Like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the Latvian Communist Party (LCP) also nervously followed the events taking place in Czechoslovakia. In an effort to prevent similar events from taking place in Latvia and to justify the USSR's intervention in the internal affairs of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (CSSR), the LCP repeatedly held meetings of party members and work collectives. In these meetings party “directors” condemned the Czechoslovak reforms. After the meetings declarations of the working people's support for the USSR's policy in Czechoslovakia were sent first to the LCP Central Committee and then on to the CPSU Central Committee.

Latvian citizens were forced to become involved in the Czechoslovak occupation in August 1968. Following the August 21 invasion the LCP organized mass meetings and rallies of workers in support of the invasion. The nation had to endure intensive propaganda regarding the “brotherly assistance” of the USSR until almost the end of 1969.

Hardly anyone was able to stand up against the official opinions regarding Czechoslovakia, but a few such individuals did exist.

Most affected by the totalitarian repressions were the most radical protesters against the situation in Czechoslovakia, such as Ilya Rips, Ivan Yahimovich, and Aldis Cilinskis.

In the late 1960s the USSR began to make widespread use of forced psychiatric treatment of political opponents of the regime. The courts also ordered forced psychiatric treatment for the people mentioned above.

Ilya Rips. On April 13, 1968, State University of Latvia student Ilya Rips tried to commit suicide by setting fire to himself by the Freedom Monument in Riga as a protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Photo: Latvian SSR State Security Committee (KGB) criminal case against Ilya Rips. State Archives of Latvia 1986-1-45165-1, p.18.

Ilya Rips. On April 13, 1968, State University of Latvia student Ilya Rips tried to commit suicide by setting fire to himself by the Freedom Monument in Riga as a protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia.

The June 13, 1969, decision of the KGB of the Latvian SSR to send the criminal case against Ilya Rips to court, in order that he be sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment. The KGB brought a criminal case against Rips after he attempted self-immolation in protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia. News of Rips' setting himself on fire had already reached the Western media. In order that a trial against Rips not provoke a response from the public, Rips was placed in a hospital for forced psychiatric treatment. State Archives of Latvia 1986-1-45165-2, pp. 200; 213. lp.

The June 13, 1969, decision of the KGB of the Latvian SSR to send the criminal case against Ilya Rips to court, in order that he be sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment.

Ivan Yahimovich. A Latvian dissident who protested against the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Yahimovich was a historian and was dismissed from his position as the director of a kolkhoz for “free thinking”. He was forced to undergo psychiatric treatment. Photo (detail): from the Priežmale Primary School Museum.

Ivan Yahimovich. A Latvian dissident who protested against the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Yahimovich was a historian and was dismissed from his position as the director of a kolkhoz for “free thinking”. He was forced to undergo psychiatric treatment.

The July 18, 1969, decision of Eižens Kaķītis (an investigator in Riga's Lenin district prosecutor's office) to bring a criminal case against Ivan Yahimovich to trial and have him sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment. On February 28, 1969, Yahimovich wrote a statement condemning the occupation of Czechoslovakia together with the well-known USSR dissident Piotr Grigorenko (1907-1987). Yahimovich was arrested on March 24, 1969. The public prosecutor defined his actions as intentional dissemination of untruthful fabrications in an attempt to “denounce the Soviet state and social structure”. Yahimovich was deemed mentally ill and placed in psychiatric treatment so that the court would not have to review his case and thereby bring unwanted attention to it, including from abroad. State Archives of Latvia 1986-2-10997-2, pp.235; 241.

The July 18, 1969, decision of Eižens Kaķītis (an investigator in Riga's Lenin district prosecutor's office) to bring a criminal case against Ivan Yahimovich to trial and have him sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment.

Aldis Cilinskis. A print shop employee who protested the Soviet occupations of both Czechoslovakia and Latvia. The youth Aldis Cilinskis was arrested on June 16, 1969. The KGB of the Latvian SSR found Cilinskis guilty of writing graffiti in the Latvian cities of Riga and Sigulda from August 31, 1968, to May 1969. The graffiti condemned the occupations of Czechoslovakia and Latvia. Photo: The KGB of the Latvian SSR criminal case against Aldis Cilinskis. State Archives of Latvia 1986-1-45172-1, p. 37.

Aldis Cilinskis. A print shop employee who protested the Soviet occupations of both Czechoslovakia and Latvia.

The August 12, 1969, decision by the KGB of the Latvian SSR to bring a criminal case against Aldis Cilinskis to court and have him sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment. The Latvian KGB defined Cilinskis' actions as anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda. In order that a trial need not take place, the court deemed Cilinskis “mentally ill” and placed him directly in forced psychiatric treatment. State Archives of Latvia 1986-1-45172-1,pp. 216; 221.

The August 12, 1969, decision by the KGB of the Latvian SSR to bring a criminal case against Aldis Cilinskis to court and have him sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment.

An interrogation cell used by the KGB of the Latvian SSR. I. Rips, I. Yahimovich, and A. Cilinskis were all held in similar cells. Later they were transferred to similarly furnished rooms in psychiatric hospitals. Photo by B. Kolyesnikov, Latvia State Archive of Film, Photography and Audiovisual Documents, arh. nr. 127527N.

An interrogation cell used by the KGB of the Latvian SSR. I. Rips, I. Yahimovich, and A. Cilinskis were all held in similar cells. Later they were transferred to similarly furnished rooms in psychiatric hospitals.

Unhappiness with the USSR's policy in Czechoslovakia could even be found within the Latvian Communist Party. Some members abode in silent frustration, but party members Villen Tolpezhnikov, Vladimir Slushniy, and Nicolai Akulov openly stated their opinion that the USSR's invasion of Czechoslovakia had not been necessary. Ivan Yahimovich, who had already been expelled from the Communists Party, asked to withdraw the armed forces of the USSR from Czechoslovakia.

In late August 1968 the doctor Villen Tolpezhnikov even called for a special meeting of the Communist party at his place of employment - Riga Hospital No. 1 - in order to consider his opinion of the Czechoslovak occupation. Vladimir Slushniy, the director of the Communist primary party organization of the Jelgava Signaling and Communications Division of the Baltic Railway, criticized the use of military force in Czechoslovakia at the party's meeting on September 5, 1968.

Villen Tolpezhnikov. Tolpezhnikov, the director of the radiology station and a doctor at Riga Hospital No. 1, described the actions of the USSR in Czechoslovakia as an occupation. Photo: V. Tolpezhnikov in the 1960s, from his personal archive.

Villen Tolpezhnikov. Tolpezhnikov, the director of the radiology station and a doctor at Riga Hospital No. 1, described the actions of the USSR in Czechoslovakia as an occupation.

Excerpt from a meeting of the Riga Committee of the Latvian Communist Party (LCP) on February 14, 1969, in which Tolpezhnikov's appeal regarding his expulsion from the Communist Party was reviewed. During the events in Czechoslovakia Tolpezhnikov criticized the policies of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the government of the USSR. He wrote a letter to Alexei Kosygin, the Premier of the Soviet Union, in which he deemed the Czechoslovakian situation to be an occupation of a sovereign nation. On September 9, 1968, Tolpezhnikov was expelled from the Communist Party for defamation of the CPSU and noncompliance with its statutes. In other words, he was expelled for disloyalty to the Central Committee and the nation's foreign policy. State Archives of Latvia, PA-109-43 - 813, p.37.

Excerpt from a meeting of the Riga Committee of the Latvian Communist Party (LCP) on February 14, 1969, in which Tolpezhnikov's appeal regarding his expulsion from the Communist Party was reviewed.

The aforementioned communists were expelled from the party for their “politically harmful” positions and could therefore not work in their professions anymore. Ivan Yahimovich - a man with an education in history and experience directing a kolkhoz was forced to work as a furnace stoker until his arrest.

The government also cleaned out public institutions of those people unhappy with the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Thus, for example, several employees of the Ministry of Culture were fired in 1969. Among the dismissed employees was Lidija Lasmane (Doroņina), who was sentenced in 1970 for “intentional dissemination of untruthful fabrications in an attempt to denounce the Soviet state and social structure”.

Lidija Lasmane (Doroņina). The only Latvian woman sentenced three times for anti-Soviet activities. In 1969 she was dismissed from her job at the Latvian SSR Ministry of Culture for protesting the occupation of Czechoslovakia in a conversation at work. Photo: from Lidija Lasmane's personal archive.

Lidija Lasmane (Doroņina). The only Latvian woman sentenced three times for anti-Soviet activities. In 1969 she was dismissed from her job at the Latvian SSR Ministry of Culture for protesting the occupation of Czechoslovakia in a conversation at work.

Minutes from a meeting of Latvian SSR Ministry of Culture employees on October 15, 1970. At this meeting the Minister of Culture Vladimir Kaupužs condemned Lidija Lasmane Doroņina's comments regarding the events in Czechoslovakia. After an interview with Kaupužs in 1969, Lasmane (Doroņina) was forced to leave her job at the Ministry of Culture. State Archives of Latvia PA-798-1-40, p. 112.

Minutes from a meeting of Latvian SSR Ministry of Culture employees on October 15, 1970. At this meeting the Minister of Culture Vladimir Kaupužs condemned Lidija Lasmane Doroņina's comments regarding the events in Czechoslovakia. After an interview with Kaupužs in 1969, Lasmane (Doroņina) was forced to leave her job at the Ministry of Culture.

On September 5, 1968, at a meeting of the Baltic Railway's Jelgava Signaling and Communications Division Communist party committee, Vladimir Slushniy read a letter from the CPSU Central Committee about the events in Czechoslovakia and criticized its use of force against an independent nation. He believed that the dissatisfaction felt by the Czechoslovak people was provoked by the unfavorable economic situation brought on by the economic policies of the CPSU. Slushniy accused the CPSU of not recognizing the Czechoslovak Communist Party's legitimacy at the XIV Congress and of isolating Czechoslovakia's leaders. Even though all of the other party members at the Jelgava meeting voted to accept a resolution supporting the foreign policy of the CPSU Central Committee, Slushniy abstained from voting.

The members of the Jelgava committee of the LCP discuss improvements to their ideological work. At the back is the slogan “Humanity's future is Communism! Jelgava G. Eliass History and Art Museum, inv. nr. 434.

The members of the Jelgava committee of the LCP discuss improvements to their ideological work. At the back is the slogan “Humanity's future is Communism!

The decision of the party commission of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party (LCP) regarding the expulsion of Vladimir Slushniy from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Slushniy expressed opinions opposing USSR foreign policy. State Archives of Latvia PA-101- 33-46, pp. 228 – 229.

The decision of the party commission of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party (LCP) regarding the expulsion of Vladimir Slushniy from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Slushniy expressed opinions opposing USSR foreign policy.

The militarized fire department of the Latvian SSR Ministry of the Interior in 1968. Nicolai Akulov also served on this unit. Latvia State Archive of Film, Photography and Audiovisual Documents, arh. nr. 43192N. Photo by J. Glagolyev.

The militarized fire department of the Latvian SSR Ministry of the Interior in 1968. Nicolai Akulov also served on this unit.

The May 25, 1971, opinion of the LCP Central Committee bureau regarding Nicolai Akulov's appeal to the XXIV Congress of the CPSU. The LCP Central Committee bureau acknowledged that there was no motivation to renew his membership in the party. Nicolai Akulov, the director of the militarized fire department of the Latvian SSR Ministry of the Interior at the Ventspils crude oil refinery, was expelled from the Communist Party on October 22, 1968, for the “biased interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, revisionism, demagoguery and defamation, and the condemnation of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia”. Akulov emphasized, “I believe that the situation [in Czechoslovakia] is not the result of counter-revolutionary actions. The actions of the Socialist nations will cause problems for the whole international Communist movement.” Akulov also supported the creation of an opposition party in the USSR. State Archives of Latvia PA-101-35- 57, p. 472.

The May 25, 1971, opinion of the LCP Central Committee bureau regarding Nicolai Akulov's appeal to the XXIV Congress of the CPSU.