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In ‘Dauder’, the cultural and historical heritage of interwar Latvian security structures will be on display

From September 24 to December 12, the collection exhibition “Latvian Security Institutions (1918–1940)” will take place at the Dauderi branch of the Latvian National Museum of History, Zāģeru Street 7, Riga. It will provide an insight into the cultural and historical heritage left by the internal security structures of the interwar period of the Republic of Latvia, the museum representatives inform the portal “Delfi”.

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The exhibition in cooperation with the museum is organized by collectors Jānis Vigups, Gunārs Rusiņš and Vladimirs Balašovs, who have collected evidence from the largest private collections about the activities of Latvia’s internal security institutions during the respective period. The objects of the Gaida Graudiņš collection included in the LNVM collection are also exhibited.

According to the creators of the exhibition, at its center are those unique objects that directly or indirectly testify to the interwar Latvian security institutions within the Ministry of the Interior (police and city prefectures, border guards, voluntary Defense Organization), individual institutions of the Ministry of Justice and Finance. The items in the collection not only reflect the history of the awards, the symbols chosen by the institutions, but also testify to the future destinies of these institutions and their employees. In the conditions of the occupations, they were severe – the state structures of Latvia were liquidated, the legacy left by the institutions was destroyed and destroyed, and repression was directed against their employees. The liquidation or reorganization of the institutions of independent Latvia in 1940 also meant that the legacy left by these institutions in the public environment became undesirable to the authorities and dangerous to their owners. Its full collection and research was possible only with the restoration of the country’s independence.

The exhibits on display at Dauderos include orders, medals and meanings, uniforms and their details, as well as a variety of memorabilia, awards, photographs and diplomas, books and printed matter, posters and posters. A large part of these objects had remained in the hands of mostly private persons – former employees of state security institutions and their heirs both in Latvia and in the West in exile. Today, these testimonies end up in museums and private collections, but are not permanently available for public viewing. Many of the items on display are also on display for the first time.

The collectors involved in the creation of the exhibition have actively tried to gather evidence about the themes of the collections. Jānis Vigups and Vladimirs Balašovs have a valuable faleristic book – “Meanings of the Breasts of the Latvian Army in 1918–1940.” (2011) and “Latvian State Awards 1918–1940.” (2014) co-authors. Gunārs Rusiņš, on the other hand, basically collects army items, including taking over the collection created by Ēriks Priedītis, a historian living in the USA, and continues to supplement it.

The opening of the exhibition is scheduled for September 24, 2021, at 4 pm. Participation in the organized public events is possible only by prior appointment (by calling 67392229, 67391780 or writing to [email protected]). An interoperable Covid-19 vaccination, disease or testing certificate (does not apply to children under 12) will be required prior to the event.

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