Latvia

"The history of the Klancberg Family in exile in Siberia and related material. Testimony and memories." (2016)

In October 2016, twenty-four award winners from EUSTORY competitions met at a History Camp in Georgia. For this occasion they prepared posters about their projects and findings which were displayed in the National History Museum in Tbilisi.

My competition entry was about the deportation of my great-grandmother and her family by Soviet authorities to Siberia in 1949. My ancestors lived and worked there in terrible conditions for eight years. Fortunately, they survived and came back to Latvia. For my research paper, I interviewed my 97 years old great-grandmother and enquired family documents related to this period.

How did you decide on your topic?
Since I am interested in the past of my ancestors and in the history of my country, it was obvious to me for which topic to decide. Latvians commemorate victims of deportations; practically in every Latvian family people suffered from banishments.

How did the research affect you personally?
My grandmother is a racy storyteller, so it was compelling to interview her. Thanks to her, I learnt a lot about our family‘s history. After discorvering my ancestor’s past, I am even prouder of my family and my roots than before.

Take a closer look at Kristians’ poster here.

For his project on his great-grandmother's deportation and exile in Siberia, Kristians was awarded in the Latvian history competition.