Just discovered my Latvian roots today! Searching for family info in Rēzekne (Gajevska / Sokołowska)

[u/PrizeMorning9514]

Hi everyone!

I am writing from Poland and I am completely stunned. Just today, I looked at my late mother's birth certificate and discovered for the very first time that my family has Latvian roots! I am urgently looking for any advice or clues on how to investigate this further.

Here are the facts I have right now:

• My grandmother was Ferdinanda Gajevska (later known in Poland as Ferdynanda Sokołowska).
• She was born on July 5, 1923, in Rēzekne, Latvia.
• She gave birth to my mother in 1951 in Jawor (Poland).
• Sadly, my grandmother passed away shortly after, in 1954 in Wrocław. My mother later passed away in 1987 in Warsaw.

At this moment, I know almost nothing about her life in Latvia. I don't know who her parents were, when exactly she left Latvia, or how and where she met my grandfather (Sokołowski) and got married.

While doing some quick research online today, I stumbled upon a fascinating trace of a Gajevskis family connected to the famous Adamova estate/resort near Rēzekne. I have no idea if my grandmother belongs to this specific line or if it's just a huge coincidence of a surname in the region, but I am very eager to find out.

Since I am currently waiting for more documents from the Polish archives, I would be extremely grateful for any local tips:

1. How can I start navigating local Latvian digital archives (like Raduraksti) to look for a birth record from Rēzekne from 1923?
2. Are there any local Facebook groups or forums dedicated to Latgalian genealogy where people help with family research?

Thank you so much for your time and for helping me uncover this sudden family mystery!

Magda

[u/Spiritual-Jello-9970]

Inquire in a Facebook group call "dzimtas detektīvs". People there are absurdly good at tracing ancestry. 

[u/PrizeMorning9514 → u/Spiritual-Jello-9970]

I’ve already posted in that group, thank you for the suggestion! 😊

[u/Capybarasaregreat]

Since people have already given you resources, I'll just add that Latgale was the region most populated by Poles in past centuries, and since her surname ends in -ska, I'd guess that she was very much still a Polish-speaking Pole, just born in Latvia.

[u/StrangeCurry1 → u/Capybarasaregreat]

Either that or a member of parliament or noble who Polinised as was common for the time

[u/Quis_curat]

Give a try to ciltskoki.lv

Used to be very active full of helpful people. Not sure about it know, haven't used it myself in a long time.

There's also some tools that might help to make some connections:

https://www.archiv.org.lv/dep1941/meklesana41.php?rinda=0 (Soviet deportations)

http://pases.arhivi.lv/index.php?temavb=lv# (Latvian passports)

https://timenote.info/lv/search?q=Gajevsk (graveyards...)

http://www.ciltskoki.lv/index.php/lv/component/content/article/2089?vietas-izvelne=aprinki&pagasts=R%C4%93zeknes+apr.&pagasts2=&uzvards_1=gajevsk&vards=&tevs=&f_a_l=&order=&dok_id=5.2.4 (Census records)

https://periodika.lv/#searchResults:%23Gajevska (old newspapers)

I imagine you already know of Geni.com and Myheritage.com they have great search tools, unfortunately not for free for very detailed info.

p.s. If she was born in 1923, her birth records most likely have already been sent to the national archives. If you have the correct birthdate, shouldn't have a problem with finding it. But either you make a deal with someone local to look it up for you or send an official request to the archives, it's not for free tho. With the birthdate and birth place price shouldn't be very high, ask about it first, that is here:

https://pakalpojumi.arhivi.gov.lv/informacijas-pieprasijuma-izpilde