The well-known writer, publicist, polar explorer, photographer, and filmmaker was born in Latvia. In 1944, his family fled to Denmark. For several years Ivars Sīlis lived in various filtration camps, after the war he stayed in Denmark. He has worked there as an engineer, made documentaries, been a bear and reindeer hunter, as well as a leader of scientific expeditions in Greenland, Canada, and Norway. In 2003, Nordik published his book, Letters from the Arctic.
In the book "Poor Castles", he tells his daughter about his childhood - the time when he and his mother and brother fled from his native Vestiena in 1944. After a dramatic boat trip across the sea, the Sīlis family arrived in Denmark at the end of World War II. The author describes life in Freehavn, filtration camps in Hillerede, and elsewhere. As of 1945, 311 Latvian refugees shared with Gurre Castle in North Zealand. It was there - in Gurre - that the “Underwater” club was established, in which Ivars also listened to the stories of experienced men, performances were staged, and a choir was established. A restless, glamorously imaginative world swirled around the little boy, formed by personalities around him - great-grandchildren, worshipers, talents, beautiful and long-haired women. They were all his first educators, who once helped to shape Ivars Sīlis' master's eye, sense of humor, and narrator's talent.
| Izdeva: | Nordik |
| Izdots: | 2006 |
| Valoda: | Latviešu val. |
| Lpp skaits: | 221 |
