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My grandmother Inta lived with her parents and her brothers Villis, Janis, and Zigurds in German occupied Latvia durring WWII.
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Russians push into Berlin towards the end of the war and occupy Latvia along the way
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One day her brother Zigurds (Ziggy), who is only 16 at the time, is taken from school by the Russians and put on a cattle cart with other boys to be taken to the Rusian front. Her mother and the other parents figure out which train station they think the Russians took their kids to and she walks 5 miles to the train station to try to see her child. She just misses the train.
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The family, fearing the Russian presence in Latvia, make plans to flee to Germany to escape the Russians
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Zigurds manages to escape from Russia into Germany. He knew how to speak some German so he was able to blend in with the German population. He had to be careful of Russian soldiers in Germany because if it was discovered that he had deserted he could be shot.
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Her brothers Villis and Jans decide to stay behind in Latvia while Inta, who was only 6 at the time, her parents, and sister Skiedriet make their way by any means they can to refugee camps in Germany. While escaping they were cautious of the American soldiers, who were also in Germany at the end of the war, because the United States was allied with Russia and they were worried that if they were found fleeing from the Russians they might get sent back.
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They arrive in a German refugee camp where they will stay for the next 5 years while they wait for countries to let them in as immigrants. During this time they somehow learn that Zigurds is alive but they are unable to go see him and need to be careful that people don't find out that he deserted from the Russians or he could be shot.
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Inta's father, who liked to draw and paint, created multiple pieces of artwork during his time in the refugee camp.
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After the war countries started letting immigrants in and the family needed to decide where they wanted to go. Omiet's father originally wanted to go to Austrailia but they end up deciding to go to the United States.
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They were able to immigrate to America through Ellis Island.
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Around the same time Zugurds was also able to immigrate to the United States through Ellis Island
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After the war there were a lot of displaced people so newspapers printed sections where people could write to their families to let them know that they were alive and where to find them. Zigurds published an ad in a Latvian newspaper and the family was able to be reunited.
