Skylarks and Rebels : A Memoir about the Soviet Russian Occupation of Latvia, Life in a Totalitarian State, and Freedom.

Intro -- Introduction -- Hello! Sveiki! (Latvian) Labas! (Lithuanian) Tere! (Estonian) -- With gratitude -- Table of Contents -- Glossary -- Prologue: A Country the Size of West Virginia -- A Latvian Folk Tale about Ezere -- PART ONE: New Jersey Latvian American Girl and Trimda (Exile) -- Hillside Haven -- Programmed for Latvia -- Catskill Summers -- Latvian Bohēma -- PART TWO: Latvia as a Battlefield-World War II -- The Two Wars' Long Shadows -- Refugees, Immigrants, Exile -- Opaps (Paternal Grandfather) -- Omamma (Paternal Grandmother) -- Dimmed Lights (Great-Grandparents) -- Pēteris and Dārta Bičolis of Sēlija -- Augusts Jānis and Amālija Rumpēters of Vidzeme -- Great-Grandparents Antons and Matilde Lejiņš of Northern Vidzeme -- Enemies of the Soviet State: A Latvian Hero and His Bride -- Victims of Soviet Repression: Photographs of Velta (b. Rumpētere) and Eduards Rapss -- PART THREE: Return to Terra Incognita -- Crossing the Border -- The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic -- Cold Light in Rīga -- 3/5 Raiņa bulvāris -- Latvian Poster Art -- Farewell, Latvia! -- Interlude (November 1980-September 1981) -- PART FOUR: The 1980s -- Tuk! Tuk! I'm Home! -- Rīga (1201) -- Letter dated January 4, 1983 to my parents in New Jersey -- New Beginnings at Krāmu iela 10/4a, Tel. 211951 -- Letters -- Excerpts from a letter dated January 15, 1983 to my parents -- Rīga up Close -- A Strange Incident at the Rīga Bourse -- Puppets and Masters -- Practicum -- Zeppelin: Rīga Central Market (Central Kolhoz Market) -- Desecration -- Origin -- Famous people -- Dendrological material -- Art in the Forest -- "Old Friends" (Bookends) and the Magic of Ramave -- 1983: A Wedding in Snow -- In-Laws -- Comme des Communistes: Trying to Look Chic in a Command Economy -- The Controller Is Coming! -- Leniniana -- "Communism's Victory is Inescapable!".

Fresh Air in the Latvian Countryside -- Ghosts -- Judenfrei: Tamāra and the Jews of Latvia -- Roosters and Cats in Old Rīga -- Jūrmala -- New Life -- Mushrooms -- The Gift -- Ad Astra per Aspera: Gunārs Astra, Our Bright Star -- Crippling Humility -- "Traitors": Remnants of Bourgeois Nationalism -- Russian Boots on the Ground -- Kurzeme: Strazde-Spāre-Pope-Ventspils-Ēdole-Alsunga-Kuldīga -- Vot, vot, Comrade Ilmarovna! -- Entertainment -- 1984: A Ruckus at St. Peter's -- The Water Breaks -- Baby Blues -- Maskačka's Edžus -- A joke about Rīga's monuments. -- 1985-1986 / Squeezed -- 1985: The Red Spot -- 1986: Our Rage against the Machine: Chernobyl -- Is It Easy to be Young? Latvian Youth Behind the Iron Curtain -- 1986: Hoping for Change -- PART FIVE: The Thaw -- Klāvs -- 1987: Depression -- Sandy* -- 1988: "Rīga Retour" -- 1987: Helsinki-86 -- "Queen Latvia is Awakening" -- 1988: Life in an Approximation -- More on Approximation -- The Beginning and End of Indian Village -- 1988: The Latvian Flag -- June 14, 1988 -- Labvakar! ("Good Evening, Latvia!") -- 1988: Baltica -- 1988: Bearslayer -- Bearslayer -- A Stronghold in the Fatherland -- The Latvian Popular Front -- Litene -- Light in Darkness -- 1989: "Come out, justice, from your metal coffin" -- "Sex scandal" -- X-Rated -- A Death in Piebalga -- 1989: The Human Chain -- Too Good to Be True? -- The Fall of the Berlin Wall -- 1990: A New Beginning -- Together in Eternity -- Together in Song -- Summertime -- First day of school -- It's a boy! -- The Lenins Come Down -- 1991: The Barricades, January 13-21 -- Dedovshchina: "Hazing" -- Fragile democracy, frail baby -- 1991-1992: A Dream by the Gauja -- "And It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" -- PART SIX: The 1990s -- Freedom -- Farewell. -- The Russian Mafia -- Latvia: The Most Beautiful Country in the World.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.