Latvia in my soul — Jānis Miglavs

Janis Miglavs, wearing an oak leaf crown, stands at the ruins of his family farm in Vidzeme, Latvia — Latvia in my soul

Jānis rediscovered tiny Latvia under several circumstances ranging from Soviet domination to Independence. Each journey was filled with emotional tears. While not born there, it felt like he had returned home.
Now he asks how did it become one of the five big influencers of who he is today?
His parents—another of his major life influencers—married during WW II. One year later the invading Soviets imprisoned his dad to kill him. When friends broke him out, he and his wife fled, along with 134,000 other Latvians. Jānis was born during that escape in a displaced persons’ camp.
Safely in adoptive America, for years he hesitated to venture to his cultural homeland for fear of Soviet retribution. Finally, he went in 1980s. Illegally he evaded Soviet observation to visit our rural family farm. There he cried until his body shook. He had returned home for the first time.
During Latvia’s transition to independence, Jānis reclaimed his family farm, which the local Soviet Collective director had given to one of his friends. But new laws were on Jānis’s side.
Jānis selected these photographs to represent his Latvia, which he calls the homeland of his soul.

Musicians trying to teach Jānis to play the Latvian kokle

This futile event occured in the Outdoor Ethnographic Museum just outside of Riga. Jānis reported that even the birds stopped singing. 2023

Traditional dancers practicing at the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum

Preparing for the every-five-year Latvian Song Festival, these dancers were practicing among the wooden buildings in the Outdoor Ethnographic Museum. Riga, Latvia 2023

The wooden Usma Evangelical Lutheran Church

Obviously punishment was taken seriously outside this wooden church at the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. Riga, Latvia 1980s

View of Heaven

Perhaps the Heavenly mural on ceiling of the Usma Lutheran Church reminds parishioners the importance of listening carefully to the sermon. Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, Riga, Latvia 2023

A ride through Gauja National Park

Jānis went on a bicycle ride with a group of computer engineers through Gauja National Park, the largest and oldest of the national parks in Latvia,. 1980s

Sandstone cliff called Zvārtes Rock

Sitting above the Amata River, Zvārtes Rock anchors the picturesque valley setting in Gauja National Park. 1980s

Lielstraupe Castle

Located in Gauja National Park, Lielstraupe Castle is one of many medieval castles or manors throughout Latvia. 1980s

Cesis castle

The foundations were laid some 800 years ago by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword who converted Latvian non-Christians with the sword. In more modern times, Jānis photographed all over the country for the Tourism Department during the early days of Latvia’s independence from the Soviets. Cesis, Latvia 1980s

Kayaking past Sabile village

Jānis escapes to peaceful Sabile village to write, read or just reflect. Located in the deepest part of the ancient Abava River Valley set in Latvia’s scenic Kurzeme region. Sabile, Latvia 2023

Wine Hill vineyard above Sabile village

Sitting above the village, Sabile’s Wine Hill is registered in Guinness Book of World Records as the most northern open-air vineyard in the world. Sabile, Latvia 2022

Latvia makes grape wine

First planted during the German occupation time (14th – 16th century), Sabile’s Wine Hill was then completely restored in the Latvia’s first period of independence in 1936. Jānis laments that the limited-production wine is only available during Sabile’s yearly wine festival and in one local store. Sabile, Latvia 2022

Traditional jeweler

Sabile, Latvia. 2022

Countryside Orthodox church

near Mazsalaca, Latvia 2022

Riga

Church steeples in old Riga on the banks of the Daugava River. Latvia. 1992

View of Riga's Old Town

Founded in the 1200s, Riga's Old Town, right on the Daugava River is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 2022

Riga's cobble stone streets

Wandering the labyrinth of cobblestone streets of Riga—especially Old Town—offers oh so many photo opportunities. Not sure they offer the cyclist a very smooth ride. Riga, Latvia 2023

Artist inspired by Old Town Riga

A local artist inspired by the varied architecture of Riga’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 2022

Contemporary life nested in Old Riga architecture

Riga, Latvia 2022

Father and son in Riga

Jānis and his son Ryan enjoy a beer at a pub In front of Riga’s St. Peter’s Church – a city landmark and one of the oldest and most valuable buildings of medieval architecture in the Baltics. 2023

Interior of Riga’s St. Peter’s Church

A panoramic interior view of Riga’s St. Peter’s Church ceiling. To create this image, Jānis started by aiming the camera at floor level, then continually photographing while rotating the camera over his head and bending over backwards to capture the ceiling. Riga, Latvia 2023

Just one offering in Riga’s Central Market,

Get any thing from dried fish to suit cases in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in a four retrofitted old German Zeppelin hangars, it’s Europe's largest market and bazaar. Riga, Latvia 2023

Flowers for every visit

When visiting friends or relatives, Latvians—including Jānis—usually bring the host flowers. This patient flower vendor—one of dozens at Riga’s Central Market—endured a selfie with Jānis. Riga, Latvia 2023

Latvia's Occupation Museum in Riga

Just recently opened to the public, the museum offers graphic displays, photos and artifacts of the cruelty Latvians suffered during the Soviet occupation. While this museum shows little about the Jewish holocaust during the Nazi occupation, there is a whole separate museum devoted to that terrible period. Riga, Latvia 2023

Up close and personal memories

For Jānis, visiting the Occupation Museum was an emotional reminder how the Soviets were going to kill his father. (He escaped and fled with Jānis’s mom.) But the numbers are mind numbing. During the first occupation, Soviets killed or deported 35,000 Latvians. Then again in 1949, in a mater of a day or two, more than 42,000 Latvians, including Jānis’s mom’s best friend along with almost 11,000 children, were killed or deported as enemies of the Soviet state. Jānis personally heard stories from the few who survived in frozen Siberia. Many tears. Riga, Latvia 2023

Memories in the Soviet secret police prison museum

Walking into the dark rooms of this museum brought Jānis memories of his father talking about the Checka, the Soviet secret police. To create fear, they did mass arrests, torture, and executions without any trial. Cesis, Latvia 2023

One family's shoes, a visual reminder

Some 34,000 Jews were killed in Latvia during the Nazi occupation. In Cesis village, rows of shoe sculptures line up in front of houses once the home of a Jewish family. So many small shoes. Cesis, Latvia 2022, 2023

Found relatives

While browsing a new research website, Jānis found that one dark night in March of 1949, six Miglavs had been awakened to be exiled by the Soviets. Ages 8 to 67, apparently, one survived frozen Siberia. Jānis and son Ryan visited their former home. 2023.

A home no more

The home of one of Jānis’s aunts—who disappeared during her escape—once stood here. When the Germans retreated from Rūjiena, Latvia, they randomly fire bombed homes. Rūjiena, Latvia 2023

All that remains

Since the inhabitants didn’t care for the wooden house Jānis’s parents fled from, it fell into ruins. Only remains of the stone animal barn remain today. Vilpulka, Latvia, 2022, 2023

Returning parents to their homeland

After Jānis’s parents buried their valuables and fled for their lives in 1944 from the Soviet secret police, they never wanted to return to Latvia. They feared a deep heartache for what they left. As a tribute to their memory, Jānis buried photographs of his parents near the site of their Latvian home. Vilpulka, Latvia 2023

Walkiing in his parent's footsteps

To understand the lives his parents lived in Latvia, Jānis visited places they had talked about. Jānis recalls his mom had to live and attend the closest high school in Rūjiena, maybe 20 miles from home. Riding a bicycle in the snow was out of the question. Rūjiena, Latvia 2023

Rural Latvia

near Rūjiena, Latvia 2022

Picking flowers for the festival

People picking roadside corn flowers for Jāņi (Mid Summer festival). Rūjiena, Latvia 2023

Celebrating

This year Jānis celebrated Jāņi (Mid Summer Festival) with the family living in the home where his mother and aunt grew up. Vilpulka, Latvia 2023

Present and past

During the Mid Summer Festival (Jāņī), all those named Jānis wear crowns made of oak leaves and flowers. Here Jānis stands at the ruins of his family farm, near Vilpulka, Latvia 2023

Latvian landscape

Salaca River. On his first trip to Latvia with Jānis, son Ryan repeatedly mentioned his surprise at the beauty of the Latvian landscape. Vidzeme, Latvia 2023

Cesis

Cesis, Latvia 2023