Freedom Monument

At the top of the monument, Freedom holds three golden stars above her head: this is how the sculptor Kārlis Zāle joined the country's three historical regions. The monument was erected in memory of those who died for Latvia's independence, and Riga's residents raised the money for its construction. The pedestal of Emperor Peter the First once stood here. Now the honor guard is once again on duty at its foot, and official delegations come here as well.

On June fourteenth, nineteen eighty-seven, nineteen-year-old Eva Biteniece and Rolands Silaraups came up to these steps. They represented the human rights group Helsinki-86. Rolands helped prepare the march and pressed for the day of remembrance to be observed openly. Eva was to lay the flowers. They met for the first time only on the morning before the action.

This monument was chosen specifically because of the inscription on its base: “For the Fatherland and Freedom.” The sculptor Kārlis Zāle created the female figure at the top as an allegory of Freedom. The three gilded stars in her hands signify the unity of Latvia's historical regions. The monument was unveiled in nineteen thirty-five in memory of those who died in the struggle for the country's independence. Residents donated about three million lats for its construction. The monument was assigned the site where the pedestal of Emperor Peter the First had once stood.

After Latvia's incorporation into the USSR, the honor guard was removed and the former state ceremonies ceased. The monument itself was left standing; the documents give no clear answer as to why it was not demolished. It continued to recall the independent republic, but it was dangerous to gather publicly at its foot for that remembrance.

The date chosen by the group also explained their intention. On the night of June fourteenth, nineteen forty-one, thousands of Latvia's residents were taken out of the country; many did not return. Forty-six years later, open public commemorations in the city were still not held.

The authorities tried to disrupt the action without a direct ban. Several leaders of Helsinki-86 were served military draft notices. The finish of a cycling marathon and the awards ceremony for its participants were moved to the monument. Police waited by the square.

Eva came in a Latvian folk costume: after that, it was impossible for her to blend in among passersby. Together with Rolands, she set out from Bastejkalns and carried the flowers to the monument. The ribbon bore the words “For the Fatherland and Freedom. God Bless Latvia!” Those gathered surrounded the participants and did not allow the police to stop the laying of flowers. Hundreds of people took part in the ceremony itself, while several thousand more watched. Then a spontaneous rally began at the monument and continued for two days.

Rolands was briefly detained only after the flowers had been laid. A few weeks later, he was forced to leave Latvia. Eva was questioned twice, and in November she was taken off a train when she was again planning to travel to Riga. After her father's forced departure, the young woman was not hired for work and was evicted from the apartment provided to him. She was offered other housing in exchange for a written commitment to report on the group. Eva refused and left without an apartment.

After that action, people chose these steps again and again for public marches and commemorations. In nineteen ninety-two, the honor guard was returned here. State ceremonies now take place at the monument, and heads of state lay flowers where Eva Biteniece and Rolands Silaraups managed to reach in June nineteen eighty-seven.

One of the ribbons from those flowers is kept at the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. Its first words match the inscription on the stone before you: “For the Fatherland and Freedom.”