As is much of Europe's past, Latvia's is a dark one. War, invasion, occupation, genocide. Particularly grim was the Nazi occupation followed by decades of Soviet rule. Today, it seems that a reminder of this bleak past can be found around every corner in Riga. On this weekend, we decided to devote a full day to visiting some of the city's most poignant memorials: the Jews in Latvia Museum (housed in a beautiful, historic Jewish Community Center), the Soviet detention center known as the "Corner House", the sites of mass extermination in the forests of Bikernieki and Rumballa, and the site of a Nazi concentration camp at Salaspils. In many ways, it was a difficult day, but as we walked amongst the forests and giant statues at Salaspils, we felt hope. The memorial at this site honors the past but looks forward and, walking up the stairs in the giant, inclined building that acts as the gate to the sight, as was the architects intent, we felt like we were walking towards heaven. Although the poem inscribed on the building reminds of the atrocities that took place here -- "beyond this gate the earth is crying" -- we knew that the thousands of victims have ascended to a place of peace.
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