Sunday, August 25, 2002
Back in the USSR: Hello from Riga, Latvia!
After a brief respite in the western world (Helsinki), I have returned to the former Soviet Union.
I took a high speed boat from Finland to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. Tallinn is a medieval walled city. I stayed in a place within the walls, so there was less walking to do than in other cities that I’ve visited. I was therefore able to rest my sore feet a bit! It was neat to walk out the door onto quiet cobblestone streets and see the medieval guard towers and old church spires looming above. It was like going back in time (that is, until I walked past the McDonald’s at the end of the street!)
The modern part of Tallinn (outside the walls) is often referred to as a ‘suburb’ of Helsinki. In other words, it has that made-by-Ikea, simplicity-of-design look. Also, many Finnish stores have branches there. Tallinn residents enjoy some of the highest living standards in the former Soviet Union. It is expected that Estonia will be using the Euro within a couple of years.
Tallinn is a fun town. There are many bars there, all in a small area and the people are friendly. I went out with some Brits staying at the same place as me. I also bumped into some Irish guys I had met in Helsinki, and hung out with them, as well.
Yesterday, I took a relatively uncomfortable 5 hour bus ride to Riga, Latvia (A fat guy was sitting in the seat next to mine).
Riga is a beautiful city with many old buildings that resemble those I saw in Russia, although generally they are in better condition. The people live at a higher standard than most Russians, but not as well as Estonians.
Half the population of Riga is ethnically Russian. The other half is Latvian. However, a law decrees that all public signage must be in the Latvian language only. I am told, though, that conversation in the streets flows naturally back and forth between the Russian language and the Latvian language. The Russians live here because they moved to Latvia (or were forced to move here) during the 47 years that Latvia was part of the Soviet Union.
I’m staying in a hotel located in a majestic apartment building constructed in 1901. Unfortunately, as with most majestic buildings I’ve seen on this trip, the Soviets got to it and installed ugly wood panelling and cheap furniture when it was made into a hotel in the 1930’s. However, in a stroke of marketing genius, in its brochure, the hotel advertises the charm of its ‘unmodified 1930’s style rooms!’ (That being said, my room is clean, and there’s even a somewhat modern TV that gets MTV and CNN. In fact, the members of parliament in Latvia stay there too, so the security is very good (a secret service agent is permanently posted next to the reception desk)).
One of my interests in visiting the Baltic countries is to learn about the Jewish heritage in the region, particularly in light of the fact that my grandmother was born in Riga in 1912. (She came to Canada in 1922. She turned 90 years old a few weeks ago).
The history of the Jewish community in the Baltics is quite unique. Jews generally prospered here and made up a significant percentage of the population before 1940. Each of the three Baltic countries was independent between the world wars. In 1940 or so, the Soviets came in and took over. They arrested the Jewish community leaders and sent them to Siberia, where many perished. Then in 1941, the Nazis drove out the Soviets and proceeded to herd the remaining Jews into ghettos and then to murder them. They also destroyed most Jewish buildings, but not all. Upwards of 95% of the Jews in the region were murdered.
After the war, the Baltics became part of the Soviet Union and Jews from Russia, as well as those from the Baltics who had escaped the Nazis by being in Russia during the war, trickled into the Baltics. So a small Jewish population was established. However, during the years of the Soviet Union (i.e., until 1991), Jews were not allowed to practise their religion or to behave as a community. So, it is only since 1991 that Judaism has been re-established here for the first time since 1940.
In Estonia, I attended Saturday morning prayer services at a synagogue established in a newly built Hebrew school. Approximately 35 people were present. Despite the fact that I was wearing shorts, an old T-shirt and a baseball cap, the congregation was very welcoming. (I initially hadn’t planned to go to synagogue). They even gave me an aliyah (honour during prayer service given to an honoured guest or other important person). (Interestingly, I was far from being the worst dressed person there; going to synagogue in this part of the world is definitely not the fashion show it is back home!)
At the kiddush (meal) after the prayers (we ate gefilte fish, salad and matzah(!)), I had a fascinating conversation in English and Hebrew with a couple of visiting Israelis and an 80 year-old resident of Tallinn. The Estonian man was born in Poland. He was away at school in the Ukraine when the Nazis invaded, so he escaped to Moscow. His entire family perished in the Holocaust. He eventually moved to Kaliningrad (part of Russia south of Baltics) and then when the Soviet Union broke up, he moved to Estonia to be with his son who had been transferred there for work by the Soviet authorities. Once he arrived in Estonia, he tried to learn Estonian, but found it ‘an ugly language’ and a difficult one, so he chose to learn English instead (at the age of 71!). He now speaks English quite well.
When I asked about prayer in Soviet times, he explained to me that the first time he set foot in a synagogue was only 7 years ago. He mentioned that he once knew someone Jewish who had tried to pray during Soviet times, and was sent to Siberia.
Upon arriving in Riga yesterday, I went to all the places I had discussed with my grandmother that she remembers from her childhood. Her memory is excellent. I found everything right away. I saw the park in front of the theatre and a small hill in the nearby park where she used to play. I went to the street by the river where her father had a pharmacy and where her family lived upstairs. In the 300 metres where the pharmacy could have been, there were only 2 buildings that dated from pre-1922. One actually has a pharmacy on the ground floor. I photographed everything extensively for my grandmother to look at.
I then went to the synagogue on Petaveis street, which was the synagogue my grandmother’s family attended (and is the only one of 20 or so synagogues in Riga still standing). It is in good shape, but walking in the door is like going back in time.
I met a couple of congregants in their 80‘s. I had to speak to them in Hebrew, since my Yiddish, German, Russian and Latvian are weak, and they don’t speak English or French.
One of the men was an 85 year-old named Zalman Frezus. He was born in Riga in 1917, and fought in the Latvian and Russian armies, which allowed him to be away from Riga when the Nazis came. Most of his family was killed in Holocaust.
He only learned Hebrew 7 years ago and spoke it quite well.
Zalman insisted on showing me some Jewish sights around Riga. He works on a volunteer basis to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive in order to ensure that future generations don’t forget the atrocities committed by the Nazis and they are never repeated.
So this morning before my tour, I met Zalman at the synagogue. The morning prayers were going on, and like in Tallinn, I was given an aliyah (honour). There were 25 men there. Some even knew that I would be there («You’re the Canadian; here’s your English prayer book»). Zalman brought his camera and took pictures of me while I had my aliyah. They clearly get excited when they have a guest!
After the prayers and before my tour with Zalman, we walked to an adjacent building where a lady served us a breakfast of hot borscht, bread, fish, salad and something resembling grits! Most of the people eating looked old and/or poor, so I guess this daily meal after prayers serves as a dignified way of ensuring that they eat properly – much more dignified than lining up at a soup kitchen – and that they have someone to socialize with. (A Jewish man from New York pays for all the meals).
I went with Zalman by bus to a memorial where the Nazis burned 300 people alive in a synagogue. We also went for a 3 kilometre hike to a forest where 46,000 Jews were taken and shot. (I hope I can hike 3 kilometres when I’m 85!) We saw mass graves, as well as a beautiful memorial built only in 2001. We also visited a Christian cemetery where Zalman showed me 3 graves of ‘righteous gentiles’ (non-Jews who risked their lives to hide Jews from the Nazis).
In addition, we visited the Jewish Museum which is housed in a beautiful 120 year-old theatre which was originally was (and is once again) the site of a Jewish theatre (and other Jewish community institutions). The building is reminiscent of the Theatre National in Montreal (original home of Montreal’s Yiddish theatre).
Finally, I went to the Latvian national archives, where I met two Jewish employees who do research on Jews in Latvia. I gave them all the information on my grandmother’s family that remained here. They will check to see what happened to our relatives. It will take 6 months to a year.
Tomorrow, I will take things a bit lighter and see the various museums and castles that Riga has to offer. Then, I will depart for Vilnius, Lithuania.
