A typical Holocaust memorial consists of old barracks and remnants of brick buildings. Salaspils, Latvia is a unique experience. Instead of barracks and buildings, the Latvian government honors Holocaust victims with gigantic statues that commemorate those who survived and perished.
Latvian History of the Holocaust
The Soviet Army entered Latvia in June 1940. The Jewish community believed this was a good sign, since they mistakenly thought the Soviets would shield them from the anti-Semite Germans. However, by June 1941 many Latvians and Latvian Jews were deported. On June 22, Hitler's Vermacht invaded Latvian territory and by July 3, the Nazis occupied all of Latvia.
Exterminations of the Jews and other Latvians began in the summer of 1941 all over Latvia, from Liepaja to Jelgava. Historians estimate that 30,000 Jews were exterminated in Latvia during the summer of 1941. The Nazis destroyed synagogues and robbed and raped their victims. In Latvia's capital city of Riga, there was a Jewish ghetto. In the ghetto, adults worked under strict Nazi orders and children did not receive education.
Salaspils Latvia
Located in the village of Salaspils was the largest concentration camp in Latvia. Salaspils is 40 kilometers outside of Riga. The camp was in existence from October 1941 to October 1944. It had 45 barracks for its estimated 14,000 to 25,000 prisoners at one time. The Nazis exterminated over 50,000 prisoners, and this figure included 7000 children.
Today, Salaspils has a unique memorial at the site of the camp. The remnants of the barracks are hardly there. In their place are gigantic stone statues memorializing the Holocaust victims. The names of these four imposing statues are The Mother, The Humiliated, The Unbroken and Solidarity. Also, on the site is a small museum.
Perhaps the most unique thing about the memorial is its location in the middle of nowhere. There are no tours, tour groups or signs. A visitor must take the train from Riga to the Darzini stop and walk 15 minutes through a forest trail to the memorial, which is situated in the middle of a forest clearing. It is an intimate and silent site. As one enters the memorial, there is a sign. The sign is in Latvian and translates to "the earth moans beyond this gate."
The Holocaust occurred in Latvia. The Nazis exterminated thousands of people and in their remembrance is the Salaspils memorial, all alone in the midst of a pine forest.
Check out the Suite 101 Eastern European blog.
Sources
"The Latvian Holocaust" -- viewed September 1, 2010
"Salaspils Concentration Camp" -- viewed Sept 1, 2010
Jennifer Ciotta - Jennifer Ciotta is the author of I, Putin (Vladimir Putin novel): http://vladimirputinnovel.com.
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