It was unforgettable because of the staff, particularly one young man, Levs, who was a living lexicon of whatever subject we wanted to know about in Riga.
He recommended a local restaurant where we could taste a speciality: Sojanka soup with vegetables and smoked sausage. We returned to get the same menu again one of the other days.
While on our way to this Latvian restaurant, we passed by the historical place where, in January 1991, people from Riga defended their independence from many years of Soviet occupation on barricades very close to the hotel.
From another part of the old city during the daytime
Levs was fluent in four languages: English, German, Latvian and Russian, and would change between these languages when guests came to the counter while we were talking to him. He would serve them, give them their key, and return to his discussion on many historical issues with us.
We wanted to see what was left of the Jewish Ghetto. He has volunteered at the Ghetto Museum, helping people find their relatives in the Holocaust. As a history student, he had been helping at the museum. He worked many hours at the unique “Gutenbergs’ Hotel” and at a college on different weekdays to make ends meet.
Levs also helped us find links to documentaries on Riga’s Ghetto and the History of becoming independent.
“Defenders of Riga” is a movie about their fight to become independent in 1919, and “Baltic Truths” is about what happened to the Jewish population. Unfortunately, this documentary is not accessible to get hold of, and “Drawers of Memory” is also a documentary on the fate of the Jewish people in Riga. Three brave women have spent years in search of names and addresses of the Jews who lived in Riga and were confined in the Ghetto and later driven to their deaths in the woods outside Riga.
The building was a former printing house, and Johann Gutenberg (dead in 1468 in Mainz, Germany) had never been to Riga. The theme of the art of printing was all over the fully restored house.
I believe that I have told this story before, only to find that my post on Riga had partly disappeared. Sometimes strange things happen, and I decided to make a new post in honour of this young man who gave us so much in those five days in Riga.
All masculine names end with an -s- in the Latvian language. That’s why it is “Gutenbergs”.
When we left Riga, I felt a sting in my heart, leaving Levs behind.
After telling you of Levs, I find it easier to continue in my next post with the dark chapter about the Jewish Ghetto.
