Wide Eyes: A War Orphan Unlocks the Mystery of Her Latvian Roots After Seventy Years

Nazi soldiers seized the baby Marija and her mother, Solomeja, on March 13, 1944 as reprisal for the father Bronislavs Platacs' partisan activities in Latgale, Latvia. Soldiers took mother and child as political prisoners to Rezekne Prison and Salaspils concentration camp. Solomeja was sent to German concentration camps; Marija was taken to orphanages in Latvia and Germany. In 1949 Marija was flown to America, adopted by American parents, and became a US citizen. For 70 years her origins we...