Paper Presented to the Eighth
International Revisionist Conference
By Alexander V. Berkis
Published: 1988-04-01
The focus of
this paper is the oppression and persecution which the rulers of the Soviet
Union have inflicted on the Baltic nation of Latvia, from its declaration of
independence in 1918 to the present day. The Red Army has invaded and occupied
Latvia three times in the past seventy years; its most recent aggression, in
1944, has resulted in the continuing, illegal Soviet occupation of Latvia. Each
Soviet incursion has been accompanied by mass killings and deportations of
Latvians, and Soviet authorities have sought to destroy Latvian nationhood by
the illegal annexation of Latvia to the USSR and through measures aimed at
eradicating the Latvians' historical, cultural, and religious traditions.
Nevertheless, the Latvian people, in their homeland and in exile, have fought
to defend their nationhood with all the means at their disposal.
Latvia Under Foreign Rule, 1290-1918
Since the Communist regime in
Russia has built upon and intensified earlier oppression under the tsars, a
brief overview of Latvia's history under foreign rule is necessary. By 1290 all
of Latvia had been conquered by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order.
From 1290 to 1561 Latvia belonged to the Confederation of Livonia, which
included also Estonia. The fall of the Confederation of Livonia was brought
about by the invasion of Russia under the rule of John (Ivan) IV, the Terrible.
Since the Confederation was unable to defend itself, it asked for the help of
Poland-Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark. As a result of the long Livonian War
(1558-1582), northern Livonia, including southern Estonia, became a Polish
province (1561-1629). After the Swedish-Polish succession war western Livonia,
including its capital Riga, and all of Estonia became a Swedish province
(1629-1721). Eastern Livonia remained a Polish province until 1772; after the
First Partition of Poland-Lithuania in that year it was annexed by Russia.
The last Master of the
Livonian Order, Gotthard Kettler, founded the Duchy of Courland, which endured
as an almost independent state under Polish suzerainty for over two centuries
(1561-1795). It is no exaggeration to say that the history of the Duchy of
Courland has been almost forgotten since 1795, although Duke James (1639-1682)
and his achievements were well known in the seventeenth century. The duke owned
two crown colonies, the island of Tobago in the West Indies and Gambia in West
Africa, as well as mining territories in Norway, which, like his colonies in
Tobago and Gambia, were colonized by his Courlanders.
Courland was also a naval power.
Only the Netherlands, England, Spain and Portugal had stronger navies than
Courland at the time of Duke James. The envious Dutch called Duke James the „Skipper
Duke,“ for Courland's flourishing prosperity during the age of mercantilism
made the Courlanders the rivals of the Dutch. James was likewise called „the
merchant on the ducal throne.“
After the Third Partition of
Poland-Lithuania (1795), the Duchy of Courland and Lithuania were annexed by
Russia It should be emphasized that during the Livonian War and the Great
Northern War (1700-1721), the Russians committed atrocities on a large scale in
Latvia. During the Great Northern War, these Russian measures brought about a
pestilence which killed two-thirds of the population of Latvia.
Systematic persecution of
Latvians by Russians commenced when all of Latvia became the Russian provinces
of Livonia and Courland. Not content with suppressing Latvian calls for
self-determination, Russian authorities pursued an intensifying program of
russifying Latvia throughout the nineteenth century. From 1883 on Russian was
the only language of instruction in Latvian schools. Pupils were punished for
speaking Latvian among themselves. Educated Latvians could not obtain work in
their professions in their homeland; at the same time they were welcomed, for
their skill and dependability, in Russia proper.
During the National Awakening
(or Romantic Nationalism) which blossomed in nineteenth-century Latvia, the
movements leaders, Krisjanis Voldemars (1825-1891) and Krisjanis Barons
(1835-1923), were the targets of Russian suppression. Considered politically
dangerous, they were forced to live in Russia for three decades of exile from
Latvia. Nevertheless, some Latvian historians reproach them for neglecting
Latvia's political independence. Voldemars and Barons did not go beyond urging
their countrymen to cultivate their language and national traditions, although
they favored increasing Latvia's economic independence through the accumulation
of wealth.
When Russia was rocked by revolution
in 1905, Latvian nationalists called for political autonomy for Latvia. The
tsarist authorities responded with mass killings and deportations to Siberia.
Representative of the fates of
the more fortunate Latvian nationalist leaders of that time was the experience
of Karlis Ulmanis, Latvia's future president. He was jailed for several months
in consequence of his activities in 1905. Upon his release from prison, tsarist
authorities sought to rearrest him. With that Ulmanis went into exile in America,
where he lived from 1906 to 1913. In 1913 the Russian Duma passed an amnesty
act to celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
Ulmanis and other Latvian leaders in exile returned in time to experience the
outbreak of the First World War, which led to the overthrow of Nicholas II and
his dynasty, the Bolshevik seizure of power, and the independence of the Baltic
nations.
Latvian Independence and First Soviet Occupation
It is impossible to treat the
independence of Latvia (1918-1940) and the three occupations under the Soviet
rule without discussing briefly the life of President Ulmanis of Latvia
(1877-1942?). Foreign observers, including historians, have called Ulmanis
Latvia and Latvia Ulmanis. Indeed the two names are inseparable. The writer of
this paper knows no other example in history in which one person dominated so
completely the history and life of a country as did Ulmanis, both as leader and
as legend in Latvia.
Karlis Ulmanis was born on
September 4, 1877, in Zemgale, in southern Latvia, on the territory of the
former Duchy of Courland. He obtained a degree in agronomy from the Institute
of Agronomy in Leipzig, Germany in 1905, and a B.S. in agriculture at the
University of Nebraska in 1909 during his American exile.
In 1916, returned to Latvia,
Ulmanis founded the Farmers' Union, or Party, and became its leader, a position
he would retain until the fall of independent Latvia in 1940. During the next
few years Ulmanis organized the leading Latvian politicians, and with them formed
the People's Council. On November 18, 1918 the People's Council proclaimed the
independence of Latvia. Looking to Ulmanis as the only candidate willing, able,
resourceful, and courageous enough to lead Latvia, the council elected him
prime minister (or minister president) of the provisional government. Political
conditions in Latvia were at that time very complicated, because by 1918 its
entire territory was occupied by the German army. Latvia had suffered even more
devastation in the war than had Belgium. After Germany signed the November 11th
armistice, the discipline of the German soldiers collapsed, and the Soviet army
gradually pushed into defenseless Latvia. By February 1919 all of Latvia except
the western part, which constituted less than one-eighth of its territory, had
been occupied by the Soviets[1].
In occupied Latvia the Soviet
authorities passed decrees nationalizing property, without compensation to the
former owners. All landed property was nationalized; compulsory labor was
decreed. The Communists requisitioned clothing and footwear. They imposed
confiscatory taxes; even the workers had to pay higher taxes. All these decrees
grossly violated international law Since the Soviet measures could not be
carried out without terror; thousands of Latvians were murdered, tortured or
died of hunger. The prisons were crammed.
By early 1919 power was
largely in the hands of local councils, or „soviets.“ These authorities mainly
concerned themselves with searching for supposed counter-revolutionaries. At
night those in power met and decided whom to arrest; it was also by night that
the victims were arrested. Farmers, artisans, workers and intellectuals alike
were arrested; nobody could feel safe. Revolutionary tribunals were busy
constantly, and pronounced numerous death sentences. The „law“ that the „judges“
applied was „revolutionary consciousness.“ Toward dawn special units would take
charge of the condemned Latvians, order them to take off their clothes and then
shoot them.
The crimes committed by the
Soviets against the cream of the Latvian nation verged on genocide, and caused
a large-scale guerrilla war against the Russian troops. Gradually the Ulmanis
government, with the help of German soldiers, reconquered occupied Latvia. By
the beginning of February 1920, all of Latvia had been liberated. The Soviet
Union, hard-pressed in the civil war against the White Russian generals,
concluded a peace treaty with Latvia on August 11, 1920[2].
During the War of Latvian
Liberaffon, Ulmanis formed three governments. At the beginning of May 1920, the
Constituent Assembly convened, and authorized Ulmanis to form his fourth
government. This government was able to obtain de jure recognition of
Latvia by Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Belgium on January 26, 1921.
A few months later the Constituent Assembly forced Ulmanis to resign, for a
majority of the delegates had grown tired and envious of his strongman
leadership[3].
The Inter-war Years
Ulmanis' influence, however,
remained powerful. In 1925 he became prime minister of his fifth government,
which resigned in 1926. Ulmanis formed his sixth government during the economic
crisis of 1931, which was comparatively mild in agrarian Latvia. There was no
unemployment; indeed, foreign farmhands were imported. Nevertheless, many
Latvians blamed the parliamentary system for economic woes. It became almost
proverbial to say that when Latvia had hard times Ulmanis always appeared to
solve the problems. Foreign observers remarked that parliaments and their
members were elected and defeated, but Ulmanis remained. In fact coalition
governments could seldom be formed without Ulmanis' agreement even at times
when other members of the Farmers' Union were chosen prime minister due to the
other parties' envy of Ulmanis. In March 1934 Ulmanis became the seventh and
last prime minister under the parliamentary system. The Latvian people had at
last tired of the corrupt rule of the nation's many parties. On May 15, 1934,
Ulmanis carried out a bloodless coup and dissolved the parliament and all
parties[4]. He was hailed by a flood of letters
and telegrams thanking him for restoring the unity of Latvia. The third
president of Latvia, Alberts Kviesis, who also belonged to the Farmers' Union,
invited Ulmanis and the ministers of the eighth and last of his governments to
the presidential castle. President Kviesis announced that because the
overwhelming majority of Latvians was behind the Ulmanis government, he
considered Ulmanis' coup to have the force of a plebiscite. Kviesis thus gave
his approval and blessing to the new government of national unity. This
government remained in power for more than six years, until the Soviet Union
invaded Latvia. The gratitude of the Latvian people was always behind the
heroic and magic prime minister of the Latvian War of Liberation – Karlis
Ulmanis. Yet the personality of Ulmanis cannot be overlooked in the connection
with the tragic fall of independent Latvia. After the outbreak of World War II,
Latvia and the other Baltic States were isolated. Under such conditions the
Soviet Union forced Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to sign mutual assistance
pacts and established Russian naval, air, and infantry bases in these virtually
defenseless countries[5].
The Second Soviet Occupation
Ulmanis hoped to gain time by
signing the pact. In fact, he gained time up to June 17, 1940. The collapse of
France spurred the Soviet Union to demand the total occupation of the Baltic
countries and the formation of pro-Soviet governments there. Ulmanis accepted
the ultimatum and refused to go into exile. He remained technically the
President of Latvia up to July 22, 1940, without any power and influence. On
the twenty-second of July he was deported to the Soviet Union. The place, date
and circumstances of Ulmanis' death are unknown, although some sources say he
died in 1942.
Thus began the second Soviet
occupation of Latvia. It proved to be far more disastrous than the first one.
In the first weeks following the Red Army's invasion, Latvia's political
leaders, including the very popular former vice president and minister of war,
General Janis Balodis, were arrested and deported.
The mass arrests took place
months later, after foreign diplomatic and consular representatives had
departed Latvia and could not report to their governments on the crimes
committed by the Soviets.
There is authentic documentary
evidence that on October 11, 1940 the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, issued a
detailed basic order on deportations of anti-Soviet elements from Lithuania,
Latvia, and Estonia (Order No: 001223). It was signed by the Deputy People's
Commissar of Public Security, Serov, indicating that the order was issued while
the Baltic States were still independent countries[6].
Needless to say this grossly violated the basic principles of international
law. The lists of so-called anti-Soviet elements had long ago been drawn up by
local Communists and well-paid traitors.
Fully aware of the
disaffection of Latvians, the Soviet government deemed it necessary to engineer
the voluntary „approval“ of its occupation of Latvia. Therefore, the Soviet
authorities ordered a parliamentary election. In the staged elections of July
14 and 15, 1940, a single list of candidates, approved by Andrei Vishinsky, was
permitted. The unanimously „elected“ parliament declared Latvia to be
transformed into a Soviet Republic and requested the Soviet „parliament“ to
admit Latvia to the Soviet Union. The constitution of Latvia of 1922 had
stipulated that any question touching the independence of Latvia had to be
decided by a plebiscite. The Soviet government dared not carry one out;
therefore Latvia was never legally incorporated into the Soviet Union. Besides,
according to international law, no election conducted under occupation by
foreign troops can be legally valid.
Latvia's minister in
Washington, Dr. Alfred Bilmanis, who had been invested with emergency powers by
the legitimate government, and the Latvian minister in London, Karlis Zarins,
accordingly declared the elections null and void. Their emergency powers had
been issued by the government of Latvia as late as May 18, 1940, with Dr.
Bilmanis appointed as Zarins' substitute, in case of the death of the Latvian
minister in London. The holder of the emergency powers of state was authorized
to appoint delegates to international conferences and to appoint and transfer
the staff of the Latvian legations and consulates. In fact Zarins was assigned
the functions of the president and the government of Latvia. The Latvian puppet
government declared both men traitors and deprived them of Latvian citizenship.
The sovietization of Latvia
proceeded rapidly. By the end of September, 1940, all „large“ private fortunes,
private industry, commerce, banks, transportation, land and its natural
resources, and rental property had been nationalized without compensation to
the owners. On the contrary, they were slandered and libeled as exploiters and
enemies of the toiling masses. The funds in the possession of the nationalized
and disorganized banks were converted to worthless paper, and equally worthless
Soviet paper rubles flooded the country. High prices in rubles were then fixed
for all wares. Red Army soldiers and Soviet functionaries promptly cleared out
the stores.
During the first major stage
of the mass deportation program at least 35,828 persons were deported or
murdered. American and other foreign sources estimate the number of persons
from all walks of life deported or murdered at 60,000. After the outbreak of
the German-Russian war, Latvian soldiers, included against the principles of
international law in the Red Army, were withdrawn to Russia or murdered. Many
civilians were carried off by the retreating Soviet authorities as well. Marked
especially for extermination were Latvian government officials, members of the
intelligentsia, and retired army officers. It should be noted that
intellectuals suffered most from the persecution, because during the Latvian
War of Liberation almost the entire student body of the University of Latvia
volunteered to fight against the Red Army. Therefore the Soviets called the
University of Latvia a citadel of arch-reactionaries.
Neither among the
intellectuals nor the capitalists, however, did the Soviets find their most
outspoken enemies. These were the farmers, because in Latvia 62 per cent of the
inhabitants were farmers and their families. In fact they were their own
bosses. From the Soviet point of view the backbone of the stable middle classes
had to be broken by any and all means. The outbreak of the German-Russian War
prevented the Soviet regime from forcing the collectivization of agriculture[7].
The Soviet terror was met by
an uprising of officers and enlisted men from the former Latvian Home Guard, a
well-trained reserve army, and other Latvian nationalists. They seized control
of most of Latvia after the outbreak of the German-Russian War. The German army
conquered only the major cities – Riga, Liepaja (Libau), Ventspils (Windau),
Jelgava (Mitau) and Daugavpils (Dünaburg). During the first days of July 1941,
all of Latvia was occupied by the German army. The war swept across Latvia like
a hurricane.
Despite the German liberation,
Latvians were soon disappointed as it became obvious that Hitler's government
had no intention of restoring Latvia's independence.
Beginning in the middle of
July 1944, the German troops gradually retreated from Latvia after heavy
fighting. The superiority of the Red Army was in no small part due to its
support with weapons and all kinds of materiel by the U.S. and the British
Empire. On May 8, 1945, the German troops laid down their arms in accordance
with the terms of Germangs unconditional surrender on both the Western and
Eastern fronts.
Realizing that with Latvia's
third occupation by the Red Army at hand, the Soviet terror was again imminent,
many Latvian activists saw exile as their only hope for the future. Experience
had taught them that nothing is worse than Communism. According to information
provided by the Latvian Red Cross, by 1947 there were 134,000 Latvian political
refugees, the overwhelming majority of them in West Germany. This must be
regarded as a minimum estimate.
Defeat and Reoccupation
Those Latvians who remained in
Latvia had no illusions as to their fate. Within a few days the Red Army was
followed by the NKVD. The Red secret police immediately interrogated the
population by means of mandatory questionnaires. The Soviets declared that all
who had not retreated with Soviet forces before the advance of the German Army
were enemies of the Soviet Union and deserved exemplary punishment. The
questions each Latvian was forced to answer included the following: „Why did
you not retreat with the Soviet Army in 1941?“ „What employment did you pursue
during the German occupation?“ „What anti-German sabotage did you carry out?“ „Name
three collaborators of the Germans.“
Men were issued red tickets
for military service, green for compulsory labor and white for deportation.
People's courts, meeting in the absence of the accused, condemned Latvian
patriots to long prison terms or deportation to the Gulag, while their families
were picked up, separated at the entrainment points and dragged off to unknown
parts of the Soviet Union. Beginning in 1948 collectivization váas imposed on
most Latvian farms.
The University of Latvia was
thoroughly russified and sovietized. An even more serious result of the Red
Army's third occupation was the introduction of large numbers of ethnic
Russians and natives of the U.S.S.R's Asiatic republics into the country to
replace the deported Latvians[8].
Latvian Guerrilla Resistance
These Soviet measures caused a
very bloody large-scale guerrilla war, not only in Latvia but in Estonia and
Lithuania as well, where similar policies were imposed. From 1944 to 1952, and
on a smaller scale even up to 1956, fierce fighting still raged in the
countryside. Only after the failure of the Hungarian revolt in 1956 did the
Baltic peoples realize that the Western democracies were unable and unwilling
to support them. The guerrilla war was waged on the largest scale in Lithuania.
According to Lithuanian sources, the Lithuanians lost 30,000 men; Soviet losses
are put at no fewer than 80,000 soldiers and NKVD men. These estimates have
been reinforced by testimony obtained from Soviet officials, who had previously
participated in suppressing the Lithuanian freedom fighters, after they
themselves went into exile[9].
Soviet authorities spoke very
frankly about the extent of the guerrilla war. They estimated that there were
around 9,000 Latvian national partisans, whom they resentfully referred to as „fascist
bandits.“ The Communist regime branded the Latvians a counter-revolutionary and
anti-Soviet people. It is indeed a great compliment to be called such names by
the Soviets. This is, furthermore, something new, because it has consistently
been standard Soviet practice to feign friendship with all peoples and to
differentiate between „exploiters,“ the „enemies of the people,“ and the
population as a whole.
It should be noted that
Latvian sources make roughly the same estimation of the number of the Latvian
national partisans. On the average, the partisans survived the fighting only
for two or three years, and then were replaced by other men with military
training. Up until 1949 the national partisans controlled many parts of Latvia,
especially the peninsula of Courland. Their successes can be explained by the
fact that about 43 per cent of Latvia is covered by forests, lakes and swamps.
This terrain was exploited by seasoned fighters from the two divisions of the
Latvian Legion mobilized by the Germans. At the time of the German capitulation
they had taken to the forests. These Latvian troops took their weapons with
them, obtaining additional arms and ammunition from the German army depots in the
fortress of Courland, the last-ditch redoubt of Hitler's Army Group North.
Later on they used captured Russian weapons. Above all, they enjoyed the
support of the overwhelming majority of Latvians.
After the collectivization of
agriculture, the Soviet authorities carried out their largest deportation,
involving mainly the farm population, in 1949. This measure considerably
deprived the national partisans of food supplies, civilian support, and a
source of new recruits. Nevertheless, so resourceful were the partisans that
they captured food and money from the collective farms and state-owned stores.
The collectivization and mass
deportations, however, spelled the beginning of the end of the large-scale
guerrilla war. Gradually the partisans were demobilized. They were provided
with forged or purchased identification documents in the black markets to
enable them to filter back into the civilian population.
The question of the fate of
the former partisans is still open. Those who criticize the guerrilla war assert
that it was a lost cause from the very beginning. In fact, however, the
national partisans, by executing many Soviet functionaries, made many of the
others fear for their lives. In many cases Soviet officials intentionally
overlooked the surviving partisans, especially when they moved far away from
their former homes or to the metropolis of Riga, with its 700,000 inhabitants.
Communists fear retaliation; this is the only argument that they understand.
Nor should the fact be overlooked that the national partisans created a legend
for the future. The only peoples who deserve independent states are those
willing to fight for them!
The writer of this paper has
the sad duty of pointing out that the noble aspiration and hope of President
Ulmanis – to save the Latvian people from extermination by accepting the
ultimatum of the Soviet Union without offering military resistance – proved
mistaken. The mass deportations carried out by the government of the Soviet
Union, the mobilization of over 150,000 Latvians by the Germans, and the very
bloody guerrilla war caused such losses to the population that they cannot be
correctly estimated at this time. These painful facts cannot diminish President
Ulmanis' outstanding achievements and his glorious rule.
Donald Day, correspondent of
the Chicago Tribune in Eastern Europe for 22 years, in his book Onward
Christian Soldiers devotes more pages to Ulmanis than to any other
statesman, including Poland's Marshal Pilsudski. According to Day, Ulmanis
believed that the Latvians' best hope for a future national existence was to
raise their living standard and culture to such a high level that the people,
no matter what the immediate future might bring, would always treasure these
memories in their hearts. In Days opinion Ulmanis was the greatest man Latvia
has ever produced[10].
Karlis Ulmanis was the great
president of a small country. After the Hitler-Stalin pact and the outbreak of
World War II, only God could save Latvia.
One misunderstanding should be
corrected. There is still a widespread belief in the Western democracies that
Communism is a lesser evil than National Socialism. The former Marxist
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, with great reluctance, recognized that National
Socialism was a lesser evil than Communism. Indeed, it should be emphasized
that even William L. Shirer, whose strong anti-German bias concerning all
periods of German history is well known, when writing about Latvia and the
other Baltic States in his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,
stated that Stalin, in dealing with small countries, could be as crude and as
ruthless as Hitler, and even more cynical[11].
Latvian Resistance, Soviet Oppression
After the end of the guerrilla
war, the Latvians resorted to passive resistance. In spite of the well-known
Latvian individualism, which has caused keen foreign observers to say that
Latvians are strong as individuals and weak in cooperation, Soviet rule has
fostered a strong Latvian national unity. Now, in Soviet-occupied Latvia,
Latvians help their fellow Latvians in any way they can. There are no longer
any parties in Latvia: all Latvians constitute one community of suffering.
In general Latvians do their
best to maintain their language, culture and national traditions. Above all
they have done and continue to do everything possible to achieve the best
education for their children. In this regard they have succeeded, because the
Latvians. together with the Estonians, are the best educated among the captive
peoples and by far more educated than the Russians.
In spite of all the Latvians'
efforts to survive as a people, the outlook grows more bleak with each passing
year. To be sure, after the major deportation of 1949, no new mass deportations
have occurred. On the contrary, an amnesty for certain categories of political
prisoners was proclaimed after Stalin's death in 1953. Several thousand
Latvians returned to their native land, most of them as invalids, broken in
body and spirit But deportations from Latvia still continue, as young people
are inveigled into volunteering for the cultivation of virgin lands or for
mining in Central Asia and Siberia.
The Russian eight years' war
in Afghanistan provided the government of the Soviet Union with a new
opportunity to deport Latvian youth. Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians,
Ukrainians, Georgians, Armenians and other subject peoples are sent as soldiers
to Afghanistan to eliminate the Afghans and at the same time to spare, as much
as possible, the pro-Soviet Russians. Losses among Latvian soldiers are very
high because the Soviet authorities deliberately engage them in the riskiest
military operations.
The Latvian organizations in
exile have to some extent succeeded in reaching agreements with the fighting
Afghans to spare Latvian prisoners of war. But these measures can only be of a
limited scope, because the various Afghan tribes lack both a united military
command and common organization abroad which could function as a
government-in-exile.
The Chernobyl nuclear plant
disaster, caused by the gross negligence of the Soviet authorities, presented
the Soviets with yet another pretext to deport Latvians, Estonians,
Lithuanians, and other subject peoples. Those drafted to clean up the Chernobyl
mess were told that they would have to work for only three months at the site.
Yet those who survived the nuclear clean-up, under the most miserable
conditions, were not allowed to return to their homes. The cheapest thing in
the Soviet Union is human life.
The Soviet authorities in
occupied Latvia have engaged in the systematic destruction of graves, entire
cemeteries, churches and many other historical monuments. For instance, the
graves of President Karlis Ulmanis's family were destroyed by the Russian
barbarians. The monument and memorial museum of the first Latvian
commander-in-chief, Oskars Kalpaks, were likewise destroyed by the Soviets.
Destruction of church property has been extensive. The historic Lutheran Dome
of Riga – the cathedral of the archbishop – has been turned into a concert
hall, the historic St. Peter's Church into a museum and the Greek Catholic
Cathedral into a planetarium Numerous other churches have been transformed into
warehouses cinemas, clubs, or meeting halls, or have been burned down. Many
Latvians known for their outspoken anti-Communism have been killed in „accidents,“
not only in Soviet-ruled Latvia, but also in the United States, Canada and West
Germany. Latvians are not safe from Russian persecution, even in exile.
The Fight Goes on Abroad
The Baltic exiles have not,
however, allowed themselves to be intimidated. The diplomatic and consular
representatives of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, in conjunction with the
worldwide organizations of the Baltic peoples, function as governments in
exile. A new generation of Baltic young people, provided by their parents with
educations in the finest universities of America, Canada, Australia, and
Western Europe, has moved into the leadership of the exile organizations. More
important, they have succeeded in bringing their fight for justice and the
liberation of their fatherlands into international forums.
As a result of their endless
activity and effort, on January 13, 1983 the Parliament of Europe in Strasbourg
passed a resolution that strongly condemned the occupation of the Baltic States
by the Soviet Union. The resolution calls the Soviet Union the last colonial
empire and demands that the issue of the Baltic States be brought before the
United Nations. The European resolution is firmly based on numerous treaties,
including those concluded and subsequently violated by the Soviet Union. The
language of the resolution stresses that the three Baltic peoples waged a
large-scale guerrilla war against the Russian troops for eight years
(1944-1952) and that about 665,000 Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians have
been deported by the Soviet authorities to forced labor camps since 1940.
Encouraged by this success, on
July 25 and 26, 1985 the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian exile organizations
held an international tribunal against the government of the Soviet Union,
charging it with genocide and other crimes against humanity in the three Baltic
states. A panel of internationally known authorities in the field of human
rights issued its verdict, the Copenhagen Manifesto, which found the Soviet
government guilty as charged[12].
Meanwhile a Baltic ship,
symbolizing the ideal of peace based upon freedom, sailed along the coasts of
Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Impressive demonstrations against the Soviet Union
took place in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. West European TV networks and
major newspapers gave these events good coverage. It is regrettable that only The
Wall Street Journal, among major American papers, gave these stories any
notice at all.
Useful Idiots Against Baltic Freedom: The OSI
As might have been expected,
the Soviet Union answered these initiatives by organizing so-called war crimes
trials. Unfortunately, the Justice Department's Office of Special
Investigations (OSI) entered into collaboration with the Soviet secret police.
Karl Linnas, an Estonian-born resident of Long Island who was stripped of his citizenship
by a federal court for participating in alleged war crimes committed by Hider
during World War II, was implicated by „evidence“ compiled by the Soviet KGB.
Their evidence was forged, fabricated and fraudulent As a result, Linnas was
deported by the U.S. government to illegally occupied Estonia, where he had
been already condemned to death by Soviet courts. On his arrival the Soviet
prosecutor informed him that the Soviet Union had no case against him due to
statutory limitation. Soon afterward, the Soviets announced his death.
The Linnas case was an
outrageous violation of the U.S. Constitution. Linnas and other U.S. citizens
of Eastern European origin in the so-called war criminal cases have been
treated as third-class citizens, deprived of due process, a trial by jury, and
protection from the application of ex post facto laws. The statutory
basis for these outrages is a special law passed by Congress during the Carter
administration. The writer of this paper believes that this is a bill of attainder,
and thus forbidden by the U.S. Constitution. Congress has likewise grossly
violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers of the three
branches of government.
To do justice to President
Reagan, it should be noted that he fired Allan A. Ryan, Jr., who was not
covered by the civil service laws. Ryan's answer to the President was a book, Quiet
Neighbors: Prosecuting Nazi War Criminals in America (New York Harcourt,
Brace and Jovanovich, 1984). In this book Ryan shows great zeal to justify the
activities of the nefarious OSI. Characterizing Latvians, Lithuanians, and
Estonians in general as collaborators with the Germans, he engages in character
assassination of the three peoples as a whole. He seems irritated that the U.S.
government does not recognize the Soviet annexation of the three Baltic
countries. Since colonialism has come to an end in Africa and Asia, Ryan and
his Soviet accomplices are no longer in the mainstream of twentieth-century
ideas. His book amply demonstrates that he and the OSI owe their allegiance to
the Soviet Union, as evidenced by their instigation of ethnic and sectarian
hatred and their attempts to intimidate outspoken anti-Communists.
Even in this regard, they have
miserably failed. They are blind to the fact that young Latvians, Lithuanians,
and Estonians are well educated, resourceful, and courageous. Baltic young
people will only increase their struggle against the Soviet Union and its
leftist fifth column in the U.S. The Baltic youth of today cannot and will not
allow itself to be legally or morally burdened with war crimes committed before
their births. They do not hate Ryan, they despise him. Only a misfit like Ryan
fails to see this. Lenin called such persons „useful idiots.“ The pro-Soviet
elements in the U.S., including the OSI, suffered a great setback in September
1986, when the superpowers met in a conference at Jurmala, Latvia. There, on
the eighteenth of September, White House adviser and ambassador Jack Matlock
told the conference, in the Latvian language, that the U.S. has never
recognized and will not recognize the legitimacy of the forcible incorporation
of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia into the Soviet Union.
This declaration was twice
carried on local television and has spread throughout Riga the capital of
Latvia. Mattock immediately became a national hero in Latvia, and Latvians
consider President Reagan the best friend of Latvia. This was one declaration
that the American news media could not suppress.
Prospects for an Independent Latvia
During the decade beginning in
1965, both houses of Congress passed sense-of-Congress resolutions condemning
the genocidal measures of the government of the Soviet Union in the Baltic
States, and asking for the restoration of these nations' independence. Congress
has also passed annual resolutions declaring June 14 to be Baltic States' Day
and condemning the mass deportations carried out by the Soviets in the Baltic
nations.. President Reagan has each year signed strong Captive Nations
proclamations and the Baltic States' Day resolutions calling the Soviet Union
an aggressor and demanding the restoration of independence of Latvian
Lithuania, and Estonia. Again, it is unfortunate that those resolutions and
proclamations are almost never mentioned by our major news media.
Today there is a strong
underground movement in the Baltic States. The underground organizations have
frequently sent memoranda to the governments of the Western democracies asking
for the restoration of the rights of self-determination and independence for
the Baltic peoples. These communiques are also ignored by our news media.
It should be noted that a
falsified history taught in Western academic institutions stresses alleged
German imperialism, ignoring the fact that after 1254 (the end of the Hohenstaufen
dynasty), Germany became and remained largely a geographic concept up to the
unification of Germany by Otto von Bismarck in 1870. Students in most American
schools and universities are studiously deprived of the knowledge that for
several centuries the Russians have engaged in large-scale colonial plundering
and exploitation of quite advanced non-Russian and non-Slavic peoples, and that
todays Soviet Russia is a prison of peoples.
It is a lack of intellectual
integrity that prevents academics from informing American students that the
Russians have consistent plans to achieve global domination by any and all
means. A good example of this kind of misinformation is provided by the whole
galaxy of U.S. and West European TV networks and newspapers, assisted by
spurious pollsters, which have pictured Gorbachev as a leader with constructive
ideas of how to achieve peace, contrary to the negative attitude of President
Reagan. They deliberately ignore the fact that during the short totalitarian
dictatorship of Gorbachev the mass murders in Afghanistan, including those of
women and children, have reached a climax, resulting in the deaths or exile of
a third of the population.. Thus, behind his facade of moderation, Gorbachev
has demonstrated his true barbarian mentality.
It should be stated that only
pro-Soviet Western capitalists, such as the Rockefellers, can postpone the
disintegration of the Soviet empire due to its highly unstable and precarious
economy, the explosive, growing nationalism of the captive peoples, and the
conflicting interests of Soviet Russia and Red China.
Latvian youth, in Latvia and
in exile, is using the slogan of President Ulmanis: „Latvia for Latvians and
Latvians for Latvia.“ Before his deportation to Russia, Ulmanis declared to his
closest coworkers: „We can be oppressed, we can be partly exterminated, but, as
long as a single Latvian is alive, the struggle will continue for the right to
live in a free and independent Latvia.“
The author of this study
believes that he will see an independent Latvia once more, a Latvia which is
now in the process of formation, a new Latvia, Latvia restored.
Notes
[1] Zanis Unams (ed.), Es Vinu
Pazistu. Biografiska
Vardnica (Riga: 1939), pp. 501-505.
[2] Dr. Arnolds Spekke, History of Latvia (Stockholm: 1951) pp. 347-348. Dr. Spekke was the
Minister of Latvia in Washington, D.C. (1954-1970).
[3] Edgars Dunsdorfs, Karla Ulmana Dzive (Stockholm:
1978) pp. 193-209.
[4] Unams (ed.), Es Vinu Pazistu,
pp. 501-504.
[5] Dr. Alfreds Bilmanis, History of Latvia (Princeton University Press: 1951) pp. 394-407.
The late Bilmanis was the Minister of Latvia to the U.S. (1935-1948) and a
prominent Latvian historian.
[6] Joseph Pajaujis-Javis, Soviet Genocide in Lithuania, appendix No. 4, pp. 224-229.
[7] Alfreds Zeichners, Latvijas Bolsevizacija, 1940-1941. (The authors edition, Riga 1944)
p. 458; Bilmanis, History of Latvia, p. 406.
[8] Clarence A. Manning, The Forgotten Republics (New York 1952), pp. 232-235.
[9] Pajaujis-Javis, Soviet Genocide in Lithuania, pp. 91-117.
[10] Donald Day, Onward
Christian Soldiers (The Noontide Press, Torrance, California 1982), p. 33.
[11] Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, Vols I-II, (Harper and Row Publishers, New
York), I, p. 145. William L Shirer, The
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York 1962), p. 1041.
[12] Baltic Tribunal Against the Soviet Union July 25 and 26, 1985, Copenhagen (published by the World Federation
of Free Latvians), pp. 1-195
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