Kucinskis: WWII story increasingly dominated by pop culture

RIGA - Sadly, the story of World War II is increasingly being dominated by pop culture, Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis (Greens/Farmers) said at a commemorative event at the Salaspils WWII memorial outside Riga today.

The Latvian prime minister said that the exact dates of the beginning and end of World War II can be found in history books but that no book can tell when this war will be over in people's hearts. "This war is still going on in many people's memories and nightmares. They remember their killed relatives, their fallen fellow soldiers. They remember themselves back then, decades ago, they remember those who betrayed and those who helped. They remember everything," Kucinskis said.

"As time goes by, there are fewer and fewer of such people around. Did they manage to tell their life stories to their children and grandchildren? Surely, there were those who were not afraid to tell and so their children can hate war even though they have never seen one. But there were also many who did not want or were afraid to tell," the prime minister said.

"Sadly, the story of World War II is increasingly dominated by pop culture - computer games, comics, action movies, a lot of things that young people find exciting and that can always be started from the beginning by pushing the Restart button. But there is no Restart button in history. History tells us that a totalitarian and populist idea, denying the unique value of any personality, can emerge right in our neighborhood. An ideology can emerge whose first step is to divide people into the useful and useless ones. The next step is to exterminate those who have been found to be useless. Then the machine of death is put into motion where an individual becomes meaningless. You have to die because you are a Jew and you do not have a chance to ask why. You have to die because you are a Roma. You have to die because you dare protest the Nazi or Communist regime," Kucinskis said.

In his words, both Nazism and Communism were ideologies that were aiming to destroy one's conscience. "Did they succeed? No. There are things that are much more deeply rooted than any ideology. These are values that have evolved over centuries and that cannot be so easily destroyed. Today we remember those who were killed just because they were opponents of a certain regime. They were just senselessly and bluntly shot and killed - women, children, everyone. There cannot be any justification for this. These are crimes that have no statute of limitation," Kucinskis stressed.

He indicated that the Salaspils concentration camp was a place of suffering that saw thousands of innocent people being murdered, including Jews, Latvians, Russians, Poles, Belarusians, children, and others.

"We remember those who fell, fighting Nazism with weapons in their hands, we remember those who did not give up and held the idea of an independent Latvia sacred also during the occupation. We remember everyone who suffered, kept silent, hated, feared and hoped. We remember those who, like Zanis Lipke, saved those who had no hope, and we regret that there were so few of them. Despite what history books say, the war ended on different dates for different countries. In Latvia, it ended in 1991, just like in Estonia and Lithuania. We have not forgotten and cannot forget anything. We are living in times of peace, but are hearing the voice of war nearby. Let us be alert, rely on ourselves and our allies. But today, let us remember those who were not given the chance to live the full length of their lives," the prime minister said.