Silvija's mother

The Latvian and Modern Kitchen, Antverpē Flensburg
22 . VII . 49 (July 22, 1949)

Both Silvija's parents were teens when their families entered the DP camps. Most of those experiences have been lost to time. Both passed away before Silvija could ever persuade them to speak in detail of their years as war and post-war refugees. The one and only story Silvija managed to pry out of her mother was that her mother, Silvija's grandmother, attempted to prostitute herself for money for food to survive. "Is that the kind of story you wanted to hear?"

The Auniņš family — Flensburg

Like tens if thousands of other Latvians, Hermanis and Lina Auniņš and their daughter Anda fled Latvia and wound up in the DP camps in post-WWII Germany, also including Ruta Marija Zalacis Soloks, three years Anda's senior — listing Hermanis as step-father. The only clue up to now of where they were in the DP camps is the cookbook passed down to Silvija and her sister Ināra — whose middle name was "Ruta," in honor.

Had we begun this project five years earlier, we could have visited and talked with Ruta about her experiences with Silvija's mom and grandparents, if she were willing. She passed away in 2022 at the age of 94.

Silvija's maternal grandfather in their pharmacy in a town near Liepāja. Anda in the foreground in the dark dress.

Fragbogen für DP — Questionnaire for DP

Silvija's mom Anda's, DP camp form for camp 1023-M, Flensburg↗, provides essential information. Excerpts, form dated October 17, 1946.

6. a) Was ist Ihr Hauptberuf, Profession oder Beschäftigung? — What is your primary job, profession or occupation SKOLNIECE — Student

b) Füllen Sie unten aus, welche Arbeit Sie verrichteten, wo und als was (entweder Arbeiter, Vorarbeiter, Beamter, Chef usw.) für jedes angegebene Jahr (mit Anfang September 1939 bis Ende Mai 1945)? — Fill in below what work you did, where and as what (either worker, foreman, official, boss, etc.) for each specified year (starting September 1939 to ending May 1945):

1939 SKOLNIECE — Student [in] PRIEKULE↗, LATVIA

1940 [ditto]

1941 [ditto]

1942 [ditto]

1943 [ditto]

1944 FABRIKAS STRĀDNIECE, APTĪRĪTĀJA [in] HENNINGSDORF pie BERLINES — Factory worker, cleaning staff [in] Hanningsdorf by Berlin

1945 [ditto]

8. a) Wann haben Sie Ihre Heimat verlassen — When did you leave your homeland? 1944.g. 25. NOVEMBRĪ

b) Warum — Why? UZ VĀCU LAUKU ŽANDARMERIJAS EVAKUACIJAS PAVĒLI — By evacuation order of the German Landgendarmerie (rural police)

c) Wann sind Sie nach Deutchland bekommen — When did you arrive in Germany? 1944.g. 26. NOVEMBRĪ

13. Führen Sie alle anderen Ausweisdokumente an, die Sie in der Zeit vom September 1939 bis Mai 1945 erhalten haben, einschließlich wo und wann ausgestellt (Arbeitskarte und Arbeitsbuch muß auch ünten angegeben werden): Name des Dokument / Ausstellungsort / Ungefähre Zeit der Ausgabe — List all other identification documents you received between September 1939 and May 1945, including where and when they were issued (work card and work book must also be listed below): Name of document / Place of issue / Approximate time of issue FREMDENPASS — Foreign passport / FRANKFURT ODER / 1944.G. DECEMBRIS

November 5, 1945 Name's Day card to Lina from Hermanis, Anda, and Ruta, House/Barack 74 in Ahrenvisle, assumed to be in Lübeck

Itinerary

While the picture of the end-to-end journey for Peters' parents appears fairly complete, our record for Silvija's mom's family is murkier. However, we do believe that everywhere the family lived was a DP camp after their initial registration in Lübeck.

A The earliest record we have of the Auniņš family is December, 1944, before the end of the war, in Frankfurt an der Oder↗ on the current Polish border (the pre-war border was significantly farther east), where their foreigner passports were issued. The city fell to the Soviet advance on April 16, 1945. We do know that the family likely came by ship because they arrived the day after leaving Latvia.

B Next, Silvija's mother and grandmother worked as cleaning crew in 1944-1945 at a factory in Hennigsdorf↗, about 20km northwest of Berlin.

World War II ends in Europe — May 8, 1945

C The family evidently fled northwest to escape the Soviet capture of Berlin. They registered as DPs October 1, 1945 in Lübeck↗, on the Baltic coast. Ruta was not yet with the family, however, we know from Lina's Name's Day card that they were already together a month later. It's not clear if or how long they were in a DP camp in the area. Unfortunately "Ahrenvisle" is not a place name and so it remains a clue to be unraveled, but it does reference "House #74." Coming only a month later after registering, most likely a barracks at Lübeck.

D The registration form for the DP camp in Flensburg from a year later indicated the clan (Hermanis, Lina, and Ruta) had 7,664.50 Reichsmarks deposited with Husumer Reichsbank in Husum↗↗de. Husum lies on the western coast of the Jutland peninsula which connects to Denmark — and continuing in a straight line northwest from Lübeck. Husum today is the capital of the Kreis (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein. There was a DP camp population of 1,100 Latvians in Husum in 1945, so we believe the family spent time in the DP camp there.
Fleeing the Soviet advance yet again, this time inside Germany, Silvija's maternal family kept going in a straight line as far as they could go still getting by speaking German. Not unlike Peters' parents fleeing all the way west across Germany while still at war.

E They registered at the Antwerp-Westerallee Flensburg↗ DP camp only in October, 1946, so they likely split their time between Lübeck and Husum the prior year. However, there are no digitized records for the clan living in a DP camp in Husum.
Latvian DP periodicals indicate there was a thriving arts community in Husum (Huzuma), per DP newspaper articles written by Eriks Raisters↗ (in Latvian, "human" checking prevents us providing a link including translation to English), a well-known Latvian poet and eventual occasional babysitter for Peters when he spent time with the Raisters family: Eriks, Elvira, and daughter Rasma, in Brooklyn.

F Hermanis' head of family card dated October 10, 1947, shows A/C [Assembly Center] 1203 Flensburg crossed out and replaced with A/C 1235, which on our British Zone DP map refers to Eutin↗↗de. It was also updated to indicate 2 of the party of 4 departed for Pinneburg on May, 4, 1949 without stating who. One was certainly Silvija's mom, Anda, who would have been 19 and ready to attend Baltic University in Pinneburg. However, the University ceased operation only 4 months later, September 30, 1949, so they would have had to return. There's no indication when the family moved from Flensburg to Eutin.

? Here the trail grows cold. The only other document date is Ruta Marija's document (only hers) stamped February 3, 1948 at the HANOVER↗ IMMIGRATION TRANSIT CENTER, indicating she might have left Germany earlier than the Auniņš family.

G After Eutin, all we know is the Auniņš family were staged to Camp Grohn↗ on August 9, 1950 and departed from Bremerhaven↗ on August 12, 1950.

What we know of the Auniņš clan's journey, "F" to "G" is an unknown other than the end points.

Read on for life in Flensburg and the fate of the town after the camp was disbanded.

DP camp documents — gallery

Click a thumbnail to view in gallery

66459209 (Hermanis AUNINS)001

66459209 (Hermanis AUNINS)002

66459210 (HERMANIS AUNINS)001

66459210 (HERMANIS AUNINS)002

78889027(AUNINS)001

78889027(AUNINS)002

78889028(AUNINS)001

78889028(AUNINS)002

78889029(AUNINS)001

78889029(AUNINS)002

78889030(AUNINS)001

78889030(AUNINS)002

78889031(AUNINS)001

78889031(AUNINS)002

78889032(AUNINS ANDA)001

78889032(AUNINS ANDA)002

78889033 (AUNINS LINA)001

78889033 (AUNINS LINA)002

78889034(AUNINS HERMANIS)001

78889034(AUNINS HERMANIS)002

81671076 (AUNINS)001

81671076 (AUNINS)002

81789674(AUNINS)001

81789674(AUNINS)002

Read about DP camp education and Baltic University at the Latvian Archives↗.

DP life and resettlement List of camps Peters' parents Melle DP campSilvija's motherFlensburg DP camp Silvija's father Würzburg DP camp World's YMCA/YWCA Latvian children's home

Archival newspaper reports are reproduced under fair use for historical documentation. Original publisher retains all rights. Translations are ours.

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The exile experience | DP camp era

Silvija's mother

The Auniņš family — Flensburg

Fragbogen für DP — Questionnaire for DP

Itinerary

DP camp documents — gallery

Read more


6.	a)	Was ist Ihr Hauptberuf, Profession oder Beschäftigung? — What is your primary job, profession or occupation		SKOLNIECE — Student
	b)	Füllen Sie unten aus, welche Arbeit Sie verrichteten, wo und als was (entweder Arbeiter, Vorarbeiter, Beamter, Chef usw.) für jedes angegebene Jahr (mit Anfang September 1939 bis Ende Mai 1945)? — Fill in below what work you did, where and as what (either worker, foreman, official, boss, etc.) for each specified year (starting September 1939 to ending May 1945):
		1939	SKOLNIECE — Student [in] PRIEKULE↗, LATVIA
		1940	[ditto]
		1941	[ditto]
		1942	[ditto]
		1943	[ditto]
		1944	FABRIKAS STRĀDNIECE, APTĪRĪTĀJA [in] HENNINGSDORF pie BERLINES — Factory worker, cleaning staff [in] Hanningsdorf by Berlin
		1945	[ditto]
8.	a)	Wann haben Sie Ihre Heimat verlassen — When did you leave your homeland?		1944.g. 25. NOVEMBRĪ
	b)	Warum — Why?		UZ VĀCU LAUKU ŽANDARMERIJAS EVAKUACIJAS PAVĒLI — By evacuation order of the German Landgendarmerie (rural police)
	c)	Wann sind Sie nach Deutchland bekommen — When did you arrive in Germany?		1944.g. 26. NOVEMBRĪ
13.		Führen Sie alle anderen Ausweisdokumente an, die Sie in der Zeit vom September 1939 bis Mai 1945 erhalten haben, einschließlich wo und wann ausgestellt (Arbeitskarte und Arbeitsbuch muß auch ünten angegeben werden): Name des Dokument / Ausstellungsort / Ungefähre Zeit der Ausgabe — List all other identification documents you received between September 1939 and May 1945, including where and when they were issued (work card and work book must also be listed below): Name of document / Place of issue / Approximate time of issue		FREMDENPASS — Foreign passport / FRANKFURT ODER / 1944.G. DECEMBRIS

A	The earliest record we have of the Auniņš family is December, 1944, before the end of the war, in Frankfurt an der Oder↗ on the current Polish border (the pre-war border was significantly farther east), where their foreigner passports were issued. The city fell to the Soviet advance on April 16, 1945. We do know that the family likely came by ship because they arrived the day after leaving Latvia.
B	Next, Silvija's mother and grandmother worked as cleaning crew in 1944-1945 at a factory in Hennigsdorf↗, about 20km northwest of Berlin.
World War II ends in Europe — May 8, 1945
C	The family evidently fled northwest to escape the Soviet capture of Berlin. They registered as DPs October 1, 1945 in Lübeck↗, on the Baltic coast. Ruta was not yet with the family, however, we know from Lina's Name's Day card that they were already together a month later. It's not clear if or how long they were in a DP camp in the area. Unfortunately "Ahrenvisle" is not a place name and so it remains a clue to be unraveled, but it does reference "House #74." Coming only a month later after registering, most likely a barracks at Lübeck.
D	The registration form for the DP camp in Flensburg from a year later indicated the clan (Hermanis, Lina, and Ruta) had 7,664.50 Reichsmarks deposited with Husumer Reichsbank in Husum↗↗de. Husum lies on the western coast of the Jutland peninsula which connects to Denmark — and continuing in a straight line northwest from Lübeck. Husum today is the capital of the Kreis (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein. There was a DP camp population of 1,100 Latvians in Husum in 1945, so we believe the family spent time in the DP camp there. Fleeing the Soviet advance yet again, this time inside Germany, Silvija's maternal family kept going in a straight line as far as they could go still getting by speaking German. Not unlike Peters' parents fleeing all the way west across Germany while still at war.
E	They registered at the Antwerp-Westerallee Flensburg↗ DP camp only in October, 1946, so they likely split their time between Lübeck and Husum the prior year. However, there are no digitized records for the clan living in a DP camp in Husum. Latvian DP periodicals indicate there was a thriving arts community in Husum (Huzuma), per DP newspaper articles written by Eriks Raisters↗ (in Latvian, "human" checking prevents us providing a link including translation to English), a well-known Latvian poet and eventual occasional babysitter for Peters when he spent time with the Raisters family: Eriks, Elvira, and daughter Rasma, in Brooklyn.
F	Hermanis' head of family card dated October 10, 1947, shows A/C [Assembly Center] 1203 Flensburg crossed out and replaced with A/C 1235, which on our British Zone DP map refers to Eutin↗↗de. It was also updated to indicate 2 of the party of 4 departed for Pinneburg on May, 4, 1949 without stating who. One was certainly Silvija's mom, Anda, who would have been 19 and ready to attend Baltic University in Pinneburg. However, the University ceased operation only 4 months later, September 30, 1949, so they would have had to return. There's no indication when the family moved from Flensburg to Eutin.
?	Here the trail grows cold. The only other document date is Ruta Marija's document (only hers) stamped February 3, 1948 at the HANOVER↗ IMMIGRATION TRANSIT CENTER, indicating she might have left Germany earlier than the Auniņš family.
G	After Eutin, all we know is the Auniņš family were staged to Camp Grohn↗ on August 9, 1950 and departed from Bremerhaven↗ on August 12, 1950.