Days 6 & 7
The difference between the historical center of Tallinn and Riga is not only in size, with Tallinn more an old town and Riga more an old city, but of time and architecture. Tallinn has older and more consistent style of small cobblestone streets without cars and former storage and warehouse converted to living space from the 16th century onward. Riga, which like Tallinn experienced many devastating fires, is a much newer place with magnificent buildings from the 1700’s through the art nouveau era at the turn of the twentieth century. We take a tour with our guide slightly outside the center where stand grand buildings created by both old and new money. There were several well known architects of the time trying to outdo each other with ornamental designs which reference ancient Egyptian, European and local Latvian myths. One Jewish architect was famous in his time, Michael Eisenstein, known as much for his womanizing as for his artistic work, but his son Sergei became even more famous for his movie craft in the early 20th century.
In the old center, we see older homes, including the famous 3 brothers standing next to each other, the oldest complex of dwellings still standing, one from the 15th century, one from the early 17th century and one from the late 17th century century. There are many squares and of course many churches which were conquered in the city history and switched from Roman Catholicism to Lutheran and back again, several times. Unlike Tallinn, there are a number of cars in the streets although perhaps they require local permits as I have seen parking lots on the outskirts designed for visitors.
Some special details on buildings that were pointed out to us were the cat sculptures on the roof of this building below.
In the afternoon, we visit the Museum of the Occupation in the old city, a well curated museum with photographs and stories. We have a good museum guide explaining to us the history of Latvia from the German 1940 occupation through the Soviet occupation in 1944, ending with Latvian independence in 1991. Chilling but accurate photographs and descriptions, directed toward depicting the suffering of the Latvian people by its occupiers. This included, very briefly, the round up of Jews and confinement in the Riga ghetto and then their extermination. At the end, I asked our young guide whether there was any reference to the massacre of Rumbula and he replied that there were so many executions in the woods outside Riga, they could not include them all. One version of what to emphasize in Latvian history.
As we know, history is very relative and depends from what perspective you are looking into the black hole of the past. That is very clear on this journey where each country has its own view of who holds responsibility for the actions that occurred in WWII. The next morning we visit a memorial of the great synagogue of Riga where 400 people were burnt alive by the Nazis. There we learn that the leading perpetrator of this horror was actually a Latvian put in charge of this Nazi project who managed to flee to Brazil after the war. But he finally, at an advanced age, met his death at the hands of the israeli Mossad who did not give up until he was found.
There is nothing left at the synagogue except a few reconstructed foundation pieces and a new monument to the people who died there. But we were also told, in the way of the convolutions of history, that this perpetrator before WWII was a famous and revered aviator and his daughter is now living in Latvia and trying to arrange for him to be reinterred in Riga with a heroes welcome.
We drive through what remains today of the Riga ghetto, a less affluent area where there are now old wooden houses next to more updated brick and concrete structures, many in the Soviet style. We also visit the only remaining synagogue in Riga a beautifully restored building in occasional use. It is hidden in the historical center of town and we were told the Nazis did not burn it because doing so would have endangered the local churches in the area. There are only about 5000 Jews now in Riga out of the 6000 throughout the country. Most of those returned home from Siberia after the war or emigrated from the nearer parts of the Soviet Union.
Our tour on this last day in Riga also included a stop at the Museum of Jews in Latvia, which covers much of the Jewish history from medieval times, through the holocaust to today. The largest memorial is a long granite wall with the carved names of the 70,000 Latvian Jews who lost their lives in the Riga ghetto. As it was in alphabetical roman letters, although in Hebrew style right to left, I found the “S” group and noticed quite a few members of the Simpsohn and Simsohn family. Perhaps related to those in my family from Lithuania who had fled to Latvia or were not able to emigrate from Lithuania in time.
Some of us spent our free time the last afternoon on a one hour cruise through the Daugava River waterfront and then in a circle around the canal that encircles the old part of the city, with locks and docks and then beautiful parks and monuments that enrich this beautiful urban site.
As I finish this post about Riga and Latvia, I will mention one aspect of its forward-facing culture that stands out: its dislike of Russia. This is of course understandable given the history of occupation and oppression it experienced in the 20th century. But to see how they thumb their noses at their powerful neighbor is amazing to me. Everywhere, on public and large private buildings as well, you see the Latvian Flag, the Riga Flag, and then the Ukrainian Flag. On one of the tallest buildings across from the old city is the TV and News building which has a very large blue and yellow flag strung across its front. But the most brazen example of this chutzpah is that right across the street from the Russian Embassy, starring into its windows, is a very large artwork of a bizarre portrait of Putin. This building is a Museum of Medicine which perhaps let them get away with this image below.
Not everything is old. A Latvian American architect designed this spectacular library on grounds along the river, the heart of the city.
I had unsalted rice crackers and peanut butter for dinner as my blood pressure is very high, perhaps due to the very high salt content in the food here, or perhaps from the history we are learning. Until tomorrow.