Latvian Youth

The 1940s and 1950s

After their labour contracts ended, those who had left family members behind in refugee camps were able to sponsor them to come to Canada. In 1948, children and youth of various ages began joining their parents. These youth had their lives and schooling disrupted by two occupations and the ideological changes demanded by these forces in school curricula. The escape from Latvia itself in the fall of 1944 had been traumatic although parents and other caring adults did their best to mitigate the circumstances. After settling into DP camp life, teachers established schools and other activities as best they could, even though there was a dire shortage of even the most ordinary school supplies. Many dreams and aspirations were cut short.

After settling into their new lives in Canada, young adults threw themselves into making up for lost time. Youth groups (jaunatnes pulciņi) formed in communities that had a sizable number of Latvians. Many evenings and weekends were spent in self-directed learning about the Latvian language, history, culture, folklore, and keeping up with current affairs. Special attention was paid to developments in Latvia. Many weekend and evening courses and workshops were held, with teachers and community elders often invited to share their knowledge. The younger generation also committed itself to joining the struggle for Latvian independence.

Latvian National Youth Association of Canada

Friendship Days (Draudzības dienas)

The Latvian youth movement was multinational in its outlook and maintained close connections with Latvian youth associations in other countries. There was a particularly strong affiliation with the American Latvian Youth Association (ALJA), which had been founded two years earlier in 1952, and the European Latvian Youth Association (ELJA), which was also founded in 1954. The latter had particularly strong chapters in Germany, Sweden, and England.

Latvian Canadian youth were extraordinarily busy people who maintained full schedules in their Canadian lives and equally full Latvian schedules on evenings and weekends. Those involved with LNJAK were typically also involved in folk dancing, singing groups, and other community activities.

The World Latvian Youth Congress

The close relationships that formed among the youth associations led to the idea that there should be a world youth congress that would bring youth together at a single event. The first congress was scheduled to take place in Berlin in the summer of 1968 and timed to precede the Second European Latvian Song Festival in Hannover, Germany. The decision to hold an exile youth meeting in Berlin, a city with a physical wall that separated East and West, was particularly audacious.

It turned out to be an event with international ramifications. In 1968, Berlin was behind the Iron Curtain, an island surrounded by the German Democratic Republic, which was controlled by the Soviet Union. The Soviets intervened and pressured the West German government to cancel the event, which they did at the last minute. Latvian youth became the topic of discussion at the highest levels of four Western governments. There was intense debate among the participants whether the organizers should accede to the cancellation or engage in an act of civil disobedience and attempt to hold their congress in Berlin regardless. Cooler heads prevailed, and the youth moved their congress to Hannover. At least 60 youth from Canada travelled to Germany for this event.

It was an event that showed that smart action and daring could capture the world's attention.

Advocacy for Latvia

The Latvian community in Canada was committed to maintaining public awareness of Latvia and advocating for independence for Latvia. Much work was done behind the scenes, but a variety of public protest actions and demonstrations were periodically staged. Some were entirely youth initiatives.
One organized by Ottawa youth in 1967 became known as the Burning Coffin and led to the founding of the Burning Coffin Youth Group in that city. Mārtiņš Sausiņš tells the story of how local university students decided to hold a demonstration at the Soviet embassy using a burning coffin to illustrate how the Soviet occupation was killing the country and its people. It became an engineering project for students to figure out how to maximize burn time without causing damage. Ojārs Sils was the lead thinker on this project. There are no photographs from this event, probably because all involved were so focused on the process at hand.

Coming Soon

• Cultural Initiatives
• Latvian Youth Festivals
• Publications