Travel Notes in Siberia. 1941–1943. Drawings by Daumants Birznieks with Comments by Agrita Ozola

On June 14th, the process of deportations and the tragic struggle for survival in Siberia are depicted in diary form through drawings by 16-year-old Daumants Birznieks. 

Throughout the sketchbook, now kept at Tukums Museum, the experience of deported Kurzeme residents is documented with great precision, often indicating the time, place, and coordinates of the events.

Agrita Ozola, Director of Tukums Museum, historian, and researcher of deportations: "The drawings by Daumants Birznieks published in the book are a vivid testimony to the crime against humanity perpetrated against the inhabitants of the Baltic States in the 1940s, leaving tragic scars across generations. This publication comes out at a time when military activities are once again taking place in Eastern Europe, and thousands of children are being deported in an unknown direction to Russia. The opening of the book takes place on the Communist Genocide Victims Remembrance Day as a reminder to society of how crucial it is right now to safeguard our country's independence, democratic values, and freedom."

Financial support for the publication of the book was received within the framework of the "Kurzeme Cultural Program 2024" implemented in the Kurzeme Planning Region, under the State Cultural Capital Fund's target program "Program for the Development of Latvian Historical Lands".

The book will be available for purchase at the Art Gallery "Durvis," a structural unit of Tukums Museum.