About Kolka coast border guards

Foto: Dainis Karkluvaldis

Kolka resident Valija Laukšteine's memories of the times in Kolka when there were border guards.

"I was born a collector, my grandson will be the fifth generation. In 1954 I graduated from high school, entered Kaliningrad University of Food Technology, but it was all in Russian, I stopped studying because I got married and did not go to study more. then I moved to the artel "Brīvais zvejnieks", then the fishermen's collective farm, and worked until retirement, until 1991. I lived in the house built by the collective farm (1962), then redeemed by my father "Sārnati", there used to be an old house , one of the first farms in Kolkata.
During the war we had left, evacuated up to Dundaga in Āži, where my mother and father lived a brother. His father also received a pass from the Germans during the war because he was a fisherman and went fishing. We came back to Kolka before 1945 because the war was not over. Not all families have been evacuated.
When the border guards came in from the beginning, then so I was already small, it was immediately after the war, I was 10-11 years old. There was a big difference, because before that the Germans already lived here and then the Russians. The Germans were gallant. The Russians came, immediately after the war, this view is different for them than for the victors. Private people had to be given rooms to stay in, because they had nowhere to live until the barracks were built. Two women Galina and Polina lived with us, both with boats on their heads. And then we started to have a boat, all the boats were healed together on the side of the bay, a fence in a circle, each boat was chained to a pole, a key, a room. Upstairs stood the border guard post viška, then the fishermen had to go swimming, get a permit, go to sea, then back. The father was first the chairman of the collective farm, then the foreman, we are fishermen. Everyone could not go to the seashore as they wanted, only in the place where it was allowed.
The border guards also came to check at home, there are records in the old house book on which dates and times there have been checks. Checked for strangers at home. My older brother was recruited into the German army, living in Canada after the war. Consequently, we counted an unfavorable family. One evening an old man came to us, he was probably sent, spoke Latvian and asked for accommodation, but strangers were not allowed to give accommodation, strangers had to be notified immediately to the post office. I no longer remember that we gave the news to the bastard, but the border guards were there and took him to death. On the second morning, the chief of the border guards thanked his father: "Thank you, Alexander!", So we remained more trustworthy. They had a headquarters in Ventspils, from where cases were handled and inspections were sent.
We had a primary school next to the school. Girls are girls and they are also young boys, we often play ball together. The teacher we had was Bernstein, then it was already 1949 and the deportation, with the border guards already received all and took him there to the depot. But we are so young and we continue to meet and talk to border guards. The teacher was very angry with us, he said, "Collect men from Kolka, but you giggled here."
In later times, the chief of border guards always took part in the rankings held on February 23 in honor of Soviet Army Day.
The border guards were of different nationalities, one was a Tatar, then Lithuanians, Russians, Belarusians, from all over the Soviet Union. I don't remember anyone in Latvia. We communicated in Russian. Many border guards have already married Latvians. There was such a beautiful girl with the surname Kristiņa, she married her boss Belavina, stayed to live here, now in Riga. But several have already married, other girls have already gone to the boys.
There were then two churches in Kolka, Lutheran and Orthodox, but at that time you were not allowed to go because you were looking at schools and jobs. Most of the young people were already pioneers, communists and then in the party, they were not allowed to. There were already those who walked in silence, but then they already got reprimands.
When the party took place in the village, the border guards came to the ball. The balls took place in the house of culture, but the dance is also at the top of the factory. Those who had received a permit had already come to the parties, but they already had their own regime, they had to be at home on watch. For the sailors who were in the horn, the regime was freer for them. Both sailors and border guards took part in the sports festival.
There was a headquarters in Ventspils, then the border guards from Ventspils to Kolka went to give concerts, and the locals also went to listen. Then there were the parties. My boss also fell in love with one of Ventspils, the two corresponded for a long time.
Many families moved to Kolka from Lielirbe, probably because their missile base was built there.
There were two bathing places in Kolkata, where locals were allowed to go swimming, opposite the house of culture and further down. You were not allowed to walk along the seashore all the time, then you had to get a permit at the lodge and tell you where to go. When we drive somewhere, the control is always in the opposite direction, the passport must always be up, without it no step. If someone came to visit us, we had to go to apply for a shelter, even though we had a permit. It has already been the case that we drive to Mazirbe ourselves and there are border guards in Saunaga. If someone does not have a passport with them, then they are taken up to the post and wait until they call and find out if such a person lives in Kolka, then they can move on. The controls were tight, everything had to be reported, otherwise you would feel unfavorable. There were already stuccoes in the village who were watching everything, they were a lot, or they were paid, I don't know. My husband was my driver when I took the workers to work in the Atlantic, he always drove to one of the border guards, he often didn't hide and said, "we have news in this home." The area was covered with stucco.
The border guards also had dogs. Jūrmala was jumped up and every morning the border guards went to check with the dogs, the dogs were looking for footprints, from time to time there were visks (towers) on duty, the duty officers were on duty, they changed from time to time. Before Vaide, the Green Tower was called. There was a point in Melnsila, a big point in Roja, because there the big ships went to sea. Zastavi was in Melnsila, Kolka, Saunaga, I don't know further.
Residents were not allowed in Zastava. A guard was standing at the gate, there was a pass, a fence in a big circle, if something was needed, then the boss was called out. Well, if you were caught, you were already led in to the boss, but that's another story. Zastavs was in the manor house next to the church for some time and there was a school next to him, the windows on the side of the zastava were closed, we could not see what was happening there, it was a secret of war.
At first, the officers lived with their families in private. We had a family of officers living next door, his wife was a doctor, he was the boss of the castle. Later, a new shed with barracks and an officers 'house was built, then the officers' families moved there. The barracks have not survived to this day. "

 
Storyteller: Valija Laukšteine; Wrote down this story: I.Roze, J.Smaļinskis, J.Kalve
Used sources and references:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://latviainside.com/explore/tours/aero/kurzeme/360/virtualtour.html?fbclid=IwAR0eKPnc-9Q5dytnf6Kr0Est6RS0ClHpsH1rhbOPjU8O2YKjfCSh0AQgGz8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 
1992-09-08-nr02-kolka.jpg
R.jpg

Related objects

German army coastguard searchlight site in Usi and border guard post in Kolka

No military infrastructure was planned in Cape Kolka, except for several offshore lighthouses that were rebuilt over a long period of time, either before World War I, during World War I or during World War II. Coastal defence batteries were planned for the narrowest part of the Irbe Strait, between the Sirves Peninsula and the Michael Tower Lighthouse.

The only fortifications of a military nature appeared at the end of 1944, when the German Army Group North was preparing to repel possible landings by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In the spring of 1945, after the ice retreated, two batteries of the 532nd Artillery Division defended the coast at Cape Kolka. Battery 7 with four 75 mm guns and three 20 mm zenith guns. Battery 8 with four 88 mm mortars, three 20 mm mortars and an 81 mm mortar. The anti-deserter infantry garrison consisted of one of the most famous coastal defence units of the German Navy, the 5th Company of the 531st Artillery Division. Although it was an artillery unit by name, it was an infantry unit by deployment, which started its war in June 1941 at Liepāja. The unit was then garrisoned on islands in the Gulf of Finland and later took part in the fighting on the island of Saaremaa. The remnants of the division were reformed into one company and, reinforced with seven anti-tank guns and three 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, deployed at Cape Kolka.

The Soviet naval landing operation never took place and the German units capitulated in May 1945.

The military infrastructure in Cape Kolka began to be built after the Second World War, when Soviet border guard posts were deployed here and Kolka, like the entire Kurzeme coast from Mērsrags to the Lithuanian border, became a closed zone

Mērsrags lighthouse and former border guard

Mērsrags Lighthouse is located in the Mērsrags village, about 1 km north of the village centre. The lighthouse was put into commission in 1875. It is an 18.5 m tall freestanding, cylindrical, riveted iron tower, the lower part of which has been fortified with reinforced concrete counterforts. The height of the signal light is 21.3 m. At the top all around the tower there is an iron balcony supported by consoles. The lighthouse tower was made by Sotera, Lemonier & Co in Paris, so this lighthouse is commonly known as the ‘Frenchie’. At the end of 1944, the 1003rd Artillery Division Battery of the German Army with 60 cm spotlights was located right next to the lighthouse. In May 1945, the Nazi Germany high command planned to move the 15th Latvian SS Grenadier Division to the area, but these plans failed, because Latvian soldiers surrendered to the Western Allies. Near the Mērsrags Lighthouse there are still remains of a building where during the USSR times Soviet border guards had a large, extendable spotlight for illuminating the sea. There is a bird-watching tower next to the lighthouse. Tours need to be booked beforehand by contacting the Mērsrags Tourism Information Centre.

Soviet border guard post in Jūrmalciems

After the Second World War, Latvia had various prohibitions in border and coastal areas. From 19 June 1945, fishermen were assigned piers, which were fenced off with barbed wire, guarded by patrols and watchtowers. On 4 September 1946, the prohibited coast guard zones on the Western border of the LSSR were introduced.

In Jūrmalci village there is a former border guard control post, a tower and a tractor proudly rocking on the beach! How it got there is something to ask the local guides!

A fabulously beautiful and interesting place - both with its Soviet-era aura and the charm of the seashore. 

Mazirbe border guard tower

The Soviet border defence post was located in the building that used to be a maritime school, and next to it is a well-preserved Soviet border guard watchtower. The second watchtower is located right on the shore next to a parking lot. These watchtowers are a reminder of the Soviet occupation and the times when Mazirbe was a closed border area and civilians were allowed on the shore only in specially designated places and only during the daytime. This border guard watchtower is one of the best-preserved objects of its type on the coast of Latvia. However, it designated is dangerous to climb it.

Mazirbe boat cemetery

Mazirbe, historically known as the largest Liv centre, is notable for the only fishermen's boat cemetery on the Latvian coast. It was built in the 1960s, the last boats were brought in 1976. The boats ended up here as a result of both fishing restrictions and age.

Today, Mazirbe has less than ten wrecks of fishing boats, but historically there have been many more. Boats have been laid to rest in other seaside villages, but it is in Mazirbe's boat graveyard that this is most evident today.

The Mazirbe Boat Cemetery is the only one of its kind on the Latvian coast.