"I placed the dream of my homeland under my pillow"
FOR LATVIANS IN EXILE WHO PASSED AWAY IN DENMARK
Monument dedicated to Latvian refugees
During the second World War, almost 2000 Latvians arrived in Denmark to seek refuge. By the end of 1946, around 60 Latvian refugees had died in Denmark. Their graves were scattered throughout Denmark, many were poorly maintained and their placement was sometimes unknown.
Already in the first half of 1946, the Central Board of the Youth Christian Society (YCS) began to discuss the need to establish a committee in each refugee camp, which would take care of the identification and maintenance of Latvian graves.
On 1 February 1947, a YCS meeting was held in Copenhagen. It was attended by representatives from almost all refugee camps in Denmark. It was decided to establish a Latvian Cemetery Committee, which would take care of the identification and maintenance of Latvian graves in Denmark.
Almost all identified Latvian graves in Denmark were given a memorial plaque containing a small shield in the colours of the Latvian flag. Most of the expenses were covered by YCS.
On 22 February 1948, after most of the Latvian graves had received maintainance, YCS delegates at an extraordinary conference in Aalborg proposed to set up a single monument dedicated to all Latvian refugees who had died in Denmark. On 15 May the same year, a committee, responsible for the monument dedicated to the Latvians who had died in Denmark (Monument Comittee), was established in Copenhagen. By then, the Danish authorities had already given their consent to set up a monument at Vestre Kirkegård cemetery in Copenhagen, where 16 Latvians had been buried. The Monument Committee decided to raise funds for the construction of the monument and to create a special Golden Book about the monument, accounting for its origin and history. Currently, this book is kept at the Latvian Embassy in Copenhagen.
A competition was held for the design of the monument, in which three participants submitted four drafts. The Monument Committee chose the design of Leo Stepe, a Latvian painter who was a refugee himself. Leo Stepe's monument was 2,5 m high and was sculpted in Faxe marble limestone because of its reseblance to Latvian limestone. The words "I placed the dream of my homeland under my pillow" were inscribed in the monument. It was estimated that the cost of the monument could amount to 4000 Danish kroner. Latvians in Danish refugee camps and other private donors donated 5339,05 kroner. In total, 5057,42 kroner were spent on the construction of the monument.
The monument was unveiled at Vestre Kirkegård cemetery on 18 November 1948.
Since then, it is a custom for Danish Latvians to gather at the monument every year on 14 June (Memorial Day to the Victims of Communist Genocide) and 18 November (Latvian Independence Day) for a moment of remembrance.
After the Republic of Latvia restored its independence and an embassy in Copenhagen was established, the Ambassador of Latvia has always participated in these moments of remembrance. Since the summer of 2012, the Latvian Ambassador to Denmark has taken responsibility for organizing these moments of remembrance.