Memories...

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Former Soviet state considers letting NATO blow up WWII memorial

Latvia is searching for ways to reduce the costs of demolishing a massive World War II memorial in Riga

FILE PHOTO. World War II Victory Monument in Riga,

The Riga authorities are weighing different – including the most extreme – options to demolish a World War II monument in the city, the Latvian capital’s vice mayor, Vilnis Kirsis, said on Friday. Asked by local media whether the city council was considering the idea of letting “NATO troops, our military” blow up the monument, Kirsis confirmed that the option was not off the table.

“The idea has been floated in the public. We are considering all possible methods, including the ones you mentioned. We would not like to disclose this in order to avoid possible provocations,” the official stated.

The memorial, officially known as the ‘Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders’ is set to be demolished by November 15. While the exact cost of the demolition works has not yet been established, estimates reach up to a massive €2 million, and the Riga authorities are already seeking to pare down the cost.

The monument to the liberators of Riga has long been targeted by Latvian nationalists, who have for decades been calling for it – and other Soviet-era landmarks – to be removed. The drive against such monuments was reinvigorated by the large-scale military operation launched by Russia against Ukraine in late February.

The memorial also became the centerpiece of a controversy around this year’s May 9 celebrations. The Latvian authorities declared the date – when Victory Day is celebrated in Russia and a number of other countries – a day of mourning for those killed or injured in Ukraine. The move prompted thousands of people to defy the ban on commemorating the Soviet victory and come to the monument to lay flowers, which were bulldozed away shortly thereafter. However, people returned to the site with even more flowers the next day.

Several days later on May 13, Latvia’s parliament overwhelmingly voted to unilaterally renounce a part of a treaty with Russia in which Latvia pledged to protect and maintain war memorials in the country. The next day, Riga’s city legislature approved the demolition of the controversial monument.

There is more freedom and social justice in South Africa than what there is in totalitarian Russia.

Suck it up.

What has this to do with the demolition of  the WWII monument in Latvia erected by the USSR  in he comments above.   Latvia is not part of Russia anymore - neither is Russia run by the Communists anymore.     

"Lest we forget" is a term we use when we remember those who paid the ultimate cost in war so that we can enjoy a life free from the horrible conflicts of instability and chaos, ie those fallen in WW2, not forgetting if it was not for Soviet ally, Nazi Germany would have swamped us.Russia paid the highest price of all.

Simon and Garfunkel's song means something else...Book Ends are those precious memories we have of friends and family of our early life.and the events that occurred then.

It was my fault, nevertheless "Lest We Forget" is commonly a term written on epitaphs, generally to commemorate those fallen. We have one at my old school with this heading.

Borrowed from a line in a well-known poem written in the 19th century, the phrase 'lest we forget' means 'it should not be forgotten'. We say or write 'lest we forget' in commemorations to remember always the service and sacrifice of people who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

That's where the misunderstanding came about.

Spare me your lectures, funny how you jump on a trivial like my header, I mean how the hell you can sing the praises of an egotistic murderer like Putin and not see the destruction of a whole country and the death of thousands of Ukrainians who have perished in a mindless war is something I will never understand. But mindful of your sensitivities I've changed the header, I hope you find something in yourself to change your brainwashed convictions of your murderous hero, Putin.

Paul Simon talks of a time when we had an innocence, trust, confidence......the war in Ukraine shattered all of that for millions, inside and outside of Ukraine.

Can you see that?

I doubt it.