Discussing whether to include a reference to the legionnaires in the Lestenes memorial bill

Taking into account that other proposals for the draft law could also be discussed before the third reading, the chairwoman of the commission Agita Zariņa-Stūre (JV) instructed the experts in the working group to further discuss the nature of the proposals and agree on the most appropriate wording.

Last December, the Saeima conceptually supported the draft law, which is intended to ensure the preservation, protection and development of the Lestenes Lutheran Church and the World War II memorial.

As the authors of the bill note, more than a million soldiers fought in Kurzeme at the end of the Second World War. These are the biggest and bloodiest battles in the history of Latvia, and Lestene was at the center of these battles. The memorial site created near Lestenes Lutheran Church tells about the tragic events during the Second World War and preserves the memory of fallen Latvian soldiers and national partisans.

The law is intended to determine the cultural-historical value of the memorial site, the status of protected cultural-historical heritage, legal ownership, maintenance and management procedures. It is also planned to determine the procedures for financing the use, research, conservation and restoration, including providing that the state will be able to participate in financing the restoration and development of the monument, if the annual state budget law provides financial resources for these purposes.

It is planned that the memory of Latvian soldiers will be preserved at the national level and a permanent exhibition will be created about the history of soldiers, members of the resistance movement and residents of Kurzeme during the Second World War and after, promoting a common understanding of Latvian history.