Salaspils (redirected from Kircholm)

Salaspils 

a railroad station on the Riga-Ogre line in the Latvian SSR. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, German fascists built a concentration camp near Salaspils in which more than 100,000 people were exterminated.

Between 1961 and 1967 a memorial group for the victims of fascist terror was erected on the site of the camp (sculptors L. Bukovskii, J. Zariņš, and O. Skarainis; architects G. Asaris, O. N. Zakamennyi, O. Ostenbergs, and I. Strautmanis; Lenin Prize, 1970). The complex occupies about 40 hectares and includes a symbolic structure called the Wall of Life and Death (concrete and labradorite). This museum to the memory of the camp victims can be seen from a viewing platform.

The Road of Suffering surrounds a central field on which concrete statues and groups reaching 15 m in height have been erected. These monuments symbolize the tragedy of the people and their hatred of fascism and determination in the struggle. The complex is dramatic and inspiring and affirms the solidarity and steadfast resistance of the people. A monument to Soviet soldiers who perished as prisoners of war is located near Salaspils (concrete, 1967–70; sculptors J. Maurins and others; architects O. Ostenbergs and others).

REFERENCE

Salaspils. [Riga, 1975.]