This week's episode of 'The Keys' starts in 1940 with one of the darkest days in Latvian history: illegal occupation by the Soviet Union as part of a deal deal cut between Hitler and Stalin. As the film relates, this was only the start of a series of appalling events that would unfoold over the subsequent year.
"Even today there is no lack of people who refuse to acknowledge the truth," the documentary notes -- words which have certainly been borne out by the publication of some recent, high-profile pieces in the international press.
In less than a quarter of an hour the documentary outlines the staggering scale of theft and barbarity under the Soviet system.
According to LTV "The Keys" series tells of the most important or "key" events, personalities and turning points in the history of the Latvian state from 1918 to the present. The purpose is to reveal each selected event from an unusual point of view, as if "unlocking the door" to lesser known and therefore particularly intriguing facts.
"Such an exploratory approach, bypassing the usual stereotypes of presenting history, will allow viewers to perceive what is known to others and to better understand what has happened in the context of today's experience," says LTV.
Throughout the year, Latvian history will be told in 'mixed order' - events will not be sequenced year by year, but viewed in the exact month in which they occurred
The show is made by VFS Films, a long-time partner of Latvian Television and it is hosted by Mārtiņš Ķibilds, a distinguished cultural journalist who sadly passed away late last year.
