Book/Printed Material Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Elza Trumekalne, 1949.
About this Item
Title
- Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Elza Trumekalne, 1949.
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 Easter greeting on birch bark was made using a serrated knife by Elza Trumekalne (born 1938), the daughter of a farmer, at a state farm in Omsk, Siberia, in 1949. One side is handwritten in ink; the other contains a drawing.
Names
- Trumekalne, Elza, born 1938 Creator.
Created / Published
- [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1949.
Headings
- - Latvia
- - Russian Federation--Omsk Oblast
- - 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. The document is from the Madona Museum."--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
- - Original resource extent: 1 letter : ink on birch bark ; 4.3 x 8.3 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
- 2021667713
Online Format
- compressed data
- image