december 19, 2020, 10:04
Authors:
Philip Birzulis
Almost 30 years have passed since Latvia’s Lenin statues were consigned to the dustbin of history. But in one corner of Rīga, a familiar face lingers on.
Finding lingering Soviet symbols in Latvian public spaces is a game for historical sleuths. Riga’s Academy of Science (aka “Stalin’s birthday cake”) has some hammers and sickles immovably carved into its stone façade. The Lenin who once loomed over Alūksne sits in the woods at the former nuclear missile base at Zeltiņi, while his Riga counterpart gathers moss in the yard of a suburban apartment building. But save for some pre-loved Hero Worker medals at the capital’s Latgalīte flea market, that’s about it.