Destruction of Latvian Cultural and Industrial Heritage during World War II: The cases of Rēzekne and Jelgava (1944)

• In Event: Latvia in World War II: History, Memory and Conditionality

Abstract

The World War II not only destructed independence of Baltic States and lives of many of their inhabitants but in many cases changed its cultural and industrial heritage beyond recognition. Responsibility for all these misdeeds lies to both Soviet and German regimes and armies which abused inhabitants and used the territory as their battleground without any care of its citizens and sustainability of its material heritage. The paper would focus on two Latvian cities – Rēzekne and Jelgava, both of which experienced a rather different way of destruction, but with quite similar result. Rēzekne faced massive Soviet air raids and German destructive politics prior their leaving of the town, while Jelgava experienced fire of heavy weapons from both sides and intense street fighting which changed its visual identity and structure completely. These two examples show the character of a total war in which cultural and industrial achievements were far less important than military strategic plans of the warring sides. The paper is based on reports of Soviet long-range aviation units, Soviet and German military units, as well as on memoirs of the inhabitants of aforementioned cities. Recently declassified Soviet documents give an opportunity to look on these events from new perspective and collect a new factual material, as well as to reevaluate the Soviet and German politics in the Baltic region.

Author

• Jānis Tomaševskis, University of Latvia, Latvian War Museum