Riga Train Station 
Propaganda(More on the way. . .)
Skandinieki-Mother of Latvian Folk Choirs(Zinta, Julija's mama, is the one on the far left)
At the WWII Memorial a couple of days ago VE Day in Latvia is celebrated primarily by ethnic Russians. Most Latvians look at May 9 as commemorating those inglorious days in which one dictator was defeated and another took over, bringing more mass deportations, executions/purges, and an attempt at cultural genocide. They are not being bad sports for not celebrating this day as Western Europeans and many Russians do, or as folks nostalgic for the Soviet past do; those who think so minimize their suffering and the importance of their collective memory/experience of the history of the WWII period.
To my mind, it is important to commemorate Hitler's end; but in those countries where it matters, the day should indded also be a commemoration of what happened in the wake of that defeat--another devastating defeat.
To my mind, it is important to commemorate Hitler's end; but in those countries where it matters, the day should indded also be a commemoration of what happened in the wake of that defeat--another devastating defeat.
Daughter Julija
Julija's First Teeth
3 comments:
Well it is good to have you back my friend. The baby girl is beautiful.
Thanks. It feels good to have both the time and the desire to write. Even more, IT FEELS GREAT to be back in Eastern Europe and away from the US.
And oh, thanks. . .Julite (diminuitive for Julija in Latvian)is the apple of my eye. . .
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