On November 11, 1919, the newly established Latvian Army, only a year in existence, defeated the German and Russian White Guard forces led by Bermondt-Avalov in Riga. At the time, the Latvians received artillery support from French and British ships stationed in the Gulf of Riga. Two contrasting perspectives on this day are captured in the diaries of a Latvian and a Baltic German woman.
People of various nationalities have always lived in Latvia, and especially in Riga, and accordingly, their political sympathies have often differed greatly. The first diary excerpt comes from Māra Antēna (née Aula), a Latvian who was twenty years old at the time, while the second is from the diary of Dagmāra Kopštāla, a fifteen-year-old Baltic German girl.
11. XI
Last Night, Our Forces Went on the Offensive. All of Riga Trembled from the Roar of Cannons…
But my heart was so calm… Only when a particularly loud blast shook the air did my lips whisper a prayer, asking that our troops be successful and that the poor residents of Pārdaugava wouldn’t suffer too much from our shells.
Around five in the morning, I went to work at the Women’s Corps. You could still hear occasional cannon shots. But at around six, a captain came into the building and announced that Pārdaugava was already cleared of Germans. Hurrah! What joy! It almost seemed unbelievable. After four agonizing weeks of waiting, this happiness! Many girls cried tears of joy! I was jumping around like a grasshopper!
Flags were being hung around the city… Thank God! At last, those Germans are gone! Jews, devils, Germans—they’re all the same breed! The horrors people are telling about the Germans are unbelievable. At the end of the bridge, on the ice, lay a tortured officer—a German victim. His eyes had been gouged out, teeth knocked out, arms broken and tied behind his back with barbed wire, and his tongue cut off! Oh God, God! Are these beings truly made in God’s image, capable of such brutality? It’s horrific…
How good it is that they’ve been driven out. Just on Friday, we were at the Daugava shore, at the front… I saw the trenches and barricades. Those Germans are so stupid! They must have thought we were soldiers and fired at us. One bullet whizzed right past me. It was terrifying! We were in a “теплушка” (a dugout) with the soldiers. They were so cheerful! They said it was boring. The entire inner city is so battered, and the buildings along the Daugava shore are completely ruined…
Yes, and now all of Riga is free! What joy! Our dear, dear little soldiers! Our troops are moving forward. Oh, I always knew that justice had to prevail. Dear, brave men… If only the weather weren’t so cold!
(Aiga Bērziņa, “The Bermontiade Through a Woman’s Eyes: Excerpts from the Diary of Actress Māra Antēna (Aula).” Latvijas Arhīvi. The article in Latvian can be read online here.)
November 11, 1919
It’s all over! How terrifying those words sound, but the reality they represent is even more dreadful. A weight lies heavy on my chest, and my heart feels clenched. But let’s get to the point.
Yesterday’s shelling was yet another Latvian offensive. This time, they succeeded. They have driven out the Germans. They are gone now—those we viewed as our saviors, in whom we placed all our hopes. They have abandoned Āgenskalns, the Cement Factory, and Zasulauks. Only in Torņakalns have they managed to hold a narrow retreat route.
The first column to cross the Daugava was made up of students. Oh, how will I endure this defeat and the triumph of the Latvians? The city is being decorated, triumphal arches are being erected. And it’s all because of that damned Englishman—may he be cursed forever! Without him, this wouldn’t have happened. He will pay dearly for this. He will know what it feels like soon enough.
But there’s a question everyone keeps asking: why did they come if they knew they were powerless? Why? Only to make our burden even heavier? Many German soldiers are now returning to Germany. Of course, it’s easy for them; they’re going back to their homeland. It’s all over for them. But we—poor Baltic Germans in Latvia—we’re left to deal with the mess they’ve created.
So again, why did they come if they couldn’t help us? If they hadn’t come, we might have slowly come to terms with our fate and waited patiently for salvation.
And now—how long will this go on? Will we live to see the end? Everyone in the city is talking about how the Bolsheviks are getting close—those too! But are they any better? No, and again no, is the answer to the question everyone is now asking. At least under these, people could find work if they wanted it—and what do they do? They’re laying off even those who have jobs, dooming them to starvation.
But just wait—unrest is starting among the people. Some already say: remember the days when we still had our Tsar. When will those times return? We hope it will be soon…
Yet others long for the Bolsheviks, though only a few patriots remain loyal to them. Just wait—your reckoning will come! Keep celebrating your victory; soon enough, you’ll face hardships too!
Later in the morning, Torņakalns was also taken.
(Dagmāra Kopštāla. “Dienasgrāmata 1917–1923,” Jumava 2020)
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