I was teaching in the Russian territory, and after that in Latvian
territory, before Latvia became independent, in Ventspils, the name of
the city where I was teaching in Latvia.
Mr. BELIN. Latvia became independent in 1918?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. And remained independent until Russia annexed these three
Baltic countries around 1939, or so?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. 1940. In 1913, I got married.
Mr. MAMANTOV. Do you need a very detailed story on her life?
Mr. BELIN. No.
Mrs. GRAVITIS [through interpreter]. I lived until 1950 in Ventspils,
and then I and my husband were evacuated to St. Petersburg or Petrograd
at that time. This was in 1915.
Mr. BELIN. Now it is Leningrad?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Leningrad.
Mr. BELIN. Let me ask you this. Did you stay in either Russia or Latvia
from that time on until after--for how long?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. From 1915 to 1919, in Petrograd. Then in 1919 I and my
daughter came to Latvia. My husband remained in Petrograd. They didn't
let him out.
Mr. BELIN. From 1919 onward, where did you live?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. From that time until 1940, I lived and worked as a
teacher in Latvia.
Mr. BELIN. Where did you teach?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. I taught mathematics, approximately the equivalent to
junior high, and the Russian language.
Mr. BELIN. Did you work for the State or for a private school?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. State school.
Mr. BELIN. From 1940, where did you live and what did you do?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. At that time it became the Soviet Union, part of the
Soviet Union, and I lived in the same spot in Latvia.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know the city?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Zilupe, which is about half a mile from the Russian
border.
Mr. BELIN. How long did you stay there? From 1940 on?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. All the time.
Mr. BELIN. Until when?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. I worked 1 year under the communistic government as a
teacher until 1941. Then I was teaching under the German occupation as
a teacher until 1943. Then I came to live with Mr. Mamantov in 1943, in
Riga, which is the Latvian Capital.
Mr. BELIN. Up to 1940, had your husband left Petrograd to move back to
Latvia with you?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. When I came with my daughter to Latvia in 1919, I didn't
go back any more, and my husband joined me in February 1923.
Mr. BELIN. And he stayed until how long? Did he stay with you in Latvia
then, and what happened to him?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. When he came to Latvia, he was a railroad station
manager immediately, or became. And I was a teacher in that town. And
we lived there until 1941, until he was arrested.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know what ever became of him?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. I don't know. Just recently I received a letter from my
sister-in-law and she said that he died in Siberia and didn't know when.
Mr. BELIN. When did you leave Latvia, and where did you go?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. 1944, I went to Germany.
Mr. BELIN. You went with your daughter and son-in-law?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Yes; and two children.
Mr. BELIN. And your two children?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Your two grandchildren?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Where did you stay in Germany?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. In Bavaria.
Mr. BELIN. In a camp?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. No; not immediately. We were all the time together, and
so we came to Bavaria in October 1944, and stayed in private residences
until August 1945, and at that time we went to DP camp near Guenzburg.
Mr. BELIN. How long did you stay in the DP camp? Until when?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Four years in--until October of 1949, when we went to
Bremerhaven and proceeded to the United States.
Mr. MAMANTOV. She left 2 weeks ahead of us because her name started
with "G".
Mr. BELIN. Where did you go in the United States when you got here?
Where have you lived since you have come here?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. In New York City.
Mr. BELIN. How long did you live in New York, and where have you lived
since then?
Mrs. GRAVITIS. Approximately 1-1/2 or 2. However, we left New York
February 28, 1952.