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Book/Printed Material Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Voldemārs Mežaks, June 29, 1947.

About this Item

Title

  • Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Voldemārs Mežaks, June 29, 1947.

Summary

  • On August 5, 1940, the independent country of Latvia was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, after having been occupied by the Red Army in June of that year. Estonia and Lithuania suffered a similar fate. Thousands of Latvians were arrested for having anti-Soviet views, taking part in resistance movements, being farmers, belonging to political parties, or refusing to join a collective farm. Many were deported to Siberia. People who were in prisons, concentration camps, or settlements in Siberia wrote letters to friends and relatives on birch bark, which was often the only available material at places of deportation. This was particularly the case during World War II, when paper was very scarce. Only 19 such letters, dating from 1941 to 1956, survive in Latvian museums. They are important documents for the history of Latvia and of the Soviet era and a vivid record of the effects of mass repression on individual lives. This letter was written in June 1947 by deportee Voldemārs Mežaks (1914-85) from the reeducation camp of Taishet, in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, to his acquaintance Tekla Rivara in Riga. Mežaks was a member of a Latvian Central Council. The councils were part of a movement to resist the German occupation, prevent the return of the Red Army, and plan a future for Latvia as an independent democratic state.

Names

  • Mežaks, Voldemārs, 1914--1985 Creator.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1947-06-29.

Headings

  • -  Latvia
  • -  Russian Federation--Irkutsk Oblast--Tayshet
  • -  1941 to 1956
  • -  Concentration camps
  • -  Correspondence
  • -  Deportation
  • -  Letters
  • -  National Memory of the World Register, Latvia
  • -  Political prisoners
  • -  Siberia

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "This document forms part of the collection of letters on birch bark from Siberia assembled for the World Digital Library by the National Library of Latvia. This letter is from the Occupation Museum of Latvia."--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 letter : ink on folded birch bark ; 14.6 x 10.9 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of Latvia.
  • -  Content in Latvian.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Siberian Letters on Birch Bark

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667720

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mežaks, Voldemārs, 1914. Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Voldemārs Mežaks. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -06-29, 1947] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667720/.

APA citation style:

Mežaks, V. (1947) Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Voldemārs Mežaks. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -06-29] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667720/.

MLA citation style:

Mežaks, Voldemārs, 1914. Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Voldemārs Mežaks. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -06-29, 1947] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667720/>.