Postcard from Latvia, 2017

Inspired by Alison Acheson's prompt to write something about travel.

Dancing at Bauska, Latvia. Photo by Mary Louise Tucker

Friends and family know that my favourite places to travel are in Italy’s centre and south, especially Abruzzo, from which my maternal grandparents hail. But in 2017, my heart swayed north, and I mean way north  —  to Latvia.

My preferred travel partner, Andrew (aka Roo), and conveniently, my husband, has family in Latvia. His father, Roberts Bekeris (Beķers), was born in Jaunjelgava, a small town along the Daugava River, surrounded by green countryside about 80 kilometres from the capital, Rīga. I never met Roberts. He had died three years before I met Roo.

Back Story

We had sporadic contact with his Latvian family in the mid-90s when we first connected to the internet, but finding a common language was an issue, and the contact faded.

Besides his father, Roberts, none of Roo’s Latvian ancestors had left Latvia. And Roberts didn’t leave of his own volition. From 1941 through 1944, Germany sent Nazi troops on regular forays to take young men into the Latvian Legion. Some estimates say that only 15–20% of Latvians volunteered. We don’t know precisely when Roberts left his hometown of Jaunjelgava. We have recently discovered that he was on the Russian Front and subsequently spent time in a Displaced Person’s camp in the British Sector of Germany after the war ended. 

And we don’t know how long Roberts served or when he ended up in the United Kingdom. He and many other Baltic-state prisoners of war were given employment in the fields and factories and were allowed to remain in the UK after the war. Roberts married an Austrian woman, Hilda, had three children and stayed in Halifax for 15–20 years until 1965, when the family emigrated to Australia.

Fast forward to 2016

Roo and I planned to return to Italy and thought it was time to make that side trip to Latvia. We’d talked about it for 20 years.

In October 2016, I added Roberts to my online family tree account. A few weeks later, I received a message from a young man in Rīga claiming to be related to my husband. This young man is called Mārcis Beķers. Notice the surname spelling is different to my husband’s Bekeris. Mārcis explained, in competent English, no less, how the family name is spelled using the original Latvian form. Latvia has had a long history of occupation by foreign rulers, including changes to the names of towns and people. Mārcis’ knowledge of the family farm and its previous and current inhabitants established that he was indeed related to Roo. He is the grandson of Roo’s late cousin Elmārs. So Mārcis’ great-grandmother was Roo’s aunt Vilma, and Roberts, Roo’s dad, Mārcis’ great-uncle.

This encounter strengthened our commitment to visit Latvia; it was Roo’s chance to meet and communicate properly with family and learn more about his dad’s country of birth.

Rīga-bound

On the 10th of June 2017, we boarded a Baltic Air flight in Berlin, bound for Rīga. Roo was to be the first of Roberts’ family to visit his homeland, so naturally, he was nervous. But he was looking forward to unravelling some of the mysteries of his father’s past. What did the family know of Roberts? Could they give more detail regarding how and when Roberts left? Did they have any old photos of him as a youth on the family farm ‘Ušķis’? Were there letters or other documents from the past? Roo looked forward to meeting his living cousins and learning more about his grandparents, neither of whom he had ever met.

Mārcis met us at the airport and took us by taxi to our weekly rental apartment in the Āgenskalns district - south of the old town of Rīga (Vecrīga). Over the next week, along with his wonderful girlfriend (now wife) Sintija, we roamed the sights of Rīga and beyond.

Some highlights of our first week were:

• wandering the food stalls of the Rīga Central Market, housed in old Zeppelin Hangars on the banks of the Daugava River

• admiring the town of Bauska and its traditionally costumed dancers with Mārcis’ dad Andris (photo at top)

• navigating the winding, cobbled streets of the old town, Vecrīga, and its historic buildings

• strolling the grounds of the peaceful outdoor Ethnographic Museum, just a tram ride away, on a sunny Sunday

• climbing the stairs of a treetop tower to view the Gulf of Rīga and

• strolling the beach at Jūrmala during the long Midsummer twilight hours.

On days when our young hosts had other engagements (both were tertiary students, and it was the end of the university year), we ventured off on our own to the food and Latvian craft markets and around the well-preserved Art Nouveau district of Rīga. We visited the castle at Sigulda, a train ride to the north.

On a rainy day, the four of us spent time together exploring the illuminating exhibits of the National Library with its stunning interior.

Roo, contemplating Rīga. Photo by Mary Louise Tucker

We were thoroughly enchanted by Latvia and the family we’d met so far. But Roo and I headed off for some days in neighbouring Estonia to give Mārcis and Sintija space to finish exams and assignments. In week two we would rent a car for a road trip and prepare for the coming Midsummer festivities.

To be continued…

I originally published this post in a different format on WordPress a few years ago as part one of two parts.

Alison Acheson’s prompt for travel writing can be found on her substack, here.