In KGB cells- the Bible instead of toilet paper (video)
Behind the wall, which doesn’t stand out at first glance, people, who never understood their crime, were shot dead.
The cold walls and the smell of dried blood of the KGB building in Latvia, which is now a museum, and the story of the guide, who wears warm boots even in summer, take you to the brutal past, which was real for tens of thousands of people for about twenty years.
Everything seems to be real here- the saucepans, the substance cooked in which could hardly be called a meal, the toilet in the cell, where the pages of the Bible were used instead of the hygienic paper. The possible options for the tortures in order to extort “I am guilty”, which would be followed either by the execution or exile.
Latvia keeps the memory of the victims of Stalinism and Nazism. During summer the 20-year-old girl tells the tourists the history of her country. The guide of the Occupation Museum in Riga knows English and German. She also speaks Russian, but she doesn’t want to represent in that language how her country was occupied by Russians. But not only Russians occupied Latvia. About 800 years Latvians had to struggle against Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians who had invaded the country.
There are two footprints in the center of Riga, which remind August 23, 1989, when about 2 million people of the Baltic countries hand in hand formed 600 km living chain for the sake of today’s independence.
While speaking about those days the young guide of the museum is surprised: how that chain was formed, how the people mobilized, when there were no social networks. Visiting the Occupation Museum is obligatory for all the official delegations.
Latvian lawmaker Martins Bondars hasn’t become a president during this year’s elections, but he assures that next time he will become. The main problem of Latvia is demographic: emigration, birthrate fall.
“During the crisis either the people or the capital is chosen, we chose the capital,” he says. People complain and decide to leave as a form of protest like in Armenia. Emigration from Latvia is easier as they are the citizens of the EU. The average salary in Latvia is 200 euros, in the ministries- 700 euros. In reply to the question by “A1+”, whether he [Latvian lawmaker] could buy a flat with his income, Latvian lawmaker gives a negative answer. He is pleased that years ago by collecting his and his wife’s wages he bought a house, otherwise he wouldn’t have a private flat.
One of the most beautiful districts of Riga is called Silence. Most of the buildings are empty, there are no shops, either ambassadors or foreigners live here. Latvians are more interested in the lively and active part.
The same part attracts also the tourists, who admire the colors of the old city and enjoy the meals of Latvian cuisine.
In the evening the music coming from different restaurants creates such an atmosphere that the visitors of dreamlike Riga cannot even imagine that there are houses, which look gloomy and during winter the residents cover the windows with cardboard to pay less for electricity.
Karine Asatryan
Riga-Yerevan
P.S. The article was made during the days of the meeting of graduates of ZEIT-Stiftung foundation organized in Riga.
