Coping with Trauma through Christian Holiday Observances in the Testimonies of Latvian Deportees

Abstract

This qualitative research aims to analyse testimonies collected by Daugavpils University (DU) between 2003 and 2024 and stored at the Oral History Centre of DU Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (Latvia). This collection of more than 1,200 records includes 193 life stories of Latvian deportees who in the 1940s were arrested and transported to the most remote and disadvantaged regions of the Soviet Union. Because many deportees were not destined to return to their homeland, the analysed life stories are unique sources for understanding the mundane life and religious practices of the Latvian deportees’ community in labour settlements and the conditions of the forced secularisation policy implemented by the Soviet regime. Despite physical, emotional, economic, and ideological limitations, Christian holidays (mainly Easter and Christmas) in the so-called “special” or “labour settlements” allowed Latvia’s people (Latvians and representatives of different ethnic minorities) to maintain a connection with their lost homeland and, as a manifestation of intangible cultural heritage, ensured intergenerational communication and continuity of traditions. As a significant manifestation of the Latvian deportees’ belief, Christian celebrations were perceived as integral to their religious and national identity, as well as their cultural memory.