Edgars Krasts’ Trunk, c. 1951

Edgars Krasts’ Trunk, circa 1951

After the end of World War II in 1945, thousands of Latvians took refuge in displaced persons camps in Western Europe, unable to return to their country for fear of living under the brutal Soviet regime. In 1948, the United States relaxed immigration restrictions and passed the Displaced Persons Act. Under this system, relief agencies, often religious organizations, sponsored displaced persons and guaranteed them housing and employment when they arrived.

Many Latvians came to Kalamazoo by way of Jānis Laupmanis, a Latvian Methodist minister in Kalamazoo. His goal was to sponsor the entire “Shield of Songs,” a choir organized in one of the displaced persons camps in Germany. The choir members, their families, and Latvians from other camps immigrated to Kalamazoo, and by the mid-1950s, more than 2,000 Latvians made Kalamazoo their new home.

One of these families was the Krasts family, which included Edgars, his wife, Zelma, and son, Edgars Jr. They were allowed entry into the United States in 1951 after being sponsored by a family in Lawton, Michigan. Daughter Elita was denied, having contracted tuberculosis in 1948 while in the displaced persons camp. By 1952, the Krasts were living in Kalamazoo.

For seven years, Edgars wrote letters to senators, representatives and relief agencies, pleading his family’s case for reunification. In March 1958, after 14 years in the displaced persons camp, Elita was deemed medically qualified for a visa and reunited with her family in Kalamazoo.

Object # 94.62.1