Individual Details
Alise Putenis
(30 Apr 1905 - 8 May 1980)
(Monticello Express, April 25, 1955)
Castle Grove Woman, Latvia Native Granted United States Citizenship
BY MRS. DELMAR KING
Express Correspondent
CASTLE GROVE Mrs. Fred Heiken and her three children are no longer strangers and without friends. And they can say they have a country to call their own.
Mrs. Heiken, a native of Limbazi, Latvia, where she was born Alise Putins and where she married her first husband, the late Mr. Lubavs— became a citizen of the United States early this month in a ceremony in federal district court at Cedar Rapids.
LATVIA INVADED
It was nearly 11 years ago that the Lubavs—including their three sons, Andris. John and Atis, then 8, 5 and 1 years of age, respectively— left their homeland to escape communism.
The Russians first invaded Latvia in 1940. Mr. Lubavs, chief of police, spent most of the following year hiding in the woods. At times Mrs. Lubavs also was forced to hide out when the Russians came looking for her husband.
After the Russians were forced out of Latvia about a year later, life went on much as before. Feeling that the Russians would eventually return, the family made plans for escaping. The Lubavs, thinking that their exile would only be temporary buried their silver, dishes and other valuables where they would be safe until their return. They were never able to go back to redeem their property.
SECOND INVASION
In September 1944 the Russian again invaded Latvia and the Lubavs, wishing to escape communism left their homeland in a horse-drawn buggy taking only what food and clothing they could carry in the
buggy. They left home Sept. 23 and for over a month until Nov. 14 they traveled through the country, sleeping wherever they could— in a barn, in the fields, or woods, or even in the buggy.
On Nov. 14, 1944, they were put on a boat for Germany.
This boat was terribly overcrowded with cattle, cars, trucks and over 800 people trying to escape. After leaving the boat, they were transferred into cattle cars of a train. They were on this train until Dec. 17 when they arrived in Nurnberg.
Treated as Prisoners
All this time they were treated as prisoners, having no privileges or given any choice as to where they wished to go.
In Nurnberg they lived in ruins of houses. They were sent from one refugee camp to another.
Mrs. Heiken remembers at least ten camps they were in during the five years they spent in Germany. In one camp they lived in one small room with five other families having sixteen children among them-- 28 people in this one small room.
Immigration proceedings were started in June 1949 and through the Lutheran Church federation the Lubavs came to this country as a displaced family and landed in Boston July 19, 1949. The Lutheran Church at Bagley, Wis., with Rev. Melvin Petersen as pastor, sponsored the family. The Lubavs moved to a farm near Bagley.
Husband Electrocuted
Just three weeks after they arrived at the farm, Mr. Lubavs was electrocuted while operating a milking machine. Mrs. Lubavs--unable to speak English, a stranger in the community, and the landlady away on a visit --- spent several heart-breaking days wondering what had been done with her husband following his death.
In Latvia there were no funeral homes and the body of a loved one was kept in the home. For two days she was frantic, wondering where her husband was. Finally she was taken to the funeral home to select the casket. Only then did she begin to understand.
The Lutheran Welfare society helped Mrs. Lubavs at this point. The society paid the funeral expenses, bought her a sewing machine so that she could make a living for herself and family. Mrs. Lubavs had been a dressmaker in Latvia before her marriage, and being an excellent seamstress was soon able to
LATVIA NATIVE -
(Continued to page 8)
Latvia Native -
(Continued from page 1)
support herself and family. "Words cannot express my appreciation for the Lutheran Welfare society. I do not know what I would have done," she said," without their help at this time."
The fact that someone would help her—a complete stranger and a foreigner—was something new to her. In Germany foreigners were not made welcome nor was anything done to help a stranger, She said.
CHILDREN IN SCHOOL
Only Andris of the children had any knowledge of the English language. The boys entered school and advanced rapidly, soon catching up with the children their own age and receiving excellent grades.
Mrs. Lubavs lived in Bagley for 2 1/2 years and Jan. 19, 1952, was married to Fred Heiken, a farmer iving nine miles west of Monticello. They are living on the Heiken farm.
Andris is a senior in the Montcello public school, John is in the eighth grade and Atis is in the sixth grade of Castle Grove school No. 6.
Mrs. Heiken had to leave her mother in Latvia and has not heard from her for a year. She has no way of knowing whether her mother is still living or not.
A brother, Alfred Putins, escaped from Latvia before her and they were together in one of the refugee camps in Germany. He followed them to this country a year later. He now is living in Chicago. She also has a sister-in-law, the wife of her first husband's brother, living in Minnesota.
CITIZENSHIP PAPERS
Mrs. Heiken who started work on her citizenship papers about five years ago, is very happy to have successfully passed all examinations and is now a citizen of "this wonderful country."
Andris, who is 18, intends to pass his citizenship examinations and already has begun to work on it. The other two boys, Mrs. Heiken understands, automatically became citizens when she did. An adult must reside in this country five years before he is eligible to become a citizen.
Representatives of the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the American'Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the League of Women Voters participated in the naturalization ceremony recently in Cedar Rapids. Thirty-four persons from 16 countries who had each been previously examined and had met all requirements for citizenship were presented to the court.
WAS INTERVIEWED
Mrs. Heiken was one of the three new citizens interviewed before the closing of the ceremony. These three people who had come from Iron Curtain countries told briefly of their experiences in escaping the Russians. Mrs. Heiken was accompanied to Cedar Rapids by Andris and Atis and Mrs. Max Specht of Monticello. The courtroom was filled to "standing room only" with friends and relatives of the new citizens.
Mrs. Heiken is a member of SS. Peter and Paul Lutheran church in Castle Grove and is an active member of the Worthwhile Homemakers club.
Castle Grove Woman, Latvia Native Granted United States Citizenship
BY MRS. DELMAR KING
Express Correspondent
CASTLE GROVE Mrs. Fred Heiken and her three children are no longer strangers and without friends. And they can say they have a country to call their own.
Mrs. Heiken, a native of Limbazi, Latvia, where she was born Alise Putins and where she married her first husband, the late Mr. Lubavs— became a citizen of the United States early this month in a ceremony in federal district court at Cedar Rapids.
LATVIA INVADED
It was nearly 11 years ago that the Lubavs—including their three sons, Andris. John and Atis, then 8, 5 and 1 years of age, respectively— left their homeland to escape communism.
The Russians first invaded Latvia in 1940. Mr. Lubavs, chief of police, spent most of the following year hiding in the woods. At times Mrs. Lubavs also was forced to hide out when the Russians came looking for her husband.
After the Russians were forced out of Latvia about a year later, life went on much as before. Feeling that the Russians would eventually return, the family made plans for escaping. The Lubavs, thinking that their exile would only be temporary buried their silver, dishes and other valuables where they would be safe until their return. They were never able to go back to redeem their property.
SECOND INVASION
In September 1944 the Russian again invaded Latvia and the Lubavs, wishing to escape communism left their homeland in a horse-drawn buggy taking only what food and clothing they could carry in the
buggy. They left home Sept. 23 and for over a month until Nov. 14 they traveled through the country, sleeping wherever they could— in a barn, in the fields, or woods, or even in the buggy.
On Nov. 14, 1944, they were put on a boat for Germany.
This boat was terribly overcrowded with cattle, cars, trucks and over 800 people trying to escape. After leaving the boat, they were transferred into cattle cars of a train. They were on this train until Dec. 17 when they arrived in Nurnberg.
Treated as Prisoners
All this time they were treated as prisoners, having no privileges or given any choice as to where they wished to go.
In Nurnberg they lived in ruins of houses. They were sent from one refugee camp to another.
Mrs. Heiken remembers at least ten camps they were in during the five years they spent in Germany. In one camp they lived in one small room with five other families having sixteen children among them-- 28 people in this one small room.
Immigration proceedings were started in June 1949 and through the Lutheran Church federation the Lubavs came to this country as a displaced family and landed in Boston July 19, 1949. The Lutheran Church at Bagley, Wis., with Rev. Melvin Petersen as pastor, sponsored the family. The Lubavs moved to a farm near Bagley.
Husband Electrocuted
Just three weeks after they arrived at the farm, Mr. Lubavs was electrocuted while operating a milking machine. Mrs. Lubavs--unable to speak English, a stranger in the community, and the landlady away on a visit --- spent several heart-breaking days wondering what had been done with her husband following his death.
In Latvia there were no funeral homes and the body of a loved one was kept in the home. For two days she was frantic, wondering where her husband was. Finally she was taken to the funeral home to select the casket. Only then did she begin to understand.
The Lutheran Welfare society helped Mrs. Lubavs at this point. The society paid the funeral expenses, bought her a sewing machine so that she could make a living for herself and family. Mrs. Lubavs had been a dressmaker in Latvia before her marriage, and being an excellent seamstress was soon able to
LATVIA NATIVE -
(Continued to page 8)
Latvia Native -
(Continued from page 1)
support herself and family. "Words cannot express my appreciation for the Lutheran Welfare society. I do not know what I would have done," she said," without their help at this time."
The fact that someone would help her—a complete stranger and a foreigner—was something new to her. In Germany foreigners were not made welcome nor was anything done to help a stranger, She said.
CHILDREN IN SCHOOL
Only Andris of the children had any knowledge of the English language. The boys entered school and advanced rapidly, soon catching up with the children their own age and receiving excellent grades.
Mrs. Lubavs lived in Bagley for 2 1/2 years and Jan. 19, 1952, was married to Fred Heiken, a farmer iving nine miles west of Monticello. They are living on the Heiken farm.
Andris is a senior in the Montcello public school, John is in the eighth grade and Atis is in the sixth grade of Castle Grove school No. 6.
Mrs. Heiken had to leave her mother in Latvia and has not heard from her for a year. She has no way of knowing whether her mother is still living or not.
A brother, Alfred Putins, escaped from Latvia before her and they were together in one of the refugee camps in Germany. He followed them to this country a year later. He now is living in Chicago. She also has a sister-in-law, the wife of her first husband's brother, living in Minnesota.
CITIZENSHIP PAPERS
Mrs. Heiken who started work on her citizenship papers about five years ago, is very happy to have successfully passed all examinations and is now a citizen of "this wonderful country."
Andris, who is 18, intends to pass his citizenship examinations and already has begun to work on it. The other two boys, Mrs. Heiken understands, automatically became citizens when she did. An adult must reside in this country five years before he is eligible to become a citizen.
Representatives of the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the American'Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the League of Women Voters participated in the naturalization ceremony recently in Cedar Rapids. Thirty-four persons from 16 countries who had each been previously examined and had met all requirements for citizenship were presented to the court.
WAS INTERVIEWED
Mrs. Heiken was one of the three new citizens interviewed before the closing of the ceremony. These three people who had come from Iron Curtain countries told briefly of their experiences in escaping the Russians. Mrs. Heiken was accompanied to Cedar Rapids by Andris and Atis and Mrs. Max Specht of Monticello. The courtroom was filled to "standing room only" with friends and relatives of the new citizens.
Mrs. Heiken is a member of SS. Peter and Paul Lutheran church in Castle Grove and is an active member of the Worthwhile Homemakers club.
Events
| Birth | 30 Apr 1905 | Limbaži, Limbažu Rajons, Latvia |  | ||
| Marriage | 11 Sep 1933 | Limbaži, Limbažu Rajons, Latvia - Arnold Lubavs | |||
| Marriage | 19 Jan 1952 | Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa, United States - Friedrick "Fred" Heiken |  | ||
| Death | 8 May 1980 | Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States |
Families
| Spouse | Friedrick "Fred" Heiken (1890 - 1976) |
| Spouse | Arnold Lubavs ( - 1949) |
| Child | Andris Lubavs (1936 - 2005) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
Notes
Birth
Riga, LatviaEndnotes
1. "Frederick Heiken," obituary, Monticello (Iowa) Express, 23 February 1976; Ross & Elizabeth Baty Public Library (http://batypl.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 26 January 2011), Newspaper Digital Archives.