvia are well documented because
of secret archives which were found in their different headquarters
in the sunnner of 1941 when the Comnumists had to leave Latvia in
haste and abandon many of their documents because of the arrival of
the German Army.
The People's Commissariat of St^ate Security, created by the con-
stitution of the Latvian S. S. R., was under the direct jurisdiction of
JSIoscow. The Commissariats for Internal Affairs and for State Secu-
rity were headed by non-Latvian Communists, A. Xovik and S.
Shustin, respectively. These secret-police officials were Soviet citizens.
The former Latvian ^linistry of the Interior was transformed into
the headquarters of the XKVD and its ground floor and cellars were
remodeled to the XKVD specifications to provide inhumane cells for
prisoners Avho Avere under interrogation and scrutiny. These cells,
called "dog kennel" (sobachniki in Russian) were about 3 feet high
and 3 feet wide and ])risoners could neither stand up nor lie down
in them. Daylight did not penetrate into these cellars; ventilation
was ])rovided through a slit of about half an inch, which could bo
closed fioin the outside. Some of these dungeons were ju'ovided with
special installations for the flow of hot or cold air. Wiring in the
solitary-confinement cells revealed that blinding lights could be turned
on the imnates. Powerful light bulbs were fixed just above the heads
of the confined rei-sons. They were confined in these dog kennels
until they lost tneir self-control and willpower. The XKVD also
had special torture chambers in the same building. These were
COMJVIUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 23
soundproof, their doors were reinforced with iron and rubber sheets,
and all kinds of devilishly subtle torture instruments lay around.
Pictures of these horrible cells are reprinted in part I of the report
of the House Committee on Soviet Aggression in the Baltic Coun-
tries. The walls of these rooms were riddled with bullet holes, and
along these ran a cement groove to a drain, apparently to catch the
blood of the victims. Witnesses have testified that questioning usually
took place at night and as the victims were allowed no sleep they
collapsed from sheer exhaustion. After the closed interrogation the
prisoners were either executed or sent to forced-labor camps of the
Soviet Union. Judge Atis Grantskalns, examining judge of the dis-
trict court at Riga, Latvia, who headed a special Latvian commission
to investigate Bolshevik atrocities in Latvia during the years 1940-41,
set up immediately after the Red army had left Riga, Latvia's capital,
on July 1, 1941, has testified to the following:
Altosetlier diu-ing that year I dug out over 900 bodies and none of those victims
was a former criminal. They were all the most respected persons in onr country.
We made up a nominal list of the victims, and when we went over that list we
could see that among the victims there were officers, army colonels, laborers,
lav/yers, doctors, businessmen; even the aide-de-camp of the Latvian Prime
Minister, the director of the department of schools, and so on.
On the Bolshevik technics of executions carried out in Latvia, and
which show the same identical pattern as the murders in the Katyn
Forest and most recently in Korea, Grantskalns testified :
In Baltezers (a suburb of Riga) most of the bodies, if not all, that we found
had their hands tied up on their backs. Each body had a hole in the back of
the head, and when we found some of the bullets in the head, our experts told
ns that was a bullet from the pistol. So the victims were shot by a pistol. But
there is an interesting thing that in each pit that had, say, 10 corpses, 8 had
holes in the back of the head and at least 2 had holes of the shots on the top of
the heads. And those 2 bodies which had holes on the top of the heads wore
always on the very bottom of the pit. So the only explanation we could make
was that those 2 were chosen to dig the pit and shot when they had finished
their job and were in the pit, and the rest of that transport were shot at the
edge of the pit and then thrown into the pit. Some of the bodies had broken
jaws, 1 or 2 had broken skulls. Some of them had broken ribs, some had broken
legs, but, yes, there were some with no lips or broken noses, even without ears.
According toAlfred Berzinsh, the only surviving member of the last
legal Latvian Cabinet of Ministers, during the first year of Soviet occu-
pation of Latvia (June 17, 1940- July 5, 1941) at least 1,355 persons
(1,246 men and 109 women) were brutally murdered by the NKVD.
They were men and women from all walks of life. Among the papers
found in the NKVD Headquarters in Latvia in 1941, there were also
several lists of death sentences passed in Riga, signed by the People's
Commissar of State Security of the Latvian S. S. R., Captain of State
Security S. Shustin. On these death sentences Atis Grantskalns testi-
fied as follows :
We found a nominal list of some 100 Latvian citizens and this list was endorsed
in red ink dated June 2G, 1941, signed by the NKVD commissar, Shustin, who was
In charge of the Latvian secret police. The endorsement read "In view of the
danger to the socialist system, all have to be shot."
_ As previously cited the Soviet Government had planned the liquida-
tion of the people of Latvia, to begin with the upper strata and the
intelligentsia, while Latvia was still independent. The deportations
from Latvia to the U. S. S. R. which have continued even down to the
present moment, although they also served the economic needs of the
IIIIIIMMlllllllllllMli^llllinilllll W IeoVER and occupation of LATVIA
3 9999 05445 4093
k50viet Union, Jiad and continue to have primarily an ethnological
cliaracter. They are ])art of a policy of genocide designed to annihi-
late national and social groups within the U. S. S. R. and its satellites,
as well as to make national secessions or revolts of national groups
impossil)le.
Some o4,000 Latvians were subjected to deportation or were simply
murdered in cold blood by the Soviets during 1940— il. A list of these
pei"sons (These Names Accuse, Stockholm: Latvian National Fund
in the Scandinavian Countries, 1951), compiled by the Latvian Red
Cross and checked by the Latvian Statistical Board, has been deposited
with the International Red Cross in Geneva to serve as a ^uide in trac-
ing the fate of the deportees.
Mass deportations started in April 1941 j the first transport of 900
persons leaving Latvia at that time. The biggest deportation was car-
ried out on June 13-14, 1941, when approximately 15,000 were de-
ported, although 16,200 were planned for deportation. This was done
pursuant to a telephone message from Moscow on June 13, 1941, ad-
dressed to Commissar Serov, who at the present moment (December
1954) is Minister of State Security of the U. S. S. R. Among the
deported were 1,877 school children and 1,188 children under G years
of age. The majority were sent to central and northern Siberia, There
under inhuman living conditions, most of them died and only a very
few escaped or were released. Some of these unfortunates have told
their story so that the genocidal practice of the Soviets perpetrated
against the Latvian nation by means of mass deportations and deten-
tion in forced labor camps is now a matter of public record. Mrs.
Zenta Vizbulis, a native of Latvia and sister-in-law of an official of
the State Department of the United States, was among those unfor-
tunate Latvians who were deported to Siberia in June 1941. She testi-
fied before the committee as follows :
We were taken in a truck and carried away. We were put in a train and we
woi'o about 7 or 8 days in trains. There were an awful lot of childron and women.
Pome were crying and some wore screaming. A mother with two children was
insane ; some of them were separated from their children and they were separated
from their husl)an(ls. Then the train stopped and we met some women from tlie
other cars and tliey were almost losing their minds. And they distributed the
women and the children into various collective farms in Siberia. We had to work
in the fields and in the woods and on the roads. The children 2 years old and
less — they almost all died.
During the second Soviet occupation of Latvia, which began in 1944
in some parts and in May 1945 for the whole of Latvia, numerous
deportations have been made. The deportations beginning in the sum-
mer of 1944 in the eastern part of Latvia-Latgale were conducted by
com]ielling men and Avomen without husbands or relatives to march
on foot under guard to Russia's industrial areas. Many of them were
put to work in the coal mines of the Donets Basin. AVhen the Soviets
returned to the other parts of Latvia the de])ortations increased and
their total for the years 1944-45 from Latgale and Vidzeme alone was
from 40,000 to 50,000 persons. The last part to fall into Soviet hands —
Kui-zeme (Courland) — was subject to especially severe reprisals.
Estimates of eyewitnesses who managed to escape from behind the
Iron Curtain tell that the Kuldiga, Ventspils, and Liepaja so-called
"iiltration camps"' harbored 20,000, 15.000, and 25,000 prisoners re-
spectively, including members of the Latvian Legion who had de-
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER AND OCCUPATION OF LATVIA 25
fended Latvia against the Eed army. Some 40,000 of these victims
were sent to forced hibor camps in Siberia, while the rest were executed
or sent to "reconstruction work" in other parts of the U. S. S. R.
Furthermore, deportations continued in the following years and at the
beginning of 1946 wives and children, as well as relatives of earlier
deported persons, were deported from Eiga. In the middle of Novem-
ber 1948 a large group of deportees left Saldus (50 cattle cars). A
large-scale mass deportation from Kurzeme and Vidzeme began March
24, 1949, and ended March 27. It is reliably reported to have embraced
50,000 persons. The groups of persons affected were those farmers
who did not "volunteer"' to join the collective farms, as well as mem-
bers of the Latvian intelligentsia and pupils. Another large-scale
deportation is reported to have been carried out in 1951. It is esti-
mated that the number of Latvian deportees during the period 1944-50
was at least 290,000, while the tragedy of forcible expulsion continues
to be a part of Communist policy for Latvia down to the present day
(December 1954).
THE HISTORICAL MISSION OF LATVIA
Like all other nations, great or small, the Latvian nation has a
historical mission. Latvia's geographical situation has always im-
posed on its people heavy responsibilities from the international point
of view. The surrounding great powers have during the past cen-
turies always had many difiiculties of the international or national
order with the so-called threshold of Eastern Europe occupied by
the Baltic nations. After having embraced the Christian faith the
Latvian nation remained for centuries in the orbit of western civili-
zation. However difficult the times which the Latvians had to endure
under foreign domination, and while the sovereigns of Latvian terri-
tory changed, not only for the Latvian people but also for the invading
forces, with the fortunes and misfortunes of conquest and despotism,
the Latvians, whatever their lot, persisted as a nation. Survival as
a nation is a dominant theme that runs strong and unbroken through
the ancient and the modern story of Latvia.
The Latvians, having lived for centuries under constant German
and Slavic pressure, developed a spiritual shell of resistance which no
hostile power was ever able to break. Along with the mission to pre-
serve its own individuality and independence, the Latvian nation has
had and continues to have another greater historical task — to preserve
its Christian western culture and civilization — as well as to live in
peace with all peoples in one of the most troublesome areas of the
Avorld.
The sacrifices and the tragic fate of the Latvian nation shall not
have been in vain if this would sound to the free nations a warning
of the imminent danger of international communism threatening the
very fundamentals of the existence of the entire free world.;
o
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
, ililiiililill
3 9999 05445 4523
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11