Latvian Sailors and Maritime Employees in Exile, 1940–1990

After the destruction of Latvia’s independence in 1940 and the subsequent storms of World War II, a significant number of ships and sailors of the Republic of Latvia’s merchant navy found themselves in the western countries, the vast majority of whom continued their lives and work in exile outside the Soviet Union – mainly in the USA, Great Britain and Canada.

Quite a few shipowners and marine-affairs loving public servants of Latvian origin also lived and worked abroad. Unlike Latvian shipowners and seafarers who stayed in the occupied Latvia, many of whom were considered politically untrustworthy by the new authorities and were expelled from the industry for at least a couple of decades or died in Soviet death camps, the exiled Latvian seafarers could continue their careers to be joined by the younger generation of Latvian exiles.

The collection and scientific archive of the Latvian Navigation History Department of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation also hold many interesting testimonies about Latvian sailors and seafarers abroad.

The Neptune Festivity on board the Latvian steamer “Venta”, 1947.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Wedding of Pēteris Spalvainis, sailor on the Latvian steamer “Venta”, and Rasma Merhauta, at the Kiel Canal in Germany. July 25, 1948.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Graduation from the Baltic Maritime School in the German city of Flensburg, May 8, 1948.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Sea Captain Nikolajs Grīniņš (1889–1981, Miami, Florida, USA) (left) and shipowner Jānis Zalcmanis (1887–1971, in New York, USA) on 2 June, 1948, in New York.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

The ship “Evertons”, property of the Grauds family in the port of New Orleans, USA, 1949.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Engineer Arturs Lejnieks (1896–1987 , California, USA) (centre, holding a gift) on his retirement day at the design company “Westinghouse”, Sunnyvale, California.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Sea captain Heinrihs Liberts (1894–1969) (first on the left) with friends at the popular restaurant “St. Pauli”, Hamburg, December, 1957.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Krišjānis Rūdolfs Sleja, captain of the steamer “Spīdola” (1907–1994, Leeds, England), May 31, 1962.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Sea captain Imants Balodis (1924–2001, Ontario) on the captain’s bridge of the Canadian ship “Lakesheel”, 1983.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Arvalds Mārtiņš Kalniņš (1917–2006, in Cardiff, Great Britain), Secretary General of the Latvian Maritime History Archive, former Captain in his home, 2002.

From the collection of the Latvian Navigation history of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.

Author of the virtual exhibition: Mg. hist. Dāvis Beitlers, historian of  the  Latvian Navigation History Department of the Museum of  the History of  Riga History and Navigation.