ER in Latvia

Late the next day, we arrived at the border of Latvia. We saw a beautiful country. No more bare steppes, as picturesque birch groves and spruce trees marked the scenery right and left. In Cebage, the Russian border station, all our belongings were inspected by the customs officials. That meant taking everything: bundles, trunks, bedrolls and what have you into the rather small station building and opening or undoing them on a long table, which was no small job. Grateful that all went well, we managed to load the stuff back onto the train. The only article that we were not allowed to take along was my brother Fran’s stamp collection. Though this fact was duly recorded in protocol, it was still a great loss to Frank.

A few hours later, we arrived at the Latvian border station and were delayed again for some unknown reason. Time is passing slowly. Margaret and I have taken a walk, enjoyed playing snowballs with the boys and played so-called parlor games in the train to make the hours pass.

Riga, January 1st, 1923

I arrived here early Saturday, December 30th. We had hoped to be able to get the U.S. visas without delay and to continue our trip, but again were me with disappointment. Since it was Saturday, the offices closed at 1 pm. And the next days were Sunday and New Year’s day and we were compelled to wait again, hoping to get the papers on Tuesday.

There are nine people in one hotel room. Uncle Aron and Mrs. K. with little Frieda are staying with friends. Though we are crowded, it is more comfortable than on the train. The room is spacious and nicely furnished. Part of the day was spent in a doctor’s office, who gave us emigrants the necessary health certificates. In the evening, Margaret and I accompanied Uncle Willo to the Lithuanian Embassy, where in spite of the late hour, we were able to get the Lithuanian visas. We were pleasantly impressed with the uniformed doorman, who greeted each applicant with the courtesy and formal manner due to a welcome guest.

Riga, January 2nd, 1923

Will continue where I was interrupted yesterday. The two holidays, Sunday and New Year’s Day, seemed long, the evenings especially seem endless, since the days are short and lams are let by four o’clock. Sunday, all of us attended the nearby Petri Church. In the afternoon, the whole group took a walk along the Dwina. This is the wildest river I have ever seen. We crossed it on the way on an old wooden bridge and returned on a wide steel one. From the bridges, we had a good view of this old city, though the fog dimmed the picture.

New Year’s Eve, we again attended services at the Petri Church, which was brilliantly illuminated this time. Returning to our hotel, we retired early and peacefully entered the New Year, not hearing the noise of the fireworks or cannon shots.

On New Year’s Day, we had a chance to visit a large cathedral. Both the cathedral and the Petri Church are old, built in the Gothic style. In the interior, we saw gilded and brightly painted crests hanging on the sides of the square pillars, representing families of nobility centuries ago. Built of red brick with dark slate roofs, these buildings looked rather gloomy. In contrast to the Russian churches, they are not surrounded by free spaces but are crowded by other structures and one has to pass through narrow cobbled alleys and walk through deep arched passageways to reach them.

In the afternoon, we saw the newer part of Riga, walking through parks, passing the ice rink and music pavilion. Here the streets are wide, the homes beautiful and everything planted and well kept. 

Today, I accompanied my aunt to the big market place, where she shopped for food supplies. Everything was very grand and prosperous-looking, at least it seemed that way to me, who had recently lived in the starving Ukraine. Whichever way one turned, there were beautiful supplies of butter, honey, meat, game, poultry and vegetables. We found the fish market very interesting. Here the live fish are kept in large wooden tubs and sold by warmly-dressed round-cheeked women, who very likely could not even imagine what real hunger is.

On the way to the market, we admired window displays that seemed far ahead of those we saw in Moscow. We hardly knew which one was the most spectacular, the gorgeous flower exhibits or the tempting arrangements of cookies, pastries and other bakery items. It was a joy to walk along these streets.

Today, the second of January, our journey is to continue. Uncle Will was able to get the visas and has bought our tickets. Since our train is not leaving before midnight, we are spending the evening at the hotel, having tea in our room. While we ate our main meals at the hotel restaurant, we had breakfast and tea in our room, sitting comfortably around a table.

It seems unbelievable that we are out of Russia. A few more days and we will be in Germany. Tomorrow, it will be four weeks since we left Gnadenfeld, our home town. We have seen much these weeks and possibly are envied for our trip to America. Just the same, we are longing to arrive at our destination, California.