American Latvians

I found these two accounts of people who had grown up in America with Latvian heritage. The first one, written by a woman, recounts the story of when she first visited Latvia during Soviet reign in 1977. Although the story winds up being about the power of family and meeting all of her relatives for the first time, she begins by discussing how awfully repressed everyday life was for the Latvians during this time. She talks about how she had to stay in a hotel because it was illegal for her to stay with her relatives, how her hotel room was bugged, how, even though she unplugged her only-Russian speaking radio, it was always plugged back in when she returned, how she was not allowed to play a Latvian song on the piano because of who might be listening, and how her and her grandmother had to fill out a ton of paperwork just to travel to a different city within Latvia. She also talks about the water being of sewer-quality and having cockroaches in her room. This was life in Latvia under the USSR. Even though freedom has finally come to Latvia, the sanitary problems brought on by Russia's ignorance of poor treatment of the country still exist. My grandparents and parents tell me that I would not be able to survive in Latvia if I were to go because of the sewage problems it faces. It is obvious that what happened during the soviet rule did not necessarily end with independence. As is often the case, once Latvia was freed, it still had to and still does have to deal with the issues left over from the time when it was occupied.

The second story is written by a man who only got to go to Latvia for the first time when it gained independence in 1991. His family had never expected freedom for Latvia, so when it came, he was eager to go to the country he had learned so much about. I vaguely remember when my grandparents went back for the first time since independence. I believe it was in 1992. They were able to regain property that had been in the family before soviet occupation yet were, like the woman of the first entry, disgusted by the state of Latvia. They, like these Americans (although my grandparents immigrated to Canada rather than America), were part of a huge movement of people who escaped Latvia before the really rough years came and were not allowed back until independence. Having been in it myself, I have come to understand that the Latvians have formed a very tight knit community throughout North America. Since they were not allowed back to Latvia, they created these societies in North America to feel more at home. Ironically, these societies are fairly repressive as it is expected that you marry another Latvian, make sure all the children speak Latvian as their first language, and carry on as many Latvian traditions as possible. Also, these groups are so tight-knit that everyone knows everyone from all over North America. For example, the Latvians in San Francisco know the people in the Latvian communities in Chicago and Toronto. What was very interesting to me, as I read those accounts that I linked to, was that I could relate those experiences back to those of my father and myself. Many Latvians experienced the same hardships and thus chose to band together even when away from Latvia.

I have two questions or prompts for the other members of my group. One would be, was life as bad for the people you are researching under occupation as it was for the Latvians? What were conditions like? What were some of the problems that existed after independence was achieved? And then, did any of these people try to escape their home country while it was occupied? If so, did they also form tight knit communities in whatever place they immigrated to like the Latvians?