In Latvia, the parliament has decided to postpone until March 1, 2007, releasing the names of Latvians who were collaborators (read: spies, informers, tattle-tales, and neighborhood snoops) with the KGB during the 51 years of Soviet occupation (1940-1991). The list, estimated to contain approximately 4,500 names, was to be made public on November 1 and published in the official government newspaper. Husbands, wives, children, extended families, neighbors, bosses, workers, lovers, teammates, drinking buddies, etc. are all waiting to see who was ratting on whom. Critics say the KGB in 1990 sent to Moscow the most sensitive parts of the archive and the complete list with the most important names will never be revealed. Some collaborators have left Latvia; some probably are hoping their files were among those sent to Moscow. Anyone on the list will not be eligible to vote nor hold public office. When similar lists were unveiled in Germany several years ago, it was reported there was much heartbreak, anguish, fear and anger. Some relationships were forever broken.
Thursday, November 2
A joke and no joke
During the final days of World War II, two Germans are in a bomb shelter and it is shortly before noontime. They have been there since mid-evening of the previous night as first British bombers and now American bombers pulverize Germany. One asks, “What will you do after the war?” The other answers, “I will go on holiday and walk around Greater Germany.” “And what will you do in the afternoon?”
In Latvia, the parliament has decided to postpone until March 1, 2007, releasing the names of Latvians who were collaborators (read: spies, informers, tattle-tales, and neighborhood snoops) with the KGB during the 51 years of Soviet occupation (1940-1991). The list, estimated to contain approximately 4,500 names, was to be made public on November 1 and published in the official government newspaper. Husbands, wives, children, extended families, neighbors, bosses, workers, lovers, teammates, drinking buddies, etc. are all waiting to see who was ratting on whom. Critics say the KGB in 1990 sent to Moscow the most sensitive parts of the archive and the complete list with the most important names will never be revealed. Some collaborators have left Latvia; some probably are hoping their files were among those sent to Moscow. Anyone on the list will not be eligible to vote nor hold public office. When similar lists were unveiled in Germany several years ago, it was reported there was much heartbreak, anguish, fear and anger. Some relationships were forever broken.
In Latvia, the parliament has decided to postpone until March 1, 2007, releasing the names of Latvians who were collaborators (read: spies, informers, tattle-tales, and neighborhood snoops) with the KGB during the 51 years of Soviet occupation (1940-1991). The list, estimated to contain approximately 4,500 names, was to be made public on November 1 and published in the official government newspaper. Husbands, wives, children, extended families, neighbors, bosses, workers, lovers, teammates, drinking buddies, etc. are all waiting to see who was ratting on whom. Critics say the KGB in 1990 sent to Moscow the most sensitive parts of the archive and the complete list with the most important names will never be revealed. Some collaborators have left Latvia; some probably are hoping their files were among those sent to Moscow. Anyone on the list will not be eligible to vote nor hold public office. When similar lists were unveiled in Germany several years ago, it was reported there was much heartbreak, anguish, fear and anger. Some relationships were forever broken.
