,
It’s been 70 years.
I’m returning to a town where I’ve never been. Returning to memories that are not mine. Returning to re-trace footsteps from so very
long ago.
I’m about to step foot into the past.
To remember. To
honour. To celebrate. And to sing.
Esslingen. June 2017.
I am here to commemorate the 70th anniversary of
the first Song and Dance Festival held outside of Latvia. Choral singers, folk-dancers, amateur
performers and spectators from all over the globe have journeyed to this medieval
German city to reminisce and celebrate.
To unite in song. To
uphold tradition. To appreciate. To understand.
Latvia. 1940 – 1941.
Soviet Occupation and the Year of Terror (Baigais Gads).
A reign of horror, mass deportation and unimaginable suffering
is unleashed upon this Baltic nation.
Cattle cars herd grandmothers, children, the crippled and infirm, to
re-settlement camps in Siberia. The men
are either shot or imprisoned in the Gulag.
No one is spared. The start of
Soviet aggression, annihilation and ethnic cleansing of the Latvian populace
had begun.
Latvia. 1944.
My mum was 15 years old when she and her family were forced to flee their homeland. They fled west to Germany. Towards an unknown fate. The rest of our family who were not able to escape Soviet occupied Latvia were deported to Siberia. Eleven beloved souls.
Esslingen. 1947.
World War II had ended nearly 2 years prior, yet thousands
of Latvians were refugees, sheltered in displaced persons camps scattered all
over Germany. Administered by the United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the camps provided the
essentials for survival – food rations, medical supplies and shelter. Esslingen was the largest of these camps and
“home” to approximately 7,000 displaced Latvians.
The creation of makeshift schools, churches, theatre
troupes, choirs and folk-dance groups were paramount in establishing a sense of
“normalcy” to camp life whilst maintaining a semblance of daily routine. Preserving the rich cultural heritage of what
it meant to be a Latvian was not only an obligation that must be passed on to
future generations but was an integral part of one’s identity. Woven into the fabric of the Latvian psyche was
the necessity of maintaining strong spiritual and cultural traditions, with
art, music, song and literature providing sustenance and nourishment for the
soul. United in tradition and song,
Latvians have, for centuries, endured and persevered.
Esslingen. June 15th to 18th,
2017. The 70th anniversary of
the first Song and Dance Festival held outside of Latvia.
I am here. Singing
with my ancestors. Their voices, loud
and clear, are joined with mine in melodic harmony.
This is their story.
Now it is mine.
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