"Laukgaļi" house, writer Kārlis Skalbe's place of residence
Infrastruktūra

On November 7, 1944, memories of poet Kārļis Skalbe's 65th birthday in Jūrkalne's "Laukgaļi" brought a bright mood to the Latvian refugee settlement on the Kurzeme coast. Just four days later, Kārlis Skalbe went by boat to Sweden as a refugee. It was the day when Kārlis Skalbe celebrated his birthday for the last time.

On 31 October 1944, the boat "Centība" left the Kurzeme coast. The departure of this boat was reconstructed by Valentīne Lasmane, the Convener of the Latvian Central Council, from the recollections of several fellow passengers

One of the important places of relocation was near the "Pāž" houses, where the "Sail of Hope" monument is now installed. "Boats came regularly and the most people left from "Pāži"", says I. Freiberg's memories.

The name of Valdemārs Ęinter was the last hope of many Latvian refugees to escape to Sweden. Too much attention from the fugitives was dangerous, and therefore Günther maintained secrecy

More than 70 years ago, Lithuanian coastguards were executed for helping their neighbours, Latvian boat refugees, to reach Sweden. When the German occupation authorities found out about this, they brutally