The Cirksis Family

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...

Let our Songs Ring Out! J Č Brussels Prisoner-of-War Camp December 1945 In this series, I will be posting pages from a hand written song book left to me by my father. Actually I never knew it existed until he died so I never had to opportunity to hear many of these songs. Ilze, who has been doing an incredible job of translating the Letters from Latvia has been kind enough to provide a translation of the song titles and a summary of the themes involved. Music has always been an important part of Latvian culture. I say it a lot and it is mentioned in may of the letters my father received from Latvia but it really can't be overstated. I did a quick google search and I was pleased to find that this isn't the only songbook to survive the post WWII POW camps. www.latvians.com has an introduction to the Zedelgem POW camp here and they have preserved another Latvian Songbook here .  I will be posting the songs individually and where I can I will try to post a ...

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 .