Cancelled Victory Day
RIGA – Latest PR move of the Latvia’s Ministry of Environment turned their faces red.
On one hand, creating a mascot such as cūkmens, or pig-man, (pictured) to educate the public about enviornment and to fight swine-like behavior of uncouth Latvian public in woods and lakes of this beautiful country may seem like a good thing. After all, no one wants to be a pig.
On the other hand, declaring May 8 – Victory in Europe Day – a day of victory over plastic bags to promote linen bags serves as a slap in the face of those who died in the Second World War, regardless of their nationality. It’s just down right a stupid, or perhaps, ignorant, move on the part of the government. Many Latvians don’t understand what Victory Day means to Russians. Mostly ethnic Latvians work in the government. And the incident further underscores the deep division within the small society as Russians and Latvians are drifting further and further apart.
The government lent Cūkmens to the Lithuanian chain, Rimi, to celebrate replacing plastic bags with linen ones in its stores throughout Latvia.
It has to be added that no one is more vigilant when it comes to Victory Day then the local Russian newspapers. Russia Today “reports”:
The Latvian government are using a mascot called Pig Man, who is meant to symbolise litter louts, in a bid to help clean up their streets.
But the end of the campaign was to coincide with Victory Day, on May 8.
Earlier a Latvian Russian-language daily, The Telegraph, had labeled the move to hold the so-called ‘Day of Victory over plastic bags’ a provocation.
May 9th, 2008 at 13.09
I don’t particularly want to be confrontational, but please clarify this for me- is it 8 May or 9 May that the Russians in Latvia see as Victory Day. I rode the same trams past the russian victory monument yesterday and today and the difference was striking. Lots of the red and orange everywhere today- none yesterday. So what is the controversy for them? (Yes “them”). If the day is 9 May and 8 May isn’t this yet another manufactured (by the russian press) controversy?
By the way, I would gladly join in solemnly remembering the sacrifices of the russians who fought in Europe, if I would just once hear one talk about the fact that this was a double-edged victory for much of Europe. Yes, the nazis were defeated, but many peoples (LV included) were subjugated, occupied and deported as a result.
It is, to me, a very curious circle that leads russia to say that they were not the ussr, but leads them to take credit for the victory of the ussr and of the assets built and made by the ussr.
May 9th, 2008 at 14.09
In the Soviet Union, May 8 and 9 were considered Victory Day holidays, with the emphasis on May 9. So I think anything close to those days would cause an uproar and fuel Russian propaganda as Latvians who’d rather celebrate Nazis than their “liberation” by the Soviets. Having said that, regardless of your take on history, the timing of the Cūkmens shtick was unfortunate.
I agree with you, Tom, on this point – “I would gladly join in solemnly remembering the sacrifices of the russians who fought in Europe, if I would just once hear one talk about the fact that this was a double-edged victory for much of Europe.”
I’ll be posting photos from the Victory monument in a few minutes, so stay tuned.
PS Nothing wrong with being confrontational.
May 9th, 2008 at 15.10
“regardless of your take on history”- interesting statement. Kind of assumes that there is an objective truth to whether it was unfortunate. I don’t agree.
I see this as a manufactured controversy. Not manufactured by the LV side but by our perpetually aggrieved russian/soviet friends. It seems to me that most of the people gathered at the monument today would find a reason to be angry with or without any help from LV.
May 9th, 2008 at 15.47
My statement on the take of history isn’t to be taken as a true for all situations. I think it’s true in this case. Regardless of history, this was a bad, and flat-out stupid move on the part of the government. It was insensitive toward the minority that already feels disenfranchised by the government. On its face value, yes, the incident is insignificant and minor. However, taken in combination with a strong sense of resentment toward Latvia and its government, I think it creates a potent Molotov cocktail at worst, or a flawed judgment on the part of the government at best.
May 9th, 2008 at 22.24
Aleks wrote: “Many Latvians don’t understand what Victory Day means to Russians.” Its a double edged sword that cuts both ways. Would you say that many Russians understand what Victory Day means to Latvians? It has always been a celebration of Soviet might and victory which for Latvians means defeat and subjugation. And as always, who do you think needs to go further to arrive at the center?
May 10th, 2008 at 1.03
“Would you say that many Russians understand what Victory Day means to Latvians?” I suspect more of them do.
The essential difference between Latvians and Russians today is that Latvians run the government. If Latvians really, really wanted to teach Russians what Victory Day means to ethnic Latvians, they could train proper teachers in minority schools, paying them proper wages. How many history teachers in minority schools bring a real live person who was exiled by the Soviets? Not many, I suspect. Why? Because most teachers who teach history are ancient and used to teach Soviet history.
With me, the whole integration process comes down to education.
While I agree that to an extent, understanding Victory Day is a double edged sword, Latvians have an upper hand when it comes to education, and therefore to teaching Russians what it means.
May 10th, 2008 at 9.50
Alek,
My classic moments came a 7 years ago. I was teaching at a private language school that kinda specialized in russian teenagers. They mostly seemed nice and fun to be around. I spent 1,5 years with one group of 16-18 year old in a near advanced (English) group. So we knew each other fairly well. I shouldn’t neglect to say that we had one Latvian girl. Sweet kid who wrote poetry. The russians were usually okay with her.
Within two weeks, two surprising things happened. First, we were working on “the future” and the exercise was “make five predictions about your home country” (which by-the-way a number of the russians routinely called russia). One quiet teen boy looked my LV friend Asija directly in the face and said “LV will no longer exist, it will be part of russia, as it always has.” I have always felt that Asija would have been fully in her rights to pop that boy in the face.
A couple of weeks later we were having an “ask the American (me) lesson.” They could basically ask me anything they were interested in. Question- “Why didn’t America fight in WWII? Why did they leave russia alone to defeat hitler?”
How do you dump the burden for this fully on the LV govt? This new reality is more than 15 years old now. Most Russians I know have made an effort to at least be able to function in Latvian and Latvia. I won’t tar all with the same brush. But their is a considerable, noisy, whiny, bitching minority that knows the reality but refuses to either (your choose) acknowledge or deal with it. How far does the LV (and the russians who accomadate) have to go to politely draw in the fools who were re-fighting “the great patriotic war” under my window last night?
May 10th, 2008 at 11.51
Tom,
Ignorance is certainly more prevalent here than it used to be. And it crosses the ethnic divide. Most young people didn’t know what event is celebrated by May 4, according to a recent survey. And for me, again, it goes to the question of public education, which, historically, in this country is the job of the government. And I see education, cultural exchanges, mixing with other nationalities as a way for Latvia to achieve the cohesive society in this small country.
The marginalized groups are everywhere. There are always people who bitch, moan and complain about anything under the sun. There will always be people unhappy with citizenship laws, education reform, or language laws. There will always be people who’d like to see all evil russkies shipped back to their home country.
How do you deal with that? You ignore it. By giving it a voice, you’re giving their view a credence. This is why I’ll never tire explaining to Russians the “other point of view” of the Victory Day. In the ideal world, Russians join Latvians in remembering those who were deported by the Soviets as Latvians join Russians in acknowledging sacrifices of many common soldiers for peace.
Having said that, I think ignoring the deaths of many people during the last war that propelled the birth of the European Union is callous and utterly wrong.
May 10th, 2008 at 17.44
Education? Always a good thing. The other day I had to attend Traffic Safety school. I listened. I learned. I answered all the questions correctly. I left the parking lot with a squeal of tires because I was running late.
Education by itself is meaningless unless its accompanied by the desire to learn. Most U.S. schools now have African American studies on the curriculum. Would you say that that has made much of a dent in the minds of the average Hoosier? I am not saying that education can’t make a difference, but there are other factors involved. First and foremost, there needs to be a desire for a meeting of the minds. I do not see that in LV. Not by a long shot.
More on this in the Thoughts on Victory Day comments.
May 11th, 2008 at 14.58
On education: teaching it in theory, yes. It’d be boring, etc. Teaching it in practice, that’d be different. Like living for a week in a ghetto - that’d teach you everything you need to know about African American studies.