I have a question I hope someone can answer for me.
I am trying to trace what port my family fled from during the war, knowing their last residence was in Riga, I was assuming it was from there. However, from accounts my mother had mentioned, running through fields in the night, I’m gathering it was from another port?
Would anyone know what port it may have been?

As well, would anyone know if there was one specific port in Poland refugees arrived at? My guess would be any land they could get to…?

During WWII Latvians and others could leave the country from anywhere (in smaller boats) along the coastline and initially even by rail before those areas became occupied. Of the 240,000 that fled to the west some 125,000 made it to the other side – out of the clutches of the Soviets. The rest became casualties of the war or were repatriated by the Soviets to Latvia or directly to Siberia.

The three major ports used by those fleeing west were Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja. Riga was the first to be cut off as an escape route. Ventspils held out to the end of the war as part of the Courland Fortress, where some 500,000 refugees had gathered from other parts of Latvia including Riga, as the last stand against the Soviets. While several thousand managed to flee to Sweden and the islands most landed in Danzig (now Gdansk), Poland and than from here by land they headed towards the Allied front.

The Occupation Museum should have some detail on these Latvians that fled west.

Cheers, Ivars

Thank you so very much Ivars for your knowledge.
If I may throw another question at you, assuming Riga was a main area of both forces, wouldn’t they have stayed in a safer area before fleeing?
(I do have somewhat of a time frame from ITS, I know they were in Seebarn in September 1945)
I know this is a difficult question, for there was no organization with evacuation.
The only other clue I have to go on is their ship had been hit and they were rescued by others (which doesn’t help me for I’m sure there were many ships hit.)

Disa, do you know when your family left Latvia? If after the October 13, 1944 occupation of Rīga, it had to be a port in Kurzeme, most likely Liepāja. My family and I left Liepāja on November 17, 1944 and sailed to the port of Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad, a Russian territory located between Lithuania and Poland.)

Hello, Lauris!

Unfortunately I do not know the date they fled, the only information I have on a time frame is they were in Seebarn Sept. 1 1945.

You may have noticed that today Riga has a vast infrastructure of historical buildings that have been preserved and are a major tourist attraction. The city was spared sizeable war damage, as the German high command did not choose to defend Riga but to set their front lines of defense in Courland (Kurzeme). There was no intracity house-to-house engagements or any major aerial bombing of the city by the Soviet and German forces.

The safe haven for Latvians fleeing the Soviet encroachment was in Courland and in fewer cases people stayed with relatives on farms and even headed for the forests.

WWII in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. After the war the whereabouts of your family was in Seebarn in September 1945 that happens to be in Austria. A major source for finding relatives and friends during 1945 was the International Red Cross.

Your best bet for information on who may have been on what boats is still the Occupation Museum.

Cheers, Ivars

Ivars,

Seebarn in rural district Neunburg vorm Wald.

Was anyone else in Neunburg vorm Wald in 1945?