Making folk costumes in refugee camps

The folk costumes were made both in workshops organised in the camps and in people’s free time.

Pastkartes ar dažādiem Latvijas novadu tautastērpiem. Izdotas Rīgā, P. Mantinieka kartogrāfijas institūtā 1938. gadā. Izvestas no Latvijas, dodoties bēgļu gaitās Otrā pasaules kara beigās. Ritas Jefimovas dāvinājums. Muzeja “Latvieši pasaulē” krājums (LP2016.397).

Information sources for the making of folk costumes

Folk-costume makers shared information with each other, copying into notebooks patterns, designs, colour combinations and sizes.

Workshops in refugee camps

People in refugee camps used their free time to organise and participate in various workshops.

The national folk costume – a symbol of a homeland lost

Despite everything they had gone through, Latvians maintained active communities in the refugee camps.

Folk costumes in displaced persons camps

Refugee camps – little Latvias

At the end of WWII, having left their homes under the fire of war and risking their lives, approximately 180 000 Latvians sought refuge in German-controlled territories to the west.

The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was founded in 1943. In 1947 the International Refugee Organisation (IR) took over the functions of UNRRA and established Displaced Persons (DP) Camps to house the refugees who could not return home to their now illegally occupied countries.
Latvians were scattered throughout a total of 294 refugee camps located in post-war Germany, Austria and Denmark.

Despite the poor conditions, with meager food and cramped barracks, the refugees organised and participated in various cultural, educational and political activities in the refugee camps. Almost every camp transformed into a so-called “Little Latvia”: with its own primary and/or secondary school, theatre troupe, choir, folk dance ensemble, and various other activities that maintained Latvian culture and community.

“At first we were 16 people in one room. In order to have some privacy, they divided the room into four parts with ropes and threw blankets over the ropes. Later, our family was given our own room – most importantly, with a sink! I was so excited that I scrubbed and washed that sink for two days until it was in working order.”