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It is usually said that the memory of the war period had been completely reversed in the former Soviet borderlands since the collapse of the USSR, turning former “traitors” into heroes or victims. However, attempts to set up a new approach of the Nazi occupation and collaboration are rooted in the “Thaw” period. I remember everything, Richard – dealing with the Latvian legion, started to be considered in 1957. That coincided both with the massive return of the Latvian deportees from Siberia, and with a renewal of trials against war criminals. Produced only in 1966, the film reflected the social tensions going along with the sensitive topic, and presented a point of view far more nuanced than the official figure of the “Latvian traitor” imposed during the Stalinist period. Based on interviews, archival material and film analysis, this article aims at understanding through the film-making process the connection between the deep changes of the political meaning of the war period, and the social composition of film production.

Depuis la perestroïka et encore plus depuis la chute de l’URSS, de nouvelles collections à vocation historique et mémorielle ont été compilées et ouvertes au public à Riga. Parmi les musées d’histoire de la capitale lettone, deux d'entre eux ont retenu notre attention : le « Musée de l'occupation » et le « Musée juif ». Le premier propose une approche de la Lettonie « occupée » à travers trois moments conformes aux injonctions de la nouvelle historiographie nationale : la « première occupatio...

It is usually said that the memory of the war period had been completely reversed in the former Soviet borderlands since the collapse of the USSR, turning former “traitors” into heroes or victims. However, attempts to set up a new approach of the Nazi occupation and collaboration are rooted in the “Thaw” period. I remember everything, Richard – dealing with the Latvian legion, started to be considered in 1957. That coincided both with the massive return of the Latvian deportees from Siberia, and with a renewal of trials against war criminals. Produced only in 1966, the film reflected the social tensions going along with the sensitive topic, and presented a point of view far more nuanced than the official figure of the “Latvian traitor” imposed during the Stalinist period. Based on interviews, archival material and film analysis, this article aims at understanding through the film-making process the connection between the deep changes of the political meaning of the war period, and the social composition of film production.

Depuis la perestroïka et encore plus depuis la chute de l’URSS, de nouvelles collections à vocation historique et mémorielle ont été compilées et ouvertes au public à Riga. Parmi les musées d’histoire de la capitale lettone, deux d'entre eux ont retenu notre attention : le « Musée de l'occupation » et le « Musée juif ». Le premier propose une approche de la Lettonie « occupée » à travers trois moments conformes aux injonctions de la nouvelle historiographie nationale : la « première occupatio...