In the interwar period, many Latvians changed their surnames. As I was browsing the abstracts for the name change documents, I saw many of the changes took place in the first half of 1940. When I went to the Latvian
Records after 1905
In my last post, a reader requested that I talk about records after 1905. So here we go! There are lots of different types of records available for the post-1905 period – however, as of right now, none of them
What Do You Want To Read?
Sorry for the lack of posting the past couple of weeks – I was making my way home from Latvia, and then, just four days after getting home, moved across the province. I’m mostly settled in now, and starting to
Latvian Cemetery Culture
The title of this post may seem a bit odd to most readers – how is there a culture revolving around cemeteries? In Latvia, cemeteries (“kapi” or “kapsÄ“tas”) are a very important part of life. Great care is taken to
Revision List Indexes
So the new project that I’ve been working on – revision list indexes! Now, these indexes are simple – family name and number, and the farm names and numbers they appear in on the specified estate. More information is on
Exciting Stuff to Come!
Sorry about things being quiet here lately – I’ve been busy at work in the archives during the week, and on weekends going out to different places in Latvia to visit where ancestors lived. What I can say though, is
Day of Remembrance – Jewish Victims of the Holocaust
This post should have been up yesterday, but I was out of town for most of the day and returned with a splitting headache, so I hope you’ll accept the post today instead. On July 4, 1941, numerous synagogues across
School Records
Ever wonder how your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents did in school? You may just be able to find out. Numerous Latvian school records are held at the Latvian State Historical Archives, mostly for the inter-war period (1918-1940). Of course, to
Early Days in Canada
[This post was written for the 30th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy on the topic of “Arrival in New Lands”, hosted by Al of Al’s Polish-American Genealogy Research.] All four of my grandparents came to
Day of Remembrance – Occupation Day
As mentioned in my June 14 Day of Remembrance post a few days ago, June 17 is the day that Latvia was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940. It is an official remembrance day, and is also one that