When middle-aged, Andris discovered that his father Voldemars, believed to have been dead for 40 years, was still alive in Latvia.
His father's story is told mainly through diary entries, plus letters between Voldemars and his wife Kamilla. It is a tragic tale as his mother lived in a refugee camp in West Germany for years after the war with the baby Andris, becoming ever more certain her husband had died in the Soviet or German occupations of Latvia, or in a Soviet gulag prison camp.
When he was five, Andris was taken to New Zealand with his mother as a refugee immigrant, and it was only after the breakdown of the Soviet Union that it was discovered Voldemars was still alive in Latvia.
After the heart-rending separations and much suffering, there was the joy of reunion when Andris took Kamilla when aged in her 70s back to Latvia and the family was reunited for the first time in more than 40 years.
Crosby gives a detailed account of the amazing and true story, that illustrates so well the horrendous personal effects of war on civilians and families.
- Geoff Adams is a former ODT editor.
