Face in porcelain: Vera Puķe-Puķīte
The face of a girl in folk costume was created in porcelain by Swedish Latvian Vera Puķe-Puķīte, who left Latvia in 1944, fleeing from the Red Army’s second occupation. After the war, she and her husband arrived in Sweden, where in the first years they worked as unskilled workers in factories. In the evenings, after a hard day on the production line at the porcelain factory, Vera created this porcelain face, embodying within it her care for and pain about the loss of her fatherland.
Refugee period – Vera searches for Alberts
Vera married Alberts Puķe-Puķītis in Rīga during the war in July 1944. Alberts was serving in the German army and returned to his unit the day after the wedding… Read more >
Latvian refugees in a Danish palace
Compared to Germany, where there were large numbers of refugees after the Second World War, there were only about 2,000 Latvian refugees in Denmark, scattered over 40 camps.Read more >
First years in Sweden
In the post-war period, Latvians Vera and Alberts Puķe-Puķītis didn’t find it easy to adapt to life in Sweden. The days passed performing heavy and monotonous work in Swedish factories. Read more >
Vera Puķe-Puķīte today
Vera moved from Gothenburg to Stockholm in 1985, where she still lives in Stockholm’s green suburb, Kista. Read more >
