600 stāsti par Sibīriju

Between 2000 and 2007,  we interviewed 670 people who were deported to Siberia in 1941, when they were children.  Fragments of memories shape a mosaic which reveals all of the tragedies of the past – the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who were lost for all time.  They say that time heals all wounds, but people cannot forget.  They must tell their story… Continue reading “600 stāsti par Sibīriju”

Atcerēties vai aizmirst? , 2006

Documentary film “Remember of forget?”

On June 14, 1941, 15,400 people from Latvia were deported to prisons and camps. There were 4,000 children among them. During the 1949 deportations, another 42,000 people were deported, along with children. They were guilty of living on Latvian land, their own land, which was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. The Soviet Union destroyed and deported the indigenous population and brought a flood of its own citizens into Latvia. More than half a century has passed, but the violence of June 14 has not yet ended.

Reiz bija Sibīrija, 2005

Once There was Siberia

This film is dedicated to the children who were violently forced to leave Latvia on June 14, 1941, to those who died during the journey in cattle cars, to those who died in Siberia – the land of torture and murder, to those who survived, and to those who came home. Of those who were deported from this location, one-half died in the next two or three years. A great tragedy occurred here – water collected under the coffin. The water froze and began to lift the coffin and corpse. The corpse and coffin appeared above ground in the third or the fourth year. The gruesome sight of a dead person’s hand appearing from the ground.

Producer and director Dzintra Geka

Screenplay Ēriks Lanss

Operator Aivars Lubānietis

Latvia

2005.

52min.

Sveiciens no Sibīrijas, 2004

Documentary film “Greetings from Siberia”

In the Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Yenyiseiska and other regions, we can still find people who were violently deported from Latvia in 1941 and 1949 – children then, old and disabled people now. They are far from one another, they have no way to communicate amongst themselves. They have been robbed of their native language. Many of them no longer speak Latvian. They have not returned. We don’t know whether they are lost for the Latvian people and Latvian land. That will all depend on “big politics” – something that cannot be foreseen today.

Continue reading “Sveiciens no Sibīrijas, 2004”

Sibīrijas dienasgrāmata, 2003

Sorry, this entry is only available in Latviski and Русский.

Dokumentālā filma “Sibīrijas dienasgrāmata”

1941.gada 14.jūnija deportācijas rezultātā cieta 15 425 Latvijas iedzīvotāji (latvieši, ebreji, krievi, poļi), tajā skaitā ap četriem tūkstošiem bērnu vecumā līdz 16 gadiem.

1946. un 1947.gadā, pateicoties Latvijas Izglītības ministrijas darbinieku uzņēmībai un pūlēm, vairāk nekā tūkstotis 1941. gada 14. jūnijā aizvestie bērni, bāreņi un pusbāreņi vecumā līdz 16 gadiem, tika atvesti atpakaļ uz Latviju, atdoti audzināšanā radinieku ģimenēs. Diemžēl, ar to viņu moku ceļš nebeidzās.

Gandrīz visus 1949.gada 25.martā pa etapu atkal nosūtīja uz agrākajām nometinājuma vietām, no kurām Dzimtenē viņi varēja atgriezties tikai piecdesmito gadu beigās. Daudzi bija nodibinājuši Krievijā ģimenes, zaudējuši saites ar radiniekiem Latvijā. Tie, kuri atgriezās, dzimtenē tika uzņemti kā nevēlami cilvēki. Sibīrijas bērni otrreizējo deportāciju piedzīvoja kā netaisnību un absurdu. Continue reading “Sibīrijas dienasgrāmata, 2003”

Sibīrijas bērni, 2001

Documentary film „The Children of Siberia”

On June 14, 1941, more than 15,000 Latvian inhabitants, including approximately 4,000 children of Latvian, Jewish, Polish and
Russian extraction were deported to Siberia. During this period of deportation, the men were separated from their families and sent to the Gulag. Some were sentenced to the highest punishment, death and the rest were kept in labor camps.
The women and children were sent to the remote Krasnojarska and Tomska districts. The first two years were the most difficult and
many perished from the harsh conditions.

In 1946 and 1947 as a result of the relentless efforts of a few people who worked for the Latvian Ministry of Education in the department for orphaned children, more than 1,000 children were able to return to Latvia. They were subsequently reunited with their extended families or placed in orphanages. Unfortunately many were later deported back to Siberia and did not manage to return to Latvia until the 1950’s.

Today some 400 deported children still live in Latvia and Siberia. This documentary describes the fate of these children.

Author and director: Dzintra Geka
Cameramen: Aivars Lubānietis, Igors Tūns, Ingars Leitis
Film and sound editor: Armands Zvirbulis
Music in film comes from “Symphony” by Arturs Maskats and “Musica
Doloresa” by Pēteris Vasks
Producer: Dzintra Geka

2001.
53 min.
Latvia