The Cirksis Family

Staburadze (Staburags) In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 10 in the book is titled:  Staburadze or Staburags . A high cliff on the banks of the Daugava culturally significant to Latvians but now complete...

Lēni Lūdzot - Gently Pleading In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 9 in the book is titled:  Lēni Lūdzot - Gently Pleading . My heart is troubled, I wish my love was here to comfort me. Page 8 of Bask...

Dzimtenes Meitenes Dziesma - Song of the Girl at Home In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 8 in the book is titled:  Dzimtenes Meitenes Dziesma - Song of the Girl at Home .  A real Latvian rushes to d...

Bakarolla In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 4 in the book is titled: Bakarolla . A humorous song about love Page 6 of Basket of Songs - Brussels Prisoner-of-war camp, December 1945   Unfortunate...

Rudzu pukes - Cornflowers In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 6 in the book is titled:  Rudzu pukes- Cornflowers .  Cornflower blue is the sky of my country,  cornflower blue are my girl's eyes....

Lietus Lāses - Raindrops In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 5 in the book is titled:  Lietus Lāses - Raindrops .  When raindrops knock on your window, that will be like a quiet greeting from me....

Mirdzot šķēpiem - Gleaming Spears In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 4 in the book is titled:  Mirdzot šķēpiem  - Gleaming Spears .  Latvian Riflemen enter a town, the girls’ eyes gleam, next...

Laša kundze - Mrs Salmon In this series, I have been posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father.  The book is titled  Bakset of Songs: Let our Songs Ring out,  Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp  December 1945 .  It is also labeled with my father's initials J Č. Click on the following link :  Basket of Songs  to view the rest of the series. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the  Letters from Latvia  series has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes inv olved. T he songs individually over the coming weeks and where I can, I will link to a performance of the melody. At this time, I won't be posting full translations for most of these songs -the Leters from Lativa series will be taking priority. Song 3 in the book is titled: Laša kundze -Mrs Salmon. It is a humorous song. Great excitement in the deep because the eel is going to marry the salm...

Janis CIRKSIS was a displaced person (DP) after the Soviet union annexed Latvia and the Baltic states during WWII. This is a continuation in the series of letters that he received from his homeland, translated into English.  To see the other letters in the series click   HERE . For more information on Latvian translations please see the  Latvian Translations  page. Love, life,  mortality, pride, this letter seems to have it all.  Again, part of the story (the letters from Janis and Lidija) appears to be missing. From what I know of the conditions in the DP camps, they were difficult. Employment was scarce and many people were starting to think about moving to a better life in Canada, America the UK or Australia. For most of the people in the camps returning home to Soviet occupied Latvia would have meant risking being deported to the gulags (labour camps in Siberia).  It appears however, that in Kate's view, some Latvians "have given over to l...

On the 18th of July last year I sent an electronic request to the International Tracing Service (ITS). For those who don't know what the ITS does I will quote from their website: The International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen is a centre for documentation, information and research on Nazi persecution, forced labour and the Holocaust. It documents the fate of millions of victims whose names and memory are to be preserved.  Janis survived WWII and he told me some information about himself and his brother however there are a lot of unanswered questions - questions I can no longer ask him since he has passed away. The ITS will provide information that they have on lost or deceased relatives who were victims of the NAZI regime. I placed the request to find out more information about Janis CIRKSIS and his brother Peteris CIRKSIS. I am told that Peteris was shot by the Germans either in a case of mistaken identity or because he had been a communist - he decided to stay ...

Edit: New information from the International Tracing Service suggests that the photos contained in this post may actually be from Barum DP Camp in approximately 1948. If you are able to confirm this or otherwise identify the location pictured, please leave a comment below and I will amend the captions. I have been busily scanning photos and documents for the past several weeks so unfortunately I haven't been updating this site as much as I would like. On a positive note, just as I think I have nearly scanned everything, I find more documents and photos. This meaning that once I have finished scanning, I will have a heap of material to post from. In the mean time I will try and post a few bits and pieces as I scan them. Unfortunately, because I am busy scanning at the moment, I won't have much time to research and write about what I post so my intention is to update some of these posts in the future as more information comes to light. In the mean time here are some photos f...

Over the next few months I intend to post some old photos that my father Janis CIRKSIS kept in various albums. I'll post a couple of photos here with some quick descriptions so you have some idea of what is to come. As I post photos, it is my intention to research them as much as possible. If you can add any information about anything I post please feel free to comment below. Miķēlis ČIRKŠIS, my Grandfather. I believe this photo was taking slightly after or possibly during WWI. Miķēlis was a Latvian freedom fighter. I am hoping to trace some record of where and on which side he fought during the war - before he fought for Latvian independence .