Great Migration of Germans in November - December 1939, day by day.

32 Names: Apsītis, Artums-Hartmanis, Augškāps, Bērziņš, Blosfelds, Blumbergs, Bonerts, Bulmerinks (Bulmerincq), Butte, Chatkewitsch, Cimermanis, Doberts, Fogels, Gross, Grīnbergs, Hartvigs, Hencis, Inge, Jordans, Kangers, Martinovs, Mikvics, Munters, Musinovičs, Radeckis, Reimers, Reinhards, Rudums, Smolian, Ulmanis, Veitmanis, Wunderlich

The resettlement of ethnic Germans from Latvia to the region of Posen (now Poznan) took place in the fall of 1939. In this Page the events of that period are described based on the newspaper information of 1939. Not all was written in newspapers, however. It is known that the rumors about coming migration circulated in the German community a good time before any official decision was published.

I used information of two newspapers:
1) JZ - Jaunākās Ziņas (The latest news), that was the most popular newspaper in Latvian of that time and
2) VV - Valdības vēstnesis (The government messenger), that was the main source of official information.

I could not study yet all the issues of JZ corresponding to these events, but I have filtered all information in VV of the second half 1939.

Another abbreviation I used here is LTA - Telegraph Agency of Latvia.

In case you do not know yet, at that time the main positions in Latvia - the State President and the President of Ministers - occupied Kārlis Ulmanis without constitutional grounds, and therefore he is usually named the dictator. The Parliament was discharged, and the Cabinet of Ministers became the lawmaker. The economics was seriously controlled by the state institutions, for example, in many cases the maximum prices were set and the sellers who exceeded the limits were fined.

The information is organized in two Pages. This one covers the period November-December 1939, and you may connect to the Page for the previous time period September- October 1939.

Additional information about particular resettlers mentioned in this Page was taken from the list of the resettlers /Izceļotāji/. The fact that the spellings of names in the newspapers and in the list could be different should be taken into account.

VV publishes the decision of the Government that the Minister of Justice Hermanis Apsītis is empowered to sign the treaty with Germany on resettlement of ethnic Germans. The decision was made on October 30, that is the same day the treaty was actually signed.

JZ publishes a review of the rules of the application for the release from the Latvia citizenship. The application forms are available in registration offices, they should be filled in but not signed. The applicant signs the application in presence of a clerk of the registration office. The children under 16 should be written in father's application. The applicants should have a certificate of the central German organizations in Latvia or a certificate of the German embassy that they really are Germans. Latvians should prove their connection with Germans. The registration offices should also collect the rationing lists, the permission certificates for buying kerosene or latol (a kind of fuel). It should have been noted in the passports of the applicants that they have returned the people gas-masks.

JZ also publishes a reporting from a registration office at Ķēniņu str. 30. This office like all other registration offices started to work today at 9.00 am. The first who applied for release from the Latvia citizenship was Ludvigs Butte (Ludvigs-Heinrichs Butt, b. Aug. 12, 1912 in Riga). Each applicant was asked whether he emigrates by his own free will. When they answered that the emigration is freewill, the paper work started. In the end they received the Certificate of release from the Latvia citizenship and signed the declaration that they refused for ever both of the Latvia citizenship and of the right to return in Latvia for permanent residence.

VV: The hospital ship "Orotava" left Ventspils [Windau] with 176 sick resettlers on board, added 1317 ones in Liepāja [Libau] and on November 7 sailed to Germany. The ship "Levante" also left Liepāja on November 7. On November 8 afternoon the ship "Ulm" and on November 9 the ship "Frigg" are leaving Liepāja.

JZ:
- The director of the Institute for scientific forensic expertise Arturs Kangars is discharged, because he is going to resettle. (Arturs Kangers b. Apr. 17, 1875 in Valka [Walk])
- Yesterday SS "Potsdam" cast off from the Riga port with 2150 resettlers. Today SS "Oldenburg" with 520 passengers is leaving the port. The ship for transportation of sick people "Scharhörn" begins embarkation tomorrow and is going to cast off the day after tomorrow with 200 persons.
- 157 imprisoned people wish to emigrate.
- There are three possibilities of dealing with the movable property of the German resettlers: 1) to alienate it now, 2) to leave it at the bonded warehouse and later to transport it to Germany till March 15, 1940, 3) to take it with the traveling person.
- The eventual buyers of German real estate are once more warned to consider possible purchase seriously. One should also consider the estimation that the market of services after the resettlement should decrease for 10%, so one should think if it is worth to buy a former German enterprise.

Friday,
November 10

VV publishes a telegram of the LTA that on November 8 the motorship "Waldtraut" cast off from Ventspils and had on board 565 resettlers from the vicinities of Kandava [Kandau]. Before the casting off, the resettlers sang the national anthem of Latvia, then the national anthem of Germany and then the song on Horst Wessel. While singing, they hold the right hand stretched up.
On November 9 the ship "Bremerhaven" arrived in Ventspils and it is planned that she casts off on November 11 with 560 resettlers.

JZ:
- Dr Musinoviča gifted to the library of the faculty of philology and philosophy 72 valuable books on German philology.
- Yesterday SS "Scharhörn" cast off with 260 sick persons, many of them were transported to the ship by stretcher. The oldest one was 95. Totally about 10,000 resettlers have already left Riga city.

Friday,
November 10

Some German resettlers published advertisements in newspapers with farewells to the people in Latvia.
The first advertisement above is published by R.Fogels & Co. with farewells to its customers, friends and acquaintances. The company was grounded by Robert Fogels (Vogel), existed in Riga for almost 90 years and now is liquidated. It was busy with bread baking and confectionery and was situated at Brīvības str. 90. The co-owners in 1935 were /Tirgotāji/:
- the property of Henriette Ella Margarete Fogels b. July 13, 1897, a lunatic. (Evidently she could not be a legal co-owner of a company, but her property could be invested);
- Valtraute-Tekla Fogels b. August 21, 1902;
- Johannes-Roberts Fogels b. January 14, 1904;
- Hans-Otto-Albinus Fogels b. June 6, 1905;
- Anna-Tekla-Gertrūde Hartvigs b. December 8,1900. As it is mentioned in the advertisement above she was born Fogels, evidently she was a sister of other owners.
All of the co-owners were born in Riga. Additionally a guardian Valfrīds Martinovs is mentioned in /Tirgotāji/. Evidently he was needed to represent Henriette Ella Margarete. Valfrīds Martinovs (Martinoff) b. Jan. 17, 1880 in Rīga was found on the list of resettlers.

In the second advertisement Arveds Chatkewitsch, a piano player, expresses his best regards to his friends, colleagues and acquaintances in Latvia. The same does Elene Chatkewitsch. On the list of resettlers the spellings of their names are a bit different: Arvīds Hatkevičs (Chatkewitsch) b. March 30, 1906 in Riga, Helena Chatkevičs (Chatkewitsch) b. Bonerts, b. Apr. 9, 1878 in Germany. As they lived at the same apartment at address Vaļņu str. 21, apt. 14, I guess they were a son and the mother.

VV: The agreement is reached what property of German schools could be taken with and what should be left here by the resettlers. By the way, the archives of German schools remained in Latvia.

JZ:
- The Ministry of Agriculture will organize the ploughing of the lands that belonged to German resettlers, in cases they did not plough it before the emigration.
- The transfer of the properties of 52 German parishes has began. The cemeteries are also being taken under the surveillance of the Lutheran Church.
- October was the month with a great number of marriages in Riga. Totally 174 marriages were contracted and in 100 of them one or both spouses were Germans. Only about 70 marriages are normally contracted in a month.
- Yesterday about 170 Germans left Bauska. The town does not suffer of the emigration because only 3 shops, a pair of workshops and a drugstore is closed.
- Saturday the German newspaper "Rigasche Rundschau" was printed for the last time.
- SS "Oceana" begins the embarkation of sick persons. On the ship a registration office is organized where the persons, who were incapable of arriving personally at an office, can discharge from Latvia citizenship.

In this advertisement a former civil servant (female) 27, who currently is unemployed, asks a resettler to hand over a job in an office, a job of a telephone girl or a similar well-paid job.

JZ:
Some more advertisements with farewells:

Aksel Inge says farewell to all of his colleagues in the joint venture L.V.Geggingers and cordially asks to remember him. The name of the joint venture was usually spelled L.W.Goegginger. It was busy with production of chocolate, candies, tea, confectionery etc. (Heinrichs Akselis Inge b. Oct. 1885 in Liepāja)

K.Jordans, a pharmacist in Limbaži [Lemsal], with his family says farewells to all people whom he could not say good-bye yet and thanks everybody for the trust he was presented. (Kristaps Teodors Hugo Jordāns b. 1884 in Talsi)

Edgar Smolian says farewells to all colleagues, friends and students in Riga and Daugavpils. (Edgars Smoliāns b. March 30, 1875 in Rīga)

Thursday,
December 28

VV: The list of new names for pagasti. 11 names of pagasti that were coined using the word muiža (manor) were changed to politically correct names. This list is available on this site.