The Cirksis Family

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. This is the 20th Letter in the series. A sincere greeting from the shores of the Amber Sea!!! Dear Janis, I want to write a few lines to you today and also send best wishes for your namesday. I think you will receive them in time. Here in your Homeland the spring is really starting now, which as you will remember, is late this year and made us wait quite long for its splendour and warmth. Only this morning can you feel that the buds on the cherry trees are opening, a few petals are showing. Last week the weather warmed up, but is still not really summery. You still can’t sunbathe or swim. I did start going barefoot yesterday tho...

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. This is the 19th Letter in the series.  You might notice a little paranoia in this letter - not unfounded I might add. You will note a lack of full names. In this letter, Kate refers to "Uncle P". I believe this refers to Peteris PIRTNIEKS, Janis's uncle who was deported to Siberia - see the post  Postcards from Sibīrija .  Nica, 30.4 (1955) Sincere and loving greetings to you, dear brother, from - me, mum and dad!!! It’s a week now since mum greeted me on my arrival home from work with the words that today is again a very happy day, we have received a letter f...

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. This is the 18th Letter in the series.  A long break between this letter and the last and how things have changed for both Janis and Kate and the family in Latvia! The family farm had been seized by the Soviet government and turned into a collective farm. It would take about another 50 years before the family could claim part of their hard earned land back - and give it away again to a deserving family as it turned out. Will the Cirksis family ever return to Latvia? Who can say - certainly Janis would never have guessed where life would take him! Again we are confronted with the mystery of ...

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. This is the 16th Letter in the series.  It is worth noting that in 1949 Kate still believes that Peteris CIRKSIS may still return home. It is a puzzle I am yet ot solve: Where and when did Janis find out his brother's death? I never asked him for any  details  about it. All I was ever told was that Peteris was shot by the Nazis. I had always assumed either he or a family member witnessed this event but it seems not... Nica, 2.2.49 “Let the storm rage, let the north wind howl, Only upwards, upwards will go my road!” Sincere greetings to you, dear brother far away! ...

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. This is the 14th Letter in the series.  Katrine  ČIRKŠIS, my grandmother. In this letter two people are mentioned that I will have to dedicate a post to  eventually: My grandmother Katrine ČIRKŠIS and her mother Maiga LAPI ŅŠ. I don't know a lot about Maiga at the moment but if she was anything like her daughter or granddaughter, I have no doubt that there will be stories of her out there. Nica, 17.3.48 Our dear Janis in a foreign country!   We send you loving greetings from your quiet birthplace!   We received the last letter from you about a month ago,...

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. This is the 15th Letter in the series.  Before the next letter I must say that given Latvia's history it is hard not to mention how scary the current events in the  Ukraine  are for Latvians. Now more then ever I feel the need to continue publishing these letters.  For those who are unaware, after WWII an iron curtain went up around the Soviet Union - which at the time included Latvia. Those behind the curtain watched  their countries and way of life be destroyed slowly by the imperialistic Communist system. The Latvian language itself was nearly made extinct through mass...

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. The 12th instalment of the Letters from Latvia series is a little soapy. It deals mostly with Janis' breakup with Vera (the girl at home) and his decision to marry Lidija. This appears to be a little less scandalous now that Janis has apparently explained the circumstances of their breakup.  The themes to the letter are interesting but even more interesting to me is the subtext. If we look at this letter, and the other letters more broadly we may notice that Katrine's language is deeply philosophical and somewhat poetic. I can't help but think that...

Neskumsti meitene - Don't be sad, girl. 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 2 in the book is titled: Neskumsti meitene - Don't be sad, girl. Don’t be sad, girl, that I have to go away. Remember our times together. If you ar...

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. Just a quick post today to keep the letters coming. Again, in this letter are many names of the people who lived near my grandparent's farm in Latvia at the time. It could prove useful to others searching for  their  family origins.  Of particular note to me personally, is the mention of Peteris CIRKSIS by my grandmother Katrine CIRKSIS (she shared her name with her daughter, Janis' sister). It is difficult to tell at this point if she has been informed of Peteris' fate however it appears that there is still hope that he is still alive. She also mentions a lighthouse which may turn out t...

Relatives from the Pirtneiks side of my family, Siberia Finally, the digitising project is finished! I have had about 1500 family photos digitised over the last year or so - several technical problems plagued the project, which is why it took so long. Not all of them relate to this blog but there are several photos that are important to the Čirkšis family history. One of the benefits of digitising photographs - and publishing a blog about them - is that you take a closer look at things. Many of the photos I have, have Latvian writing on the back of them. A lot of the writing is illegible, at least for a non-Latvian-speaker (I know I should learn!) but occasionally I can decipher enough to work out what the photo is of. This particular photo had been sitting in an album and I had never taken it out to examine it though, I had some idea that it must be the Pirtneiks (my grandmother's) side of the family. Today, while I was checking off the scanned photos to ensure they were a...

Peteris Čirksis as a young man As some of you will know, for about a year now I have been trying to discover what happened to my lost uncle Peteris Čirkšis. As with many things in my family history, I neglected to ask questions of my family members while I had to opportunity. Perhaps I was too young to care about history, perhaps like most young people, I thought I knew everything already. But also I think I was probably too young to know what questions to ask. So what do I know about Peteris? I know he was the son of a farmer who was able to acquire a small patch of land after the Latvian war of independence.  He was born in 1922 in Nīca near Liepājas, Latvia and died in 1941 at the hands of the NAZIs. These are the facts. But who was he really? The only account I have of Peteris' life comes from what I remember my father telling me about him. But memory is a fragile thing, second hand memory is even worse. As a researcher what I want is confirmed and verified fact...

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. This letter has a little bit about farm life, postage times, there is  a brief mention of Peteris - we still do not know what happened to him - and Vera - Janis' ex-girlfriend. No real  revelations  as yet but I have been reading ahead and there are some very interesting things to come! Nica, 24.10.47 We send you sincere greetings, our dear Janis, from your homeland. Dear Janis, I am writing a letter to you again, so that it may bring greetings from your Homeland to you in foreign parts, so that even for a moment it may seem closer to you and more attainable, and so that...