MORE NEWS
The 26th of April is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. The guests of honour in attendance included European Council President Donald Tusk, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
"70 years after the end of World War II, it is essential to commemorate and to prevent war crimes and totalitarian crimes. This is a reminder for the 21st century of tragic crimes committed in the past, and we must do everything we can to make sure such crimes never happen again," said Laimdota Straujuma.
Between 1941 and 1945, over 50 000 prisoners were enslaved and some 20 000 died at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. People of around 30 different nationalities were imprisoned in the camp, including 16 000 Poles, 6 000 French, 3 700 Germans and 400 Latvians.
Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma has issued a general invitation to take part in commemorative events on 8 May at the Rīga II Meža kapi cemetery and later at the Salaspils Memorial Complex where she, together with the administrators of the Memorial, will commemorate all those who were imprisoned or tortured in this camp during World War II. "An objective story needs to be told about the Salaspils Memorial Complex; this is a task for historians. Those imprisoned at the Salaspils concentration camp included Konstantīns Čakste, the chair of the Latvian Central Council, and Miervaldis Birze, a Latvian writer and physician," said Laimdota Straujuma.
