Siberian Children Meet with Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs
On June 14th, President Edgars Rinkēvičs met with the repressed – Latvian children who were taken to Siberia on June 14th, 1941, at the Riga Castle. Presidential speach:
“Mrs. Geka, ladies and gentlemen,
Usually we say, “repressed”, but I would like to say, dear friends!
Today is a touching moment to meet with you here, in Riga Castle, on June 14, 85 years since the first major deportations and repressions. There were two great waves of repression in the history of our people. One – in 1941, the other – in 1949. And these were the two moments when our people suffered the greatest losses both in the war and in these repressions.
85 years ago, the Stalinist communist regime tried to destroy our intelligentsia, our officers, the flower of our people and society. It was an event that, I think, we still feel now, because many people from the creative intelligentsia, business, and public administration would have been very, very dear to us and their descendants would have been very, very dear to us. useful.
But I also have a great honor to meet you, those who have been in Siberia, who have been in exile. At that moment you were children, but childhood memories are probably the most vivid. Much more vivid than many things that have happened later. First of all, I have to say a big thank you to Mrs. Gek. When I came here, I reviewed both “Children of Siberia” and reread one other life story. Those stories were documented a long, long time ago, from 2000 to 2007. Then there were many still alive who still remembered those events very well. You remember those events, and I want to say thank you for sharing them, because nothing is more dangerous than forgetting. Nothing is more dangerous than silence. Because if we remain silent today, if we do not remember what happened to us, then such events may also be repeated. We may lose our vigilance. And right now, vigilance is very important. It is very important to strengthen our defense, also the strength and resilience of our people’s spirit. And only through memory, through what you say, is this possible.
Therefore, I want to say a big thank you to you for coming here, for what you do every day, telling your story to your loved ones and to younger generations, and also to memorialize these stories for future generations, both in videos and in memoirs, and also by giving interviews.
Thank you! We will definitely meet again today at the Occupation Museum, but today I would also be very happy to talk to you and listen to your stories. Thank you again to those who help you memorialize these stories.”