Flight from Latvia: A Six-Year Chronicle

A substantial chapter of World War II is resurrected in this sometimes tragic tale of one family’s flight from their Latvian homeland and subsequent uncertainty as displaced persons.

On the day Dagnija Neimane’s parents married in 1940, the Soviet Russians killed the Latvian border guards, leading to the first Soviet occupation of their country. The following months culminated in the Year of Horror, with mass arrests, executions, and deportations of fifteen thousand Latvians to Siberia. Though Nazi Germany drove off the invaders and in turn occupied Latvia, in 1944 the Soviets gained the upper hand once more. Some Latvians joined the German forces to fight the Soviets, others who could, formulated plans for escape, wondering if there was hope left for their country.

Flight from Latvia is a true narrative of an extended family’s exile and journey through refugee camps to find a safe home once more. The narrator, only a youngster at the time, derives details from family stories and periodicals to relay this significant chapter of her family’s history.

Children, parents, even elderly grandparents flee together as a family—though conditions for food and health are abysmal.

Now, having come this far, who would be selected for emigration?