Some of you may look at the title for this Family History Through the Alphabet challenge post and wonder if you’re on the right blog. After all, what does an Irish Jacobite army have to do with Latvia? As it
Wordless Wednesday – Latvian Composers and Song Festival
(click image to enlarge) Monument to Latvian composers at Viesturdārzs (“Viesturs Park”) in northern Rīga, also the oldest park in the city (1711). It was the site of the first Latvian Song Festival, at the end of June, 1873. The
WW1 Diary – June 27, 1915
Second installment from the diary of my great-grandfather’s sister Alise, written during the First World War, just a few miles from the front lines of the Eastern Front. For the background, see here. June 27, 1915 My thirtieth birthday. Already!!
Mention in Family Tree Magazine!
A few weeks ago, I was looking at my blog statistics, and I found that people had clicked on links from the Family Tree Magazine website to get to my blog. I’d never seen links from there before, so I
WW1 Diary – June 24, 1915
When visiting a great-aunt of mine (my maternal grandfather’s sister) in Latvia, she shared with me a real family treasure – the wartime diary of her aunt, written during the First World War. I photographed all of the pages, and
Ē is for Ērģeles
So what does the third Latvian letter of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge get us? Ērģeles! I’ll admit, this one is a bit of a stretch. But there aren’t many Latvian words that start with Ē (a long
E is for Emancipation
On to letter E of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! E is for Emancipation To many Westerners, particularly Americans, “Emancipation” means the freeing of slaves from slavery, more specifically black slaves in the American South, during the Civil
D is for Denmark
It is time for the letter “D” in the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! D is for Denmark After the Second World War, there were thousands of Displaced Persons (DPs) across Western Europe, having escaped the Soviet takeovers of
Č is for Čigāns
Continuing with the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge, we’ve come upon our second Latvian letter…. Č! This was a tough letter! There are not many Latvian words that start with “č” (pronounced “ch”), and even fewer that could relate
Remembering June 14, 1941
As with other years, I’m doing a commemorative post for June 14, 1941. This is the day when tens of thousands of Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians were deported from their homelands by the Soviets to the far reaches of Siberia.