The last birthday celebration of Kārļis Skalbes on the coast of Kurzeme
Am 7. November 1944 sorgten die Erinnerungen an den 65. Geburtstag des Dichters Kārļis Skalbe in Jūrkalnes „Laukgali“ für helle Stimmung in der lettischen Flüchtlingssiedlung an der Küste Kurlands. Nur vier Tage später reiste Kārlis Skalbe als Flüchtling mit dem Boot nach Schweden. Es war der Tag, an dem Kärlis Skalbe zum letzten Mal seinen Geburtstag feierte.
„Im grauen Alltag der Flüchtlinge war die Erinnerung an den 65. Geburtstag des Dichters Kārlis Skalbe in Jūrkalnes „Laukgaļi“ ein unvergessliches, strahlendes Erlebnis. Der Maler Niklāvs Strunke hatte bereits am 7. November in „Grīniekos“ mit der Vorbereitung einer Ansprache zum 65. Geburtstag des Dichters begonnen. Seine Arbeit war nicht einfach – kleine, dunkle Fischerzimmer und ständig Bewegung, Gedränge und Lärm. [..] Am 7. November besuchte die gesamte Flüchtlingsfamilie einzeln und in Gruppen den wunderschönen Juwelier für Lettland – den großen Dichter Kārli Skalbi. Wertvolle Geschenke wurden nicht überreicht, wie es unter anderen Umständen manchmal der Fall gewesen wäre und hätte sein sollen, es wurden keine Laudatio gehalten, jedoch brachte jeder Begrüßer die Wärme seines lettischen Herzens und eine nützliche Kleinigkeit für den täglichen Bedarf der Flüchtlinge zu den Großen Maestro. Der kranke Dichter (er war nierenkrank) hatte mit seiner Frau, seiner Tochter, seinem Schwiegersohn und seinem Enkel Andrej „Laukgali“ ein separates kleines Zimmer. Die Dunkelheit der Herbstabende wurde erst durch das Ende einer Kerze vertrieben. Ein Ingenieur und ein Agrarwissenschaftler hatten gemeinsam eine Flasche Kerosin als Geschenk mitgebracht.“
FJ Steinmanis. Kommunikationsgruppe Ventspils – „Zviedru laivas“. Ventspils 700. Sammlung von Artikeln und Erinnerungen, Toronto, 1990, S. 126.
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"Laukgaļi" house, writer Kārlis Skalbe's place of residence
"Laukgaļi" in Jūrkalne parish, the writer Kārlis Skalbe's place of residence in October-November 1944, while waiting for the refugee boat to Sweden.
Memorial sign for refugees "Sail of Hope" in Jūrkalne
The "Sail of Hope" commemorative sign for the World War II refugees who crossed the Baltic Sea by boat to the island of Gotland in Sweden in 1944 and 1945. The memorial is located in Osvalki on the dunes between the sea and Ventspils-Liepaja highway, near the public transport stop "Kaijas". It was created by sculptor Ģirts Burvis, who realised it as a sail of hope symbolising the memory of Latvian refugees.
Between autumn 1944 and spring 1945, fearing the renewed Soviet occupation but unwilling to evacuate to a devastated and threatened Germany, some Latvian citizens tried to reach the nearest neutral country, Sweden, by sea. Some of the boats were organised by the Latvian Central Council with the help of the Western Allied countries, which resulted in one of the largest refugee concentration points in Jūrkalnes parish. Besides the boats organised by the Latvian Central Council, other boats were also taken across the sea. It is estimated that about 5000 persons managed to cross the sea. The number of deaths is unknown, as no records were kept of refugees leaving the Kurzeme coast.
The voyages were dangerous because the refugees were threatened by German patrols on the coast and at sea, sea mines, Soviet aircraft and warships, as well as storms, as the crossings often took place in unsuitable and overloaded cutters and boats without sufficient fuel and food supplies, sea charts and navigational instruments. Departures from Latvia were carried out in secret. The destination of the boats was the island of Gotland, and the journeys most often started on the west coast of Courland (from Jūrkalne to Gotland is 90 nautical miles or about 170 kilometres as the crow flies).
Prison in the castle of the Livonian Order during World War II
1944-1945 in the prison set up in Livonia Oden Castle. In 2010, several members of the LCP Ventspils communication group and the movers of refugee boats were detained.
The road to "Grīnieku" houses in Vārve parish
The road to the "Grīnieku" house in Vārve parish, where in 1944 there was one of the main settlements of boat refugees on the coast of Kurzeme.
Memorial sign for refugees "Sail of Hope" in Jūrkalne
The "Sail of Hope" commemorative sign for the World War II refugees who crossed the Baltic Sea by boat to the island of Gotland in Sweden in 1944 and 1945. The memorial is located in Osvalki on the dunes between the sea and Ventspils-Liepaja highway, near the public transport stop "Kaijas". It was created by sculptor Ģirts Burvis, who realised it as a sail of hope symbolising the memory of Latvian refugees.
Between autumn 1944 and spring 1945, fearing the renewed Soviet occupation but unwilling to evacuate to a devastated and threatened Germany, some Latvian citizens tried to reach the nearest neutral country, Sweden, by sea. Some of the boats were organised by the Latvian Central Council with the help of the Western Allied countries, which resulted in one of the largest refugee concentration points in Jūrkalnes parish. Besides the boats organised by the Latvian Central Council, other boats were also taken across the sea. It is estimated that about 5000 persons managed to cross the sea. The number of deaths is unknown, as no records were kept of refugees leaving the Kurzeme coast.
The voyages were dangerous because the refugees were threatened by German patrols on the coast and at sea, sea mines, Soviet aircraft and warships, as well as storms, as the crossings often took place in unsuitable and overloaded cutters and boats without sufficient fuel and food supplies, sea charts and navigational instruments. Departures from Latvia were carried out in secret. The destination of the boats was the island of Gotland, and the journeys most often started on the west coast of Courland (from Jūrkalne to Gotland is 90 nautical miles or about 170 kilometres as the crow flies).
"Bambaļi" houses - one of the main places of accommodation for boat refugees
The restored "Bambaļi" houses in Ošvalki, Jūrkalne parish, were one of the main places of settlement for boat refugees on the coast of Kurzeme.
