Linards Grantiņš
Linards Grantiņš (born 1950) is a Latvian former human rights activist who was among the founders of the Latvian human rights activist group Helsinki-86 in 1986. He later established the hate site Tautastribunals.eu ( Latvian for "People's Tribunal.eu") in 2006, which regularly accuses and issues "verdicts" of capital punishment to self-identified "traitors of the Latvian state". He was arrested in 2015 for inciting national, ethnic and racial hatred. Biography Grantiņš was born in Siberia, where his family was deported to by the Soviet regime in 1949. Grantiņš returned to Soviet-occupied Latvia in 1956. In 1986, while working as an amber craftsman in Liepāja, he co-founded Helsinki-86 and helped to organize the first commemoration of the victims of the June 1941 Soviet deportations since the Second World War at Riga's Freedom Monument in 1987, filming the events and sending the tape outside the USSR. He was then arrested by Soviet authorities and later allowed to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Latvians
Latvians () are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language, culture, history and ancestry. History A Balto-Finnic-speaking tribe known as the Livs settled among the northern coast of modern day Latvia. The Germanic settlers derived their name for the natives from the term Liv. They referred to all the natives as "Letts" and the nation as "Lettland", naming their colony Livonia or Livland. The Latin form, ''Livonia'', gradually referred to the whole territory of modern-day Latvia as well as southern Estonia, which had fallen under Germanic influence. Latvians and Lithuanians are the only surviving members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family. Culture Influences Latvians share a common language and have a unique culture with traditions, holidays, customs and arts. The culture a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Living People
Purpose: Because living persons may suffer personal harm from inappropriate information, we should watch their articles carefully. By adding an article to this category, it marks them with a notice about sources whenever someone tries to edit them, to remind them of WP:BLP (biographies of living persons) policy that these articles must maintain a neutral point of view, maintain factual accuracy, and be properly sourced. Recent changes to these articles are listed on Special:RecentChangesLinked/Living people. Organization: This category should not be sub-categorized. Entries are generally sorted by family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give .... Maintenance: Individuals of advanced age (over 90), for whom there has been no new documentation in the last ten ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1950 Births
Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 aboard are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur. * January 6 – The UK recognizes the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response. * January 7 – A fire in the St Elizabeth's Ward of Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, United States, kills 41 patients. * January 9 – The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China. * January 12 – Submarine collides with Sweden, Swedish oil tanker ''Divina'' in the Thames Estuary and sinks; 64 die. * January 13 – Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of Chin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Valērijs Agešins
Valērijs Agešins (born June 23, 1972, in Liepāja) is a Latvian politician and lawyer. He is a member of Harmony and a deputy of the Saeima, elected to represent the Kurzeme electoral district. He began his current term in parliament on November 4, 2014. From 1994 to 1998 he studied at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad, graduating in history. He obtained a master's degree in pedagogy, and in 2002, he graduated from the Baltic Russian Institute as a lawyer. He is not however, a qualified attorney. From 1997 to 1998 he worked in a teacher training summer camp and from 1995 to 1999 as a law and political science lecturer at the Institute of Social Technologies. From 1998 to 2002 he was a history teacher at Liepāja High School where he was a member of the secondary school teachers' union committee. In 2002 he became a member of the Liepāja City Public Reconciliation Commission, becoming vice-president. Later in 2002 he was elected to the Saeima, and was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Order Of The Three Stars
Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the stars". The Order has five ranks and three grades of medals of honour. History In the first half of 1921 the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia began to discuss introducing the first national awards and decorations. A proposed design and statutes of a three-class Order of the Wreath of Oak () was rejected by the assembly (especially by the Social Democrats and their leader Brūno Kalniņš), arguing that before the Constitution was approved, it could not be clear whether a democratic country such as Latvia should have orders in the first place. The ''Satversme'' was adopted in 1922, removing this obstacle. The order was officially established according to the Law on the Order of the Three Stars of 24 March 1924, with the first awards ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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On The Restoration Of Independence Of The Republic Of Latvia
The Declaration "On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia"Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskās Republikas – Augstākās Padomes Deklarācija: Par Latvijas Republikas neatkarības atjaunošanu Likumi – Latvijas Republikas Tiesību Akti. () was adopted on 4 May 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR in which Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union. The Declaration stated that, although Latvia had ''de facto'' lost its independence in 1940, when it was Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, annexed by the Soviet Union, the country had ''de jure'' remained a sovereign country as the annexation had been unconstitutional and against ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June 1988 spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Background During World War II, the three Baltic countries were invaded and occupied by the Stalinist Soviet Union in June 1940, and formally annexed into the USSR in August 1940. Following the Nazi German occupation in 1941–1944/45, the three countries were reconquered by the Soviet army in 1944–1945. In 1985, the last leader of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced ''glasnost'' ("openness") and ''perestroika'' ("restructuring"), hoping to stimulate the failing Soviet economy and encourage productivity, particularly in the a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital city of Bonn, or as the Second German Republic. During the Cold War, the western portion of Germany and the associated territory of West Berlin were parts of the Western Bloc. West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, established from 12 States of Germany, states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided between the Western and Eastern Bloc, Eastern blocs. Germany was divided into the two countries. Initially, West Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, representing itself as the sole democratically reorganised continuation of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Freedom Monument
The Freedom Monument () is a monument located in Riga, Latvia, honouring soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920). It is considered an important symbol of the freedom, independence, and sovereignty of Latvia. Unveiled in 1935, the high monument of granite, travertine, and copper often serves as the focal point of public gatherings and official ceremonies in Riga. The sculptures and bas-reliefs of the monument, arranged in thirteen groups, depict Latvian culture and history. The core of the monument is composed of tetragonal shapes on top of each other, decreasing in size towards the top, completed by a high travertine column bearing the copper figure of Liberty lifting three gilded stars. The concept for the monument first emerged in the early 1920s when the Latvian prime minister, Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, ordered rules to be drawn up for a contest for designs of a "memorial column". After several contests the monument was finally built at the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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June Deportation
The June deportation of 1941 (, , ) was a mass deportation of tens of thousands of people during World War II from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, present-day western Belarus and western Ukraine, and present-day Moldova – territories which had been occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939–1940 – into the interior of the Soviet Union. The June deportation was ordered by the Soviet dictator Stalin, and organized following formal guidelines set by the NKVD with the Soviet Interior People's Commissar Lavrentiy Beria as the senior executor. The official title of the top secret document was “Resolution On the Eviction of the Socially Foreign Elements from the Baltic Republics, Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and Moldova”. The NKVD and Red Army units carried out the arrests, often in collaboration with the Soviet police and local Communist Party members. Background The June deportations were part of a much larger history of depopulation. The "Stalin deportations" from 1928-1953 t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |