LATVIA OCTOBER 1944 - In a small village on the other side of the Lithuanian border, a Latvian family must decide whether to stay and risk deportation by the approaching Soviet invaders or flee. Along with thousands of other frantic citizens, and eager to save themselves, they embark on a dangerous journey across Latvia. On the shores of the Baltic Sea, they hope to board ships to Germany and an unknown future.
With the comforts and security of their childhood suddenly ripped away, the four siblings, aged from 1 to 7-years-old, encounter a whirlwind of fear. Blindly following their parents to presumed safety, they discover a life of uncertainty and persecution.
In this story of flight and displacement during post-WWII, you will follow the growing Bajars family. Based on true events, you will learn about their experiences during seventeen years of living in German displaced persons camps (DP Camps). "Unavoidable Exile" explores the families' strategies of adaptation to the new circumstances and preservation. The children's coming-of-age struggles are swept under the rug because of bigger issues in the world around them.
Will the Bajars find a new safe home? Will they see a future ahead of them that is not riddled with cultural unrest? After so much loss, will they be selected for emigration?