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VILNIS BANKOVI?S
The tramp of foreign soldiers’ boots has left a deep imprint on our country’s soul. Still, after the devastation of the First World War, Latvia was able to rapidly achieve a leading position in the...показать большеThe tramp of foreign soldiers’ boots has left a deep imprint on our country’s soul. Still, after the devastation of the First World War, Latvia was able to rapidly achieve a leading position in the economic and cultural life of the Baltic states. After the Second World War, however, we were left in the unenviable role of envying our neighbors. The heroic people of Finland courageously stood up to the mighty USSR, the Estonians with chilly reserve received their eastern “visitors,” and the Lithuanians refused to give their sons for slaughter to Hitler. Latvia is home to many talented and creative people and can be proud of the most beautiful folk songs in the world, yet the Second World War robbed my generation of a vital conviction—that we are a nation that cannot be bent to others’ will. There have been too many foreign influences, too many worthless preoccupations, too little defense of our own values.
Perhaps my wartime memories will reveal some of the sources of our current malaise and throw a spotlight on the times when uninvited guests decided the fate of our youth.
About My Family
My parents came from the Ogresgala district (southeast of Riga, on the Ogre River). As a child, I heard many exciting stories from my parents about the roaring of the Daugava River near the power station at Kegums and the beautiful inlets of the Ogre River. These places of my childhood are naturally the most beautiful and most dear for me, and they are also the haunts of my youth. My younger brother and sister and I spent our summers herding animals on my aunt’s farm and helping with other chores. Our parents made sure we were always suitably occupied.показать меньше
Книги автора VILNIS BANKOVI?S
Driven West, Taken East: A World War Ii Memoir of the Eastern Front