Book “Mothers in Siberia”

Description

Dzintra Geka “Mothers in Siberia“

Publisher of the book Foundation “Children of Siberia” 682 pages. 2025. ISBN 9789934901638

“Children of Siberia Foundation” has published a new book “Mothers in Siberia”. The book contains interviews with mothers and their children deported on June 14, 1941, and excerpts from interviews from the memoirs of children deported on June 14, 1941. Children taken to Siberia in 1941 asked me to publish a book about Mothers someday. Latvian women who, from a prosperous life, from well-off homes, ended up in Siberian villages, in filth, cramped conditions, hunger, and cold. Mothers in chiffon dresses went to the taiga to cut trees, returned to their huts in the evening with tattered clothes. Mothers gave their children the meager ration of bread and died of starvation. On June 14, 1941, 15,424 Latvian residents were deported from Latvia. The deportation greatly affected women – being separated from their husbands, taking on all the care of their children and parents. They had to fight for physical survival by all means possible, far from their usual environment, raise children, be able to create a sense of family, and go through many physical and moral sufferings – the loss of their husbands and children. Psychologists’ research shows that the traumas caused by deportation leave traces and are also inherited by the next generation. In 1946, when orphaned children were allowed to be sent to Latvia, some mothers committed suicide so that their children could return to their homeland. In 2000, when we began to search for and interview Siberian children, we met some more mothers, this book contains their memories. What surprised me most was the suffering, the pain that was experienced and the ability to remember it without bitterness and malice.

More than 80 years have passed, memories fade, time flies and there are exhortations to forget it as soon as possible. Then suddenly there is war in Ukraine. History repeats itself, fathers have been killed again, families have been destroyed, children have been deported. That is why this book is needed. So that we never forget…
Eternal memory to Latvian Mothers.
Photo ”Margrieta Silenieks(Otaņķe) (cite of book): “We believed that we would be with our men. We saw that our men were gone when we finally left… We asked, of course, but the communists had their own answer – they didn’t know where our men were.”

Book Introduction
On June 14, 1941, 15,424 Latvian residents were deported from Latvia. The deported women, children and elderly people were sent to a life camp in Krasnoyarsk region, Novosibirsk region and northern regions of Kazakhstan, where under the supervision of special commandants of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, they mainly had to work in forestry enterprises, collective farms and Soviet farms. Husbands and fathers were separated in separate wagons, families were told that everyone would meet at the final stations, but this did not happen. The men ended up in penal camps in Vyatlag, Usollag, Norilsk, a total of 22 camps. Only a few survived. The deportation greatly affected women – they were separated from their husbands, taking on all the care for their children and parents. They had to fight for physical survival by all possible means, far from their usual environment, raise children, be able to create a sense of family, and go through many physical and moral sufferings – the loss of a husband and a child. Psychologists’ research shows that the traumas caused by deportation leave traces and are inherited by the next generation. In 1941, children taken to Siberia asked me to publish a book about Mothers. Latvian women, torn from a prosperous life and prosperous homes, ended up in the Siberian shacks, in filth, cramped conditions, hunger, and cold. In chiffon dresses, mothers went to the taiga to cut trees, and in the evening, in tattered clothes, they returned to their huts. Mothers gave their children their meager ration of bread and died of starvation. In 1946, when orphaned children were allowed to be sent to Latvia, some mothers committed suicide so that their children could return to their homeland. In 2000, when we started searching for and interviewing Siberian children, we met some more mothers, this book contains their memories. What surprised us most was the suffering, the pain that had been experienced and the ability to remember it without bitterness and malice. More than 80 years have passed, memories fade, time flies and there are calls to forget it as soon as possible. Then suddenly the war in Ukraine. History repeats itself, fathers are killed, families are destroyed, children are deported. That is why this book is needed. So that we never forget… Eternal memory to Latvian Mothers

Dzintra Geka