Scholarly record

THE THEME OF HOLOCAUST IN LATVIAN LITERATURE DURING USSR

E. Vasiljeva

Abstract

The perception of Holocaust in the cultural sphere of Latvia is a peculiar segment of social memory. This topic has been expanded upon in researches of Didzis B?rzi?š. Within the framework of the topic, the opposition ours – theirs, we – them is realized, i.e. the events of the Second World War are understood and evaluated from various points of view. In this context, the role of literature in the evaluation of the historic events becomes topical. The paper examines peculiarities of the reflection of the topic of Holocaust during one of the most conflicting periods in Latvian history – Soviet occupation or USSR period. One of the first texts of the Soviet Latvian belle-lettres, in which the topic of the eradication of the Jews is juxtaposed with the locals taking part in the murdering, is Latvian belle-lettrist Vilis L?cis’ novel-epopee V?tra (1945-1948). The topic of Jews within the context of the epopee is the plot twist – a fact from the historic battle. However, considering the overall silence about the eradication of Jews during the Soviet period, the novel by V. L?cis, in a way, can be defined as an exception. During the 60’s, the topic of Holocaust was topicalized in several texts of Latvian literature, which in a way, is a phenomenon, considering the fact that in Soviet cultural sphere it was hardly represented. Dagnija Zigmonte’s B?rni un koki aug pret sauli (1959), Oj?rs V?cietis’ Rumbula (1966) and ?valds Vilks’ Pusnakts Stunda (1968) were published. It is significant, that these works soon got translated into the Russian language, thus becoming a fact of Soviet literature. In comparison with the attempts of keeping silent about the topic of Holocaust in the Soviet literature overall, there is presentation in various artistic materials in Latvian literature. Thanks to Zenta ?rgle, the elements of the 80’s Holocaust appear in the Latvian children’s literature. The situation in the Latvian SSR rapidly changes in attitude towards the commemoration of Holocaust. In this case, in literature emerge the motifs which are not in tandem with the ongoing ideology.

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