Rinkēvičs: Deportation Victims' Dreams Destroyed, Families Broken

Marking 85 years since the mass deportations of June 14, 1941, President Edgars Rinkēvičs participated in a memorial event at the "Vēstures taktīla" (History's Touch) memorial. He noted that many repression victims could not speak after what they endured, and that silence is the most horrific testimony of communist terror.

The President recalled that four out of ten deportees perished in exile, and those who returned did not come back to their homes, as they had lost a free Latvia. "Their dreams were destroyed, families broken, goals and skills no longer mattered," Rinkēvičs said. He urged everyone who has the opportunity to live in an independent Latvia to dedicate their energy to ensuring the country remains free and strong, so that such horrors never recur.

According to the Latvian State Archives, on June 14, 1941, more than 15,425 people were deported from Latvia, including 3,751 children under 16. Men were separated from their families and sent to gulag camps, where many were sentenced to death. From Torņakalns station alone, about 9,300 people were packed into cattle cars and transported to Siberia. Today, a memorial stone and a railway car stand there, symbolizing one of the darkest days in Latvian history.

Various remembrance events are being held across Latvia on Sunday to honor the victims of the communist genocide.