Imants Sudmalis
Encyclopedia
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and partisan
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
, the Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
(awarded posthumously on October 23, 1957).
His organization of the bombing of an anti-Soviet protest in response to reports of Allied negotiations in Moscow in November 1943 discussing assigning the Baltics to the Soviet sphere has been described as an act of terrorism by researchers of the Latvian Museum of the Occupation; Soviet sources described it as an act of "disrupting a Nazi occupier-organized inflammatory anti-Soviet demonstration."
Career
Sudmalis was a member of the Communist Union of the Youth of Latvia from 1932, and head of the underground KomsomolKomsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
organization in Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
during the authoritarian presidency of Kārlis Ulmanis
Karlis Ulmanis
Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...
. He was jailed for his pro-Soviet agitation but released following the Soviet occupation
Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers, according to the European Court of Human Rights, the Government of Latvia, the State Department of the United States of America, and the European Union, to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union ostensibly under the...
in 1940. He became a member of the Latvian Lenin Communist Youth Central Committee and secretary for its Liepāja branch and was editor of Liepāja's party newspaper, Komunists ("The Communist").
During the Nazi occupation in World War II, Sudmalis was one of the organisers of the Soviet guerrilla resistance movement on the territory of Latvia. Soviet sources indicate he participated in the defense of Liepāja in June 1941, fighting with his Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
group against the German invasion forces, destroying a Nazi landing party near Rucava
Rucava
Rucava is a village in Rucava municipality, Latvia. Rucava had 547 residents as of 2006....
. Ultimately, the Soviets evacuated Liepāja two days before the Nazis entered the city. From 1943, Sudmalis was in charge of an underground Komsomol resistance cell in Riga. He later organised a bomb attack on an anti-Soviet demonstration on Riga's Cathedral Square , in which several civilians were killed. Fortunately, the bomb detonated prematurely and did not kill as many as planned. A crowd of 10,000 participated in the victims' funeral procession. In February 1944, he was killed by the Germans. He was awarded with two Orders of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
.
Soviet commemorations
Janis Cakste
Jānis Čakste was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of independent Latvian state as the Chairman of Tautas Padome , the Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly , and as the first President of Latvia .- Youth :Čakste was born in the...
Square). The sculptors of the monument were Vilnis Albergs and Gaida Grundberga; its architects were O. Ostenbergs and I. Strautmanis. Following the restoration of Latvia's independence, on 21 July 1995 the statue of Sudmalis was relocated to the park of Liepāja Museum
Liepaja Museum
Liepāja Museum is the largest museum in the historical region of Courland, Latvia and possesses over 100 000 articles, but in the halls of the museum you can see 1500 exhibits. Permanent displays tell of Liepāja’s history, starting from its early days and of the ethnography of South Kurzeme...
. One of the driving forces behind the move was local LNNK
Latvian National Independence Movement
The Latvian National Independence Movement was a political organization in Latvia from 1988 till mid-1990s.It formed in 1988, as the radical wing of Latvian nationalist movement...
activist Voldemārs Prancāns, who disliked the fact that the monument had become a meeting place for the local Interfront and others who had opposed Latvia's renewed independence from the USSR.
A bronze bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Imants Sudmalis once stood in Riga near the Riga Castle
Riga Castle
Riga Castle is a castle on the banks of River Daugava in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The castle was founded in 1330. This structure was thoroughly rebuilt between 1497 and 1515. Upon the castle's seizure by the Swedes, they constructed spacious annexes in 1641. The fortress was continually...
, but was dismantled in 1990s. There is also a memorial stone to Sudmalis (erected 1962) at the Draudzības kurgāns (Burial-mound
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
of Friendship) near Zilupe
Zilupe
Zilupe is a town of a few hundred inhabitants in Latvia, by the Zilupe River, on the border with Russia. Zilupe's railway station is the final station for the Riga-Zilupe train route, which is one of the longest passenger rail routes in Latvia...
on the Latvian–Russian–Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
ian border.
Schools, Pioneer youth organizations, streets, kolhozes, and a vessel in the Soviet fishing fleet were named for Sudmalis. In 1968 an oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
built in Kerch
Kerch
Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...
was named for him. As of 2006 this tanker sailed under the flag of Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
.
