November 11 in Latvia

Today, November 11, is a day of remembrance in many parts of the world, whether it be called Remembrance Day, Veterans’ Day, or something else. This is usually a commemoration of November 11, 1918, when the Armistice was signed at the end of the First World War.

This may have been the end of the First World War, but hostilities were not over in Latvia. While the Latvian Republic was proclaimed a week later on November 18 (the day celebrated as Latvia’s Independence Day), Latvian territory was shortly thereafter invaded by both the Red Army and the Baltic Germans with the support of the remnants of the Russian White Army, so three different governments were fighting for control of the same territory.

It was on November 11, 1919, when the Germans and White Russians were finally driven off from RÄ«ga by the newly formed Latvian army, despite the Latvians being outnumbered in manpower and vastly outnumbered in terms of technology (cannons, machine guns and planes). The Soviet retreat would follow, and ceasefires would be signed with both Germany and the Soviet Union in 1920.

This day was called “LāčplÄ“Å¡a diena” (“LāčplÄ“sis Day”), after the Latvian folk hero LāčplÄ“sis, who also lends his name to the highest order of Latvian military honours given in the interwar period. For more information on this day, please look at this infographic, available in English.

Do you have any ancestors who fought in Latvia’s War of Independence? Do share their stories here!

Z is for Zemnieki

What? No W, X or Y? Nope! Latvian does not have these letters, so we now have two left – Z and Ž. Now we have Z for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge!

“Zemnieki” is the Latvian word for “peasants”, or, in the modern era, “farmers”. I don’t have my etymology dictionary handy, but the likely source of this word is “zeme” (meaning land) + “-nieks” (occupational suffix). The peasantry, and farming in general, have been extremely important to Latvian history, culture and national identity.

Prior to Latvian independence, the majority of ethnic Latvians were peasant farmers. At the time of the 1897 Census, the population was about 70% rural and 30% urban. Today, those percentages are switched – almost 70% urban and 30% rural. Compared to other countries, Latvia is still relatively rural – Canada is 80% urban, Australia 89% and the United States 82%. Even city-dwelling Latvians often have a property in the country that they go to on the weekends or holidays, that they may cultivate to one level or another, or, alternately, an allotment in the garden community outside of RÄ«ga known as Dārziņi (“gardens”).

At the time of Latvian independence, the urbanization level stood at 23.5%. This means that Latvian farmers and country dwellers were both a) an important source of political support, and as a result, b), a group whose concerns needed to be met. This meant that agrarian parties, particularly the Latvian Farmers’ Union, were heavily represented in the interwar governments. While they did not hold the largest number of seats in the Saeima (Parliament), the party was however extremely influential, with a number of political leaders, including Kārlis Ulmanis, Alberts Kviesis, ZigfrÄ«ds Anna Meierovics and Hugo Celmiņš (no relation to me), being members.

One of the biggest tasks undertaken by the interwar government was the task of land redistribution. Over half of Latvia’s agricultural land was nationalized by the early governments. Latvian independence had nullified any claims that German barons had over their widespread estates (I believe they were each allowed to keep 50 hectares of land). Much of this nationalized land was then made available for purchase by landless peasants, with priority and significant discounts to soldiers who fought in the War of Independence and their families. Most of these pieces of land were smaller than 22 hectares, but this appeared to be sufficient to meet the needs of the people. These newly created properties were called “jaunsaimniecÄ«bas” (“new farms”), in contrast to “vecsaimniecÄ«bas” (“old farms”), which were farms that had been purchased by peasants during the Czarist period. Over 50,000 “jaunsaimniecÄ«bas” were created in the interwar time period.

Not everyone got land, which meant that the rural social stratification that had started during the Czarist era – that is, the division between peasant landowners and landless peasants – still existed. Landless families that remained in the countryside (as opposed to heading to the city) would still need to rent land, or live and work on the land of a landowner. When the Soviets occupied Latvia, one of their main target groups for deportation in 1941 and 1949 were “kulaks”, that is, well-off farmers. This happened to some of the family of my great-grandfather PÄ“teris Eduards Celmiņš. His brother Voldemārs’ family, who owned StampvÄ“veri farm in Vijciems parish (where PÄ“teris Eduards was born), was one of these families. Voldemārs died en route to Siberia in 1949, but his wife MÄ«la and children Auseklis and Aija were freed in 1957. I don’t know what happened to them after that.

The Soviet era forced collectivization, the remnants of which can still be seen today – that is, Soviet apartment blocks in the countryside. Upon the restoration of independence, families could apply to get back the land that they lost as a result of the collectivization, which meant that they needed to prove, using land records and other documents, that they were entitled to the land they were requesting. These records are also held at the Latvian State Historical Archives.

The old land records will often give more information than just the land details – they will discuss transfers of land in the case of the death of the original owner, sometimes provide death or marriage certificates as supporting evidence with regards to rights to the land, and so on. It was not uncommon for women to own or inherit property. In fact, three out of four of my great-grandmothers were the ones who owned the family property in the interwar period, and at least two of my great-great-grandmothers inherited the family property during the Czarist period.

Today, farmers are still an important part of Latvia’s cultural fabric. People strive to buy Latvian produce and shop at local farmers’ markets. Cities are almost deserted at times of traditional festivals such as Midsummer. The Latvian Farmers’ Union political party still exists in a coalition with the Green Party (running for Saeima as “The Union of Greens and Farmers”), pursuing a strain of agrarianism familiar in the Nordic countries that is oriented towards small enterprises instead of large conglomerates.

Do you have comments, stories or questions on Latvia’s agricultural heritage? Share and we can find answers!

V is for Vitebsk

So now the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge has the last Latvian province of the Russian Empire… Vitebsk!

Like Livland, Vitebsk is also divided between different countries in the modern day. Only the northwest portion of Vitebsk is a part of Latvia, now the province of Latgale. The rest of Vitebsk is divided between Belarus and Russia.

Unlike Kurland and Livland, however, Vitebsk was not a Baltic province, and therefore the organizational structure, privileges and rights of the inhabitants were much different. For example, serfdom in Vitebsk only ended when it did in the Russian Empire as a whole – 1861. This is almost 50 years after serfdom was abolished in Kurland and Livland. This also meant that surnames were adopted later than in Kurland or Livland, however, I have read conflicting stories on this. In some places, it appears that surnames were in use earlier than the 1860s, in some cases even earlier than in Kurland or Livland, but this varies from place to place. I wish that my Vitebsk ancestors would have been from a place with earlier surnames!

Another big difference between Vitebsk and the Baltic provinces was organization. Manorial estates did exist in Vitebsk, but instead of individual farmsteads on the estate, something called a “sādža” was more common. I’m not entirely sure how to translate “sādža” – it would be a small cluster of farms, typically with fewer than ten families, according to the sources I’ve read. In this sense, it seems smaller than the Russian “mir”, but probably in some ways analogous. When peasants acquired surnames, it was not uncommon for all members of a “sādža” to get the same surname – often the name of said “sādža”.

During agrarian reforms in the early days of the Latvian Republic, many “sādžas” were divided into individual farmsteads (“viensÄ“tas”). However, the “sādža” did seem to endure, and if you look at a modern map of Latgale province, you will see the difference in the rural landscape, with one name being associated with several marked farms. A good place to observe this difference on the map is the area around the town of JÄ“kabpils – in the time of the Russian Empire, right in this place the Daugava river was the border between Kurland and Vitebsk. The town of JÄ“kabpils (Jakobstadt at the time) was on the south side of the Daugava, and in Kurland province, while the town of Krustpils (Kreuzberg) was on the north side of the Daugava, and in Vitebsk province. If you go to BalticMaps and zoom in on JÄ“kabpils, and look to the east of the town on both sides of the river, you will see the difference. There are some individual farms on the north side of the river, and some “sādža”-like communities on the south side of the river, but for the most part it is individual farms on the south side and “sādžas” on the north side (see the small farms marked “S.O.”? I suspect those are farms associated with the “Strodu Oglenieki” sādža, so I think the letters or initials signify that a farm belongs to a sādža).

Vitebsk was also much more multi-ethnic than the other Latvian provinces, and Latgale remains so to this day. According to the 1897 Census, the three Latvian regions of Vitebsk (RÄ“zekne, Ludza and Daugavpils), had Latvian populations of 57.9%, 64.2% and 39% respectively. The next biggest ethnic groups were Russians in RÄ“zekne region (23.9%), Belarusians in Ludza region (20.5%) and Jews in Daugavpils region (20%). The rest of the population included smaller numbers of these groups as well as Poles and Germans. Today, Latgale’s population is 46% Latvian, 3.9% Russian, 6.8% Polish, 4.9% Belarusian, and then smaller groups of Ukrainians, Lithuanians and other ethnicities.

Genealogically speaking, Vitebsk is important for two reasons. One, for the people whose families have always lived there, and two, for people trying to trace families that may have moved there from other provinces. After serfdom was abolished, thousands of people, including many from Kurland and Livland, started to move into the Vitebsk province. A number of Latvian colonies were established in the parts of Vitebsk that were not already populated by Latvians. Some of the biggest colonies were Una, Vidreja, Glodnika, Matuševa, Pudiķi and Potašņa.

Vitebsk also hosted many of the First World War refugees that were fleeing hostilities in Kurland, though parts of Vitebsk were also under threat (read my story about my Krustpils ancestors and their First World War experiences here). After the war was over, the authorities in Latgale had their hands full as the first line of action when it came to repatriating all of the refugees who were returning to Latvian territory.

Do you have Vitebsk ancestors? Tips to share on doing research in Vitebsk records? Do share!

Tombstone Tuesday – Musts Children

In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned.

Photo taken by me, September 2012. Click to enlarge.

Names: Imants Musts, born May 9, 1935, died February 12, 1936; Edgars Ludvigs Musts, born March 1, 1937, died March 14, 1937.

Inscription: “Ja mÄ«lestÄ«ba spÄ“tu brÄ«numus darÄ«t, Un asaras miruÅ¡os modināt, Tad jÅ«s nesegtu kapu smiltis.” (“If love was able to work miracles, and tears awakened the dead, then you would not be covered by the sands of the grave.”

Location: Torņakalns cemetery, Rīga

The inscription on this gravestone is almost identical to one I posted several months ago – this one was also a child’s grave, so it appears that this must have been a popular phrase for remembering lost children.

Ū is for Ūdens and Ūdrs

Once again we have some Latvian surnames for a more obscure Latvian letter of the alphabet for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge. “Ū” is a long U sound.

ŪDENS means “water”. In old orthography, it would have been written as Uhden or Uhdens. In Cyrillic, it would be Уденс. I have seen this name in Jaunsalaca and Lugaži.

ŪDRS is somewhat more common – it means “otter”. In old orthography, it could be Uhdr, Uhder, Uhdris. In Cyrillic, it would be Удрис. I have seen this name in Lāde, Limbaži, Meirāni, Nabe, Pāle, Sēļi and Vecpiebalga.

Do you know any other “Ū” surnames? Where have you seen them? Share your findings!

U is for Ultimatum

I know, the official ending of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge is this week, and I still have a few letters to go, but I did start the challenge late (two months late!), and I had extra letters to do, so I think I’ll have done okay by finishing only a week or two late!

So, what is this Ultimatum all about, such that it deserves a capital U?

The Ultimatum was handed down by the Soviet Union on June 16, 1940, to Latvia and Estonia. This led to the illegal occupation and annexation of the Baltic countries into the Soviet Union (Lithuania had received the same ultimatum two days earlier).

Background: A month after the start of the Second World War, the Soviet Union’s first ultimatum to the Baltic countries demanded the allowance of Soviet military bases on their territory “for the duration of the European war”. This was in October 1939.

In June 1940, after the Winter War in Finland, the Soviet Union focused its attention on the Baltic countries again, saying that there were not sufficient “good neighbourly relations”. Then came the second ultimatum, which is the capital U Ultimatum I reference – the Soviet Union demanded the installation of “pro-Soviet” governments that could, under supervision of the Red Army, enforce the terms of the earlier agreement and allow free passage of Soviet troops into Baltic territory to protect against “provocative acts” against Soviet bases.

The pure military might of the Soviet Union, when compared to the militaries of the Baltic countries, meant that the countries did sign these pacts, hoping to save their citizenry the horrors of war. But the horrors were only just beginning.

Within days of the signing of the agreements, Soviet troops poured in, democratic parties were made illegal, and new “elections” were held with only Soviet-approved candidates on the ballots. The representatives of this puppet parliament then petitioned to join the Soviet Union. Even before this “petition” was granted, the Soviet powers were deporting Latvian government officials and their families to the gulag, including president Kārlis Ulmanis (who died in a Soviet prison in what is now Turkmenistan in 1942).

With that, independent Latvia, which hadn’t even reached its 22nd anniversary, had once again been annexed by a foreign power. This was to last until 1991, when independence was once again restored. The Soviet occupation did stop for three years, from 1941 to 1944, but this period consisted of Nazi occupation, so Latvia was still not free.

Latvian independence had been officially declared on November 18, 1918, but recognized January 26, 1921, and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union on August 5, 1940. This means that Latvia was independent for either 21 years, 8 months, 18 days or 19 years, 6 months, 10 days, depending on which calculation you take. At the fall of the Soviet Union, independence was re-proclaimed on May 4, 1990, and officially restored on August 21, 1991, making the time since these proclamations 22 years, 5 months, 29 days and 21 years, 2 months, 12 days, as of today’s date.

May this independence continue for centuries and millennia to come!

Tombstone Tuesday – Walter Family

In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned.

We have a German one today, most of my other Tombstone Tuesdays have been in Latvian. However, Germans have lived in Latvia for the past 800 years, so there are German graves all over the country as well.

Photo taken by me, September 2012. Click to enlarge.

Top Inscription:”Hier ruhen in Gott fern von der Deutschen Heimat” (“Here resting with God away from the German homeland”)

First Name: Martha Walter, maiden name Eigenfeldt, died December 16, 1880 in her 29th year of life.

Middle Inscription: “neben ihrem neugeborenen knablein und ihrem sohn” (“beside her newborn boy and her son”)

Second Name: Franz Walter, died December 18, 1880 in his 5th year of life.

Location: Torņakalns cemetery, Rīga

Inscriptions are in German, translations and any translation errors are mine.

T is for Tartu

So again, the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge has the name of a city that is not in Latvia. But this time it is closer to home – Tartu is a city in Estonia, which, at the time of the Russian Empire, was a part of the province of Livland, which, as I’ve mentioned before, also included northern Latvia. Tartu is only about four hours away from RÄ«ga by car or bus.

Why am I mentioning Tartu here? Mostly for its university, which was founded in 1632. While it went through different names in different languages, as well as different affiliations (Swedish, Baltic German, Russian, Soviet and Estonian), it was the centre of learning in the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire. The first institute of higher learning in Latvia was only established in 1862 (what is now the RÄ«ga Technical University). Prior to the 20th century, most Latvian intellectuals were educated in either Tartu (known in Latvian as “TÄ“rbata”) or Saint Petersburg.

While a number of Latvians studied at Tartu, the most famous is undoubtedly KriÅ¡jānis Valdemārs, a Latvian writer and folklorist, and considered the father of the First Latvian National Awakening, and one of the leaders of the Young Latvian movement. He made his commitment to the Latvian people very clear while at Tartu – the carte de visite on his door said “K. Valdemārs. Latvian.” This was quite radical at the time period (1850s), because education usually meant becoming Germanized. Instead, Valdemārs and a number of his Latvian compatriots (including writer Juris Alunāns and later Atis Kronvalds) organized “Latvian evenings” at the university where they discussed folklore and later began to oppose Baltic German control of Latvian institutions.

One of my great-grandfathers, Augusts LÅ«kins, spent some time at the University of Tartu prior to and during the First World War, studying medicine, however, it would appear that he set this career path aside when Latvian gained independence, and continued his studies in law at the University of Latvia.

Do you have any ancestors that studied at the University of Tartu? Were they Latvians, Estonians, Baltic Germans…? Share your family stories here!

Å  is for Å anhaja

“Å anhaja” is the Latvian name for “Shanghai”. But wait – why is a Chinese city a topic on a Latvian genealogy blog?

A year or so ago, the idea of Latvians in China might have seemed a bit strange to me too. But as I learned through my work with Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre, Latvians have ended up pretty much everywhere in the world at one point in time or another. So this post for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge is going to be not only about Latvians in Shanghai, but Latvians in China in general.

The history of Latvians in China begins with the 1890s and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, specifically the branch called the Chinese Eastern Railway. While this railway was running through China, it was built, run and administered by the Russian Empire, with its headquarters in the city of Harbin.

The city of Harbin was created out of a small village at the time that the railway was being built. While it is now a very Chinese city, in the early 1900s it was a city predominantly populated by people from the Russian Empire – according to a 1913 census, half the population was Russian, and only a third was Chinese. The remaining sixth was comprised of people from all corners of the Russian Empire – including 218 Latvians.

Most of the Latvians in Harbin and the rest of China would have been railway workers, but over time other families also moved there. In the 1930s, most of the Latvian population in Shanghai was engaged in retail occupations, administration and seafaring. The records I found registered 303 Latvian citizens living in Shanghai in the 1930s. Looking at the names on this list, the majority are either ethnic Latvians or Jews, with a few ethnic Russians. If anyone is interested in the names on this list, do let me know. I will eventually post it on my website.

The Latvian community in China mostly disappeared with the coming of the Second World War. When Manchuria was occupied by the Japanese, and the prospect of further war was imminent, most Latvian citizens returned to Latvia, which could be a complex procedure, since it required requesting permission to travel through the Soviet Union.

And with that, the Latvian community in China came to its end. Today, diplomatic relations exist between Latvia and China, and the number of Chinese tourists in Latvia is increasing. I’m not sure about Latvian tourists in China.

Did any of your Latvian ancestors spend time working on the Trans-Siberian Railway? Did they work in China in any other jobs? Do share!

2013 LaPa Calendars for Sale!

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you’ll be familiar with the Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre (Latvian name “LatvieÅ¡i pasaulÄ“ – muzejs un pÄ“tniecÄ«bas centrs”, from which the short form LaPa is formed). I worked at this budding museum this past winter to fulfill the internship requirements for my Applied Museum Studies program, and I am still involved with the organization, now serving as a board member. We are working towards finding a home for the museum, so that we can have a permanent exhibition and event space.

To aid in our quest of raising awareness of the museum, we have produced a 2013 calendar. The pages are a standard A4 size and it features photographs from Latvian communities abroad and photographs of some of the artifacts in our collection with explanatory text, as well as a standard feature of Latvian calendars – name days! If you would like a photo of the cover, let me know.

The descriptive text is in Latvian, however, if you do not speak Latvian I am happy to provide a translation to accompany your calendar. Days of the week and months are written in Latvian and English.

The calendars are $15 plus shipping. They can make great Christmas gifts for your relatives, and help raise the profile of this museum that is working to showcase our Latvian emigrant community! As always, the museum also accepts donations, be they of funds, items for the collection or personal stories. To order a calendar, write to lapainfo@gmail.com (you can write in English), then write me if you want the translated text!