Latvia and Estonia and Lithuania are now officially part of the
European Union. For three-quarter's of my life, these regions were
immersed in the steel wire of the Soviet Union, and freedom and
independence was a distant memory of the past and unthinkable for
the future. I ask, dear viewer, that you pause for a moment and
remember the republics' location in liberty-space in 1991, and
compare that to where we are today.
These photos document one small part of the Baltic Republics'
fight for freedom. In July 1991, one month before the Coup in Moscow
that brought the USSR tumbling down, I travelled for my second time
to Latvia and Estonia. My previous visit was in January 1990, and
the changes from one-and-a-half years before were clear. Lithuania
had already declared its Independence (March 1990), even though the
USSR didn't agree. Latvians and Estonians had also made significant
steps, pushing the freedom envelope. I saw Latvian and Estonian
flags flown for the first time. I read literature that talked of the
USSR as a country 'abroad'. Everyone was talking openly, nervously,
excitedly. They didn't know then, that their independence would be
real one month later, nor in their wildest dreams could they have
imagined that they would be part of Europe thirteen years later. It
makes one a bit dizzy to think about it.
Except where otherwise indicated, Text and Photos © Copyright Amara Graps, 2004.
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By 1990, the nationalist
demonstrations were undermining the local and Moscow
communist governments. These photos show the upper
part of a poster prepared after the largest demonstration
called the 'Baltic Way', which occurred on the 23rd of
August, 1989. On this day, two million Balts (two-fifths of
the entire native population of the region) formed a
continuous 370-mile human chain from Vilnius through Riga to
Tallinn to demand independence. The words underneath the
three Republics' flags is 'Freedom' in each of their
languages.
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Mainstream newspapers reporting
unbiased and objective news (in English too), was
available in the Baltics.
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The money currency was still the rouble.
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Many everyday things didn't function.
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Cars were still relatively few
and petrol queues relatively long. One year before, Moscow
had imposed a blockade of petrol to Lithuania (undermined
by individual soldiers who sold military petrol on the black
market) but, here in Estonia, for the moment, it was
available.
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I was in Riga alone for the
first time, learning my way around using public
transportation and guided by the Riga street map given to me by my
uncle. However, he forgot to tell me that some street names
here on my map had changed and more were changing. Many or
most of the new street names are street names from before
the Soviet occupation.
Lenina iela (street) --> Brivibas (Freedom) bulvaris (boulevard)
Gorkija iela --> Kr. Valdemara iela
Kirova iela --> Elizabetes iela
K. Marks iela --> Gertudes iela
F. Engels iela --> Stabu iela
Sarkanarmija iela -->Bruninieku iela
Revolucijas iela --> Matisa iela
Komjaunes _-> 11 Novembra
Kommunaru bulvaris --> Kalpaka bulvaris
Kirova parks --> Vermanes darzi
(But why was Radiotechnikas iela changed to Mukusalas iela?)
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This is a view from the Daugava
River looking towards one side of the Riga castle. What is
unusual about this picture? What is unusual is that the
Latvian flag is flying. Technically it was still illegal to
fly such a flag, however since about 1989, national flags
were openly displayed at demonstrations, and since about
1990, you could see them flown on public buildings such as
this one.
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Each Baltic Republic moved at different speeds, and not in the same
order, in their struggle for independence. Latvia was a pathbreaker
in demonstrations and revelations early in 1987-1988, then Estonia
led the confrontations with the Kremlin to about 1990. Then
Lithuania took the bold step in March 1990 with their declaration of
independence. While economic failures were the steady irritants
in the Soviet Union's struggle to remain alive, revelations of the
full extent of the deportations and executions of the 1940s played a
part in eroding Soviet rule, with the back-breaking straw being the
truth about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the way that the Balts
came to be annexed in 1940. In Summer 1989, the Supreme Soviet in
Moscow admitted to the existence of the secret protocol of the Pact
and to their illegitimacy, in effect, paving the way for all
subsequent Soviet actions to be considered illigitimate. Dissidents
organized demonstrations. Boys deserted their Soviet army
conscription assignments. The Soviet military captured some, and
events were rapidly coming to a head. In September 1990, a series of
minor bomb attacks hit Latvian military targets; many were sure that
it was the work of Soviet hardliners to create an excuse for
military intervention.
By January 1991, Soviet OMON (special forces) were gathering in
Lithuania, and on January 11, the OMON stormed the Press House in
Vilnius. Other military buildings were also occupied by the Soviet
special forces. On the twelfth of January, the troops with armoured
vehicles made their way to the TV station and tower. Crowds gathered
to protect the building of the Supreme Council and the TV and radio
station and the TV tower. The troops shot into the crowds, killing
13 people, and one women died when she lay down in front of a tank.
(Helped from the book: The Baltic Revolution by Anatol Lieven, 1993,
Yale University Press, from his chapter: "The Independence Movements
and their Successors")
The next three photos came from the above book.
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Soviet OMON.
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Soviet Tank.
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Giving her life.
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The general mood at this time was that freedom was precious enough
to give one's life, and most other Balts in this situation would
have done the same as the woman above. When the Baltic people came
out in droves to protect their institutions and fight for freedom,
they had no guns and no weapons, but their hands. They gave all they
could, with what they had.
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One week later, the scene was
repeated in Riga. The Latvians had one advantage over the
Lithuanians in that their Parliament building was not
located in an open space, easily accessible. Theirs could only
be accessed by a couple of narrow streets, so it was on these
streets that the Latvians stacked materials to try to stop, or at
least, slow the tanks. Five Latvians died during that
confrontation with the OMON. These photos show what remained
of the blockade, when I visited the area six months
later. Tanks would have no trouble rolling over these
blocks, but perhaps larger blocks were in place, and already
removed.
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The Riga Radio Station with fortification.
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Here, you see some of the
grafitti on the barricades. The Lavians are no dummies, they
knew that the western journalists could better understand
their plight if they wrote their grafitti in English. The
insciption on the left reads: "Red Army Killers", and on the
right, it reads: "OMON, before you see the light of day, you
must die."
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This one reads in Latvian: "Our Motherland Latvia",
and the line below links Rubiks to the OMON. Alfreds Rubiks is an ethnic
Latvian, but was the most powerful Communist remaining in the Baltic. (I don't
know what has happened to him.)
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This is the most colorful of
the grafitti I saw on the blockades in July 1991. I've
provided a largish image to click on, so that you can better
read the words.
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Two of the five who died in Riga on 20 January, 1991, were cameramen
in the film crew of Juris Podnieks. Podnieks was a filmaker, revered
by the Latvians and other Balts. His news footage was used regularly
in the West and he made poignant documentaries about Chernobyl (he
was the only cameraman to capture it from the air and from the
ground), glasnost, and the Balts fight for freedom. He was in
Vilnius the week before, filming the confrontation with the Soviet
soldiers. On this night in Riga, Podnieks was with his son and his
two cameramen Gvido Zvaigzne and Andris Slapins. He and his group
were moving towards a location in Bastejkalns Park, on the Pilsetas
Canal, to film events, which were occuring just across the canal, on
the other side. On the hill behind them, just behind his filming team,
the OMON appeared unknown to them, and shot and killed the two
cameramen. Slapins was a friend as well as a colleague, and insisted
that Podnieks pick up his blood-stained camera and record his dying
words. "Keep filming..." he said.
Podnieks was not injured that night, but one year later, in June
1992, he had an accident and died. It was hard to believe for many
because he regularly engaged in acts tempting fate, and yet, at the
end, died in in a scuba diving accident.
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I've circled on the map, where the
confrontation with the OMON occurred.
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The film crew were looking beyond where this
woman is sitting, across the canal to the other side.
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The OMON came from this hill behind them.
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These markers remind us of what happened at this spot. This
marker is for Slapins.
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And this marker is for Zvaigzne.
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The city of Tallinn in Estonia,
also fortified the roads leading up to
their Parliament building in preparation against the OMON
in January 1991.
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Fortunately, there was no confrontation.
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This brochure describes in three
languages the song festival that was to take place over one weekend
in July 1991, near Tallinn, Estonia. The Balts fight for
independence is sometimes called 'The Singing Revolution'
because singing was one of the primary methods that they had
to preserve their culture during half a century of
occupation. They managed to regularly hold song
festivals, often in places outside of the Republics, but as
the Soviet Union opened up, more and more song festivals were held inside.
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Inside of this brochure, you will find this
description of the song festival. Note the reference to other countries
from "abroad".
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The singers are located in the big shell behind
the podium, where the choral director leads them. Given the number of singers
and space that they occupy, he must direct the choirs, compensating for
delays in sound travel time.
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A parade through the town of
Tallinn was held before the singing began. In this parade,
marched the participants of the song festival, dressed in
their native country's costume. A new feature of this parade
was the regions' flags carried proudly by the singers. I
remember an audible gasp when the Russian pink-blue-white
appeared- it was the first time that many saw it openly
displayed. Here I photograph the singers from Azerbajan, who
were, interestingly, placed next to the singers from Armenia
and then an ambulance in the parade line was moving between
them, too. At this time in July 1991, the Armenians and
Azerbajani were fighting hard over the disputed region of
Nagorno-Karabagh, so I was wondering why the parade
officials would be so stupid as to place the two groups next
to each other. Then I realized that the placement was simply
*alphabetical* ... (The ambulance was in fact, not
necessary.)
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Gorby met resistance from Baltic people every time he travelled out. This
demonstration by a few thousand San Francisco Bay area Baltic people
met Gorbachev as his limo drove to Stanford University in 1990. I remember
him rolling down his window and waiving to all of us, while we scowled at him
and waived our banners and flags.
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Me in the Stanford demonstration
in 1990. I had never participated in a political
demonstration before. My reproduction of the Latvian flag
could have been a little bit better.
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I hope that my photo story showed something about the Baltic people,
a people who understand what freedom means, and at the end, succeeded
in their fight.
Now, here we are in 2004. The three Baltic Republics are part of the
European Union. They have had their independence from the Kremlin
for only 13 years, and their own currency for about that long too.
If you hear some of them express some reservations about their
future in the EU, please understand that they are worried that a large
government far away (this time in Brussels) would not understand
what their small country needs. At this time, they are struggling to
rebuild after 50 years of Soviet rule, and sometimes succeeding,
sometimes failing. Many of the idealistic politicians that helped
them to gain freedom 13 years ago could not handle the political
life, and left, opening the door to other politicians who have
short-sighted visions. This will take time, so be patient. Let us
not forget their fight.
Latvia Page
Last Modified by Amara Graps
on 16 June 2004.
© Copyright Amara Graps, 2004.
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