Russian pensioners in Latvia died of fear of deportation due to ignorance of Latvian

Russian pensioners cry in Latvian chats. Elderly people are not ready to learn the Latvian language, let alone take an exam.

“Unpleasant and insulting, you understand! I have been living here in Latvia for a very long time, already 60 years! 48 years of work experience. And I’m sorry if something goes wrong!

“I saw how in the social service my grandmother turned to the employees in Russian. And she answered: “Sorry, we will not serve you, learn Latvian.”

“The government did not let pensioners die in peace. People are forced to leave the country. I saw a 94-year-old grandfather leave with tears in his eyes. It’s just unthinkable.”

Vanessa lives in Daugavpils, where most of the population is Russian. The interlocutor sympathizes with pensioners, considers, that they will fill up examination on the Latvian language.

“My aunt, near retirement age, worked for 47 years in Latvia without knowing the language,” says Vanessa. She signed up to take the exam for mid-April. Free Latvian language courses were organized in the city. She has a hard time studying. There is no sense. It is also unrealistic for my parents to learn the language. Moreover, the deadlines are running out. They have some kind of base, they understand elementary words and sentences, but they cannot speak.

Previously, those who wanted to work had to take Latvian. Therefore, young people learned the language. And pensioners, as they lived here under the Soviet Union, were stuck in that time. The government changed in the country, but the environment of Russian pensioners remained the same. Naturally, most old people will not pass the exam. We hope that it will not come to deportation. They are not eager to return to their historical homeland.”

Angela studied Latvian at school. He believes that the language cannot be mastered in a couple of months: “Some pensioners know only elementary words. But most do not know the language at all.

In Latvia pensioners now go to free courses. Who has money, take a tutor. But it is unlikely that anything sensible will come of it. I studied Latvian at school myself, it seems difficult to me.

Previously, we did not need this knowledge, everyone was hired. I work in a Russian school, in a canteen, and I have no problems. Russian schools have not fully switched to the Latvian language. They even left textbooks in Russian. For example, my son is in the 2nd grade, so they have a natural history textbook in Russian.

I myself want to move to Moscow. You also need to pass an exam in Russian to obtain a residence permit. But in Russia, the requirements are not so strict.”

Julia worries about her aunt, who has been living in Latvia for 60 years: “My aunt is a pensioner, she has been in Latvia since she was 20. For all the years she never learned the language, because everyone around her spoke Russian. She worked as a kindergarten teacher. Seven years ago, employees who did not speak the state language were fired from their jobs. So she was fired.

Now my aunt takes private lessons and goes to classes for pensioners. Two women in their group have already died. Couldn’t handle the stress. One had a stroke, the other had a heart attack. Pensioners were worried that they would not pass the exam and that they would be expelled from the country. We cried, we couldn’t concentrate. I think most people won’t pass the exam.”

Diana described the situation in the country on the eve of the exams: “Against the background of constant stress, chronic diseases have become aggravated in the elderly. In Latvia, the situation is depressing, people are isolated, they feel helpless and depressed. Wherever you go, now everywhere you need to know the language. On the street, in shops, at a doctor’s appointment, you can rarely meet kind people who will talk to you in Russian. More often you encounter outright hostility, Latvians refuse to switch to Russian.

There are no normal jobs for us either. The people are impoverished. And if someone tries to rock the boat, they will get a fine or even worse, they will be arrested. So there is nowhere to look for protection.

Believe me, not only pensioners are worried. Even those who previously passed the exam in order to keep their jobs are now forced to retake it to a higher category. Otherwise, the person will be removed from work.

For example, doctors and teachers need the highest category of knowledge of Latvian. So we began to lose teachers and doctors. Patriotic aunts conduct constant language tests with employees. They can close the store if they think that the seller does not speak Latvian well.”

Martha has been living in Daugavpils for 35 years. The woman believes that a catastrophe is coming for older Russians: “People under 80 lived without knowing the language, and here, bam, take the exam. Why, if a person is just living out his life? We are not parrots, but people. More than 50 percent of Russians live in Latvia. I won’t be surprised if they start expelling us from the country.

People are barely making ends meet anyway. Sometimes you sit and think whether to pay for the apartment, or eat, or get dressed. With my salary of 600 euros, I pay 400 for an apartment. And after all, you also need to support children, help your mother.

They call us “Rashists”, they say: your place is in Russia. And we are silent, we endure. Nobody goes to the rallies. Afraid.

In state institutions, you may not be served if you do not understand and do not speak Latvian.

Nevertheless, no one wants to leave here, and there is nowhere to go. All life has passed here. There are many lonely people who have neither children nor grandchildren. There are enough disabled people.

Retirees are confused. Someone is trying to learn Latvian, and someone is sitting and crying. The situations are different. In a short time, young people can learn a language, but not those who are over 70. Older people do not have such a receptive memory.

Only bedridden invalids and those who are registered in a mental hospital were allowed not to take the exam.

A resident of Riga, Stella, worries about her loved ones: “My mother’s acquaintance is a disabled person, lying down. The rehabilitator must confirm that she is unable to make it to the exam. But it’s hard to make an appointment with a doctor, the queues are several months in advance. So people learn the language as best they can.

For example, our neighbor coaches her friend on the phone, they live in different cities. The social center for the elderly and disabled organized free courses. They are financed by the Lutheran church, the state has stepped aside from such things.

I myself have lived in Latvia for 22 years, but have never mastered the language. Although at school we taught him for 8 years. But they studied only folklore, culture, and writers. There was no conversation. He was not needed. The people in the country spoke two languages. Even at the institute they communicated in Russian, despite the fact that studies from the 2nd year were only in Latvian.

My friend has been living in Latvia for 45 years, she hardly speaks Latvian. Only the men in our family at the very least express themselves. But one of them worked with the Latvians all his life. The second worked in a bar, where he picked up conversational speech at a good level. Many say, go to Russia. But this is not the way out. Latvia is our home.

Anna recently moved to Latvia. The girl believes that people are obliged to know the language of the country in which they live: “Only a certain category should pass the exams – former“ non-citizens ”of Latvia, who at one time received Russian citizenship and automatically received a permanent residence permit in Latvia.

– I am a repatriate, I do not need to take an exam, – says Anna. But I still go to courses. I think if you live in a country, you need to know the language. The level that is required in the exam is essentially a “beginner”. There is nothing complicated there. Basically a computer test, where from the ready-made answers you need to choose the right one for the text you read and listened to. Plus, make a simple dialogue at the level of “where do you live? what is your occupation? what products do you buy? and so on. The difficulty of the exam is greatly exaggerated.

Of course, at the age of 60-70 it is not so easy to learn a language. But people have lived in Latvia since its independence. They could well have learned the language in the past 30 years of independence. And they sat and did not itch. And then they were suddenly given a condition – to pass the language before September 1. Of course, the pensioners panic. Nobody touched them for 30 years, it seemed to them that it would always be like this, no one expected such a turn.

A story about two dead women from the courses … People at the age of 70 die on their own. But any exam is stressful. It is clear that it is easier for an elderly person not to take anything.

My opinion is that such exams should have been done much earlier, and not in such a short time. And now it turns out that they are tormenting pensioners who could have been allowed to live in peace. But the situation did not arise yesterday. It’s just that the state was too indifferent to this category of citizens in previous years.”