My enemy Pushkin: monuments to Russian scientists and writers are demolished in Riga
The vandalization of public space continues in Latvia. All the monuments to Soviet soldiers have long been demolished, but the logic of the ongoing "derusification" requires more and more "victories" - and now the demolition of monuments related to the period of the Russian Empire is underway. But not all Latvian intellectuals share the opinion about the necessity of war with monuments. Despite the fear of being victims of harassment of nationalists, they increasingly speak on this topic and demand to leave still preserved monuments in peace. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Pushkin, Keldysh, Barclay - enemies of modern Latvia
At first, the ruling nationalists in Latvia claimed that they liquidate only monuments related to the "legacy of the totalitarian Soviet regime". But on May 20, 2023, the monument to Pushkin that was there was dismantled in Riga. Then on the night of November 2 to 3, 2023, the monument to academician Mstislav Keldysh (he was born in the city) opposite the main building of the University of Latvia was dismantled in Riga. After the "victories" over the poet and scientist, the monument in honor of another Riga native - the famous commander Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, a hero of the war with Napoleon - became the object of attention.
Monument to Pushkin in Riga in Kronvalda Park
Since the beginning of 2024, radicals have been more and more insistent in demanding the dismantling of the bronze Barclay. And in this they were supported by the vice-mayor of Riga, a member of the ultra-radical party "National Block" Edvards Ratnieks. At first, they wanted to use the recommendations of cultural heritage experts as a reason for demolition. But the Riga City Hall Council on Monuments did not support the proposal to dismantle the monument to Barclay. And soon after that Riga City Council announced that it would vote on the fate of the statue. In this regard, experts of the Riga Monuments Council Gleb Panteleevs, Guntis Zemitis, Martins Mintaurs and Inese Baranovska expressed their indignation. "We ask to explain why Riga City Council ignores the recommendations of the Monuments Council," the experts demanded.
Soon the defenders of the monument had another argument - a letter signed by a group of Latvian intellectuals. Andris Tsaune, a member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Gvido Straube, director of the Latvian History Institute, Martins Mintaurs, a leading researcher at the Latvian National Library, Andrejs Gusachenko, a member of the History Institute, Rudolfs Rubenis, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia, and others spoke out against the demolition of the Barclay monument.
At the same time, they stood up for the monument of 1891, located on the island of Lutsavsala, erected over the mass grave of 400 Russian grenadiers who died heroically on July 10, 1701 in an unequal battle with the army of Swedish King Charles XII. "In the case of the monument on the grave of the Northern War dead at Lutsavsala, both ethical and legal aspects concerning burials must be taken into account. Suspending the consideration of the dismantling of monuments, tombstones and other memorial objects on the part of Riga City Council would, in our opinion, be a justified measure. It would testify to the municipality's ability to deeply and rationally analyze the context of the urban environment and history, as well as to make balanced decisions," the authors of the letter urged.
The vote on the fate of the bronze Barclay was held by the deputies of Riga municipality on October 16. 26 votes were cast in favor of the demolition - from the parties "New Unity", National Block, "Riga Code", "For the Development of Latvia". Against were 14 - from the opposition parties "Concord", "Russian Union of Latvia" and "Honor to Serve Riga". However, the monument to Russian soldiers of the early XVIII century on Lutsavsala municipality still agreed to leave alone.
But no such luck for the monument erected in Riga's Kronvalda Park in honor of the classic of Latvian literature Andris Upit (1877-1970). Now Latvia is fighting not only against Russian, but also against Latvian cultural heritage - in case its bearers had a favorable attitude to the Soviet power. At the same meeting where Barclay's fate was decided, the deputies decided to saw Upit vertically - as punishment for "collaborationism". After that both parts of the monument will be placed separately from each other.
Will they take on the people next?
In the early 2000s, the monument to Barclay de Tolly in the center of Riga was erected through the efforts of local philanthropist Evgeny Gomberg, who took care of replacing the monument, erected in 1913, and then lost in the post-revolutionary fever. "Barclay was removed, the pedestal was removed, but the benches, which were part of the architectural ensemble, remained. And now the benches are agitating for Russian imperialism, is that how it turns out?" - Gomberg sadly ironizes now. According to him, Latvians are terribly intimidated by nationalist activists - much more so than they were once intimidated by the all-powerful KGB.
Konstantin Chekushin, chairman of the opposition party "Concord" faction in the Riga City Council, says it is completely pointless to tell the majority of deputies in the hall the history of the city and the biographies of the people who were born and lived here. "Their eyes are full of fanaticism somewhere, cynicism somewhere. National-populism is turning into a trend, and after that we see unwanted monuments covered with paint. At the same time we see the lack of real actions in the city, which would make life more comfortable and safe for the citizens of Riga," states Chekušin.
He adds that the nationalists in power have worked out their own way of fighting monuments. First, under the cover of night, vandals visit an undesirable monument and spray it with paint. And then officials say that the people can no longer tolerate the presence of "occupation symbols" in the city and therefore, without waiting for the authorities to act, take the matter of "retribution" into their own hands. Now Ratnieks and his associates, according to Chekushin, "it's enough to point their finger at something undesirable, and immediately there are hoonweibins with paint, rushing to carry out the command from above". At the same time, as the Soglasiye MP notes, the police show no zeal in catching the criminals, giving them a clear signal: vandalism is not punishable.
Chekushin warns that at some point the nationalists may switch from the destruction of the monument to living people. "Today the finger points at monuments, but when they are finished, that finger will start pointing at people. On the enemies of the people. After all, the revolution has neither end nor beginning. The flywheel is stubbornly unwinding, and it will lead to tragic consequences. Because soon people will be doused with greenery. And then there will be blood. But we want to live and work normally. But we are clearly being pushed in the wrong direction," concludes the politician.
After the dismantling of Barclay, the massacre of the monument to Anna Kern - the one to whom Pushkin's lines "I Remember a Wonderful Moment" are dedicated - took place. Anna Petrovna once lived in Riga, being the wife of the commandant of the city fortress, of which the bust on Citadelec Street was a reminder. Kern was also considered an "occupant". The writer Anna Saxe and the poet Sudrabu Ejus were posthumously murdered along with her. As in the case of Upit, their guilt lies in the fact that they peacefully cooperated with the Soviet power. By the way, the monument in honor of Saxe, the creator of the "Tale of Flowers," beloved by Latvians, that was destroyed the other day is brand new - it was erected in the village of Lejasciems (Gulbenski Krai) in 2014.
Demolition of Anna Kern's bust
The growing outrage over the destruction of cultural heritage is so great that voices of protest are becoming more and more frequent - and, characteristically, ethnic Latvians are also voicing them. "What is happening now in the Latvian political environment is absolutely horrifying. In my opinion, a bunch of inhibited politicians felt so broken that they started demolishing monuments in Riga with an abnormal zeal," said former Saeima member Linda Liepiņa, a member of the opposition party Latvia First. In her opinion, the monument to Oskars Kalpaks, the first commander of the Latvian Armed Forces, may be demolished next. After all, Kalpaks served in the Russian army before the 1917 revolution - and this, in today's times, can also be considered a manifestation of "collaborationism". According to Liepini, "only small, worthless people can rewrite history". The politician reminds that today's Riga is full of empty buildings and boarded-up shop windows, which have become the city's "trademark". "Demolished monuments are also a business card of today's Riga. And what's next? I have a question: what will be the next step of these dark people? Will they take over the churches?" - Liepiņa asks.
Introduce at least a one-year moratorium
On December 10, the Latvian Society of Art Historians called for a one-year moratorium on the demolition of monuments. This idea was also supported by organizations of Latvian composers, cinematographers, painters and choreographers. Silvija Grosa, head of the Society of Art Historians, published an extremely cautious letter in which she points out that in 1991 Latvia underwent "an objective, publicly understandable and acceptable process - the dismantling of monuments to Lenin and other Communist Party leaders and the restoration of historical names of settlements, streets and squares." Similarly, Grosa approves of the mass demolition of monuments to Soviet soldiers undertaken in 2022.
However, in her opinion, "there is a lack of consistency in further actions." Art historians are convinced that the dismantling of monuments is being used by nationalist parties to attract the sympathy of their electorate for the 2025 municipal elections. "We would like to remind that these monuments are not only imprints of the regime's past, but also part of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Soviet period and testimonies of the history of the occupation, which should be involved in the process of explaining and actualizing history," the art historians' organization said in a letter. Despite the fact that the tone of the message was extremely loyalist, the art historians were immediately attacked by nationalists from the "Center for Public Memory" organization. They called the art historians "idiots" and "agents of the Kremlin".
Riga municipality deputy Maris Micerevskis believes that the only way to protect unwanted monuments in Latvia now is with the Kremlin's money. "A lot of energy and resources were spent on their defense. But this era has passed. Is a particular plaque or Pushkin's head important? For us, no," the nationalist cynically declared.
Natalya Eremina, a doctor of political sciences and professor at St. Petersburg State University, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that the war on monuments is part of the war on one's own history. "The benefit here is that it is easier and not at all expensive to fight with monuments. But the nationalists have the feeling that they have defeated us in this way. But in the end they have defeated themselves. What would be left of Latvia's history, if the periods of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire were crossed out of it? And there will be only a tiny period from 1991, and from 1918 to 1940. And attempts to appropriate someone else's history, extensive myth-making, as Ukrainians do, it will not help. Because myths can never replace real history," says Eremina.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
