Liepaja

It was spring – May – I gave notice and went to Riga to register at the milk factory authority. The manager there was Kersela, who had been a manager himself for many years. He was like a father to me – very friendly and helpful. He suggested that I take a few weeks holiday until a good job comes along as a manager’s assistant. I went home to Digaini, my oldest brother now respected me as an equal. I caught up on sleep and helped with some jobs.

Jan 27, 2010

The next year the Germans came in. They found all the documents and lists left by the Russians and the names of people who had denounced those arrested by the Russians. Amongst them was the factory cashier. They were jailed in Kuldiga, condemned to death and shot. The military court captain, Kukis, was a previous National Guard officer. After the Germans came in, a lot of the administration was taken on by past Latvian National Guard, and at first the police in Kuldiga was run by agricultural officers, managed by Peteris Skujins and Pelekis, both from the agriculture department.

Feb 9, 2010

Because I had the motorbike and plenty of petrol I could get to Ingas any time - it was about 100 kilometres and took me a couple of hours. After a couple weeks I did so to visit, the factory was in full production. I had a good assistant manager and was not missed till I was on the way to Germany when they rang looking for me, so I just disappeared.

Feb 15, 2010