I am posting this on behalf of a member of the FEEFHS (Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies) Facebook group, since I know a number of readers here are descendants of Second World War Displaced Persons, and could thus
Latvian Guard – February 15, 1922
This is part of my series of interesting newspaper articles that I find in the old Latvian newspapers available through Periodika. Most of the articles I post are in some way related to migration, wars or other events that are
Latvian Genealogy Primer – Part 1
Ready to move on to genealogical sources? See Part 2 of this primer here. Part 1 – Historical Context What You Need to Know about Latvia Latvia is a country in northeastern Europe, bordered by Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania.
Limbaži News – August 9, 1908
I occasionally browse the variety of newspapers available through the Latvian National Library’s website here and here. Newspapers can be a very valuable source of information, but many pre-World War 2 Latvian newspapers were written in blackletter font and old
Wordless Wednesday – Post-Winter Hijinks, c. 1949
The results of last week’s snowball fight…. my grandmother and great-aunt are covered in snow, while it appears that my great-uncle has escaped serious snow damage. My grandfather has taken over holding the camera, who knows what he looks like!
Wordless Wednesday – Winter Hijinks, c. 1949
My great-uncle JÄnis, my great-aunt Marta and my grandfather Aleks about to get up to some winter hijinks during what I believe is their first winter in Canada, c. 1949. Pay attention to the snowball in my grandfather’s hands! See
Wordless Wednesday – Christmas, c. 1955
My mother’s family at Christmas, c. 1955. My grandmother is seated on the left, my great-aunt Marta seated on the right. Great-uncle JÄnis is holding my mother, who looks to be three or four in this photo. Grandfather Aleks would
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
Expanding Family Knowledge
Before I went to Latvia and started conducting my research in the archives, I was purely a genealogist. I wanted names, dates and places. While at the archives, a transformation occured: I became a family historian as well. Rather than