During the Soviet occupation of Latvia, tens of thousands of men, women and children were ripped from their homes and sent to Siberia as slave labour. The most infamous dates for deportation are June 13 - 14, 1941 and March 25, 1949, when roughly 15,000 and 42,000 people, respectively, were abducted in the middle of the night. They were ordered to pack warm clothes, were driven to train stations and were crammed into cattle cars for the long trip to destinations unknown. Few ever returned. A monument has been erected in memory of these people at the station from which many began their horrible journey. Take tram N°10 from Grēcinieku to the Torņakalna stacija stop. The monument is directly behind the station.