Activities of Latvian pharmacists in the Latvian Red Cross organization in exile in Germany (1945-1976)

The Latvian Red Cross has performed its assistance mission outside the territory of Latvia for several decades. In the 40-s of the 20th century, the state of Latvia and its people went through one of the most tragic pages of their history. Due to the re-occupation made by the Soviet Union in 1944, many people of Latvia fled to exile and under exile conditions the Latvian societies, parishes and public organizations came into being, including the Latvian Red Cross. It started its activities in the second part of the 40-s of the 20th century in Germany and then representative offices emerged in the U.S.A., Sweden, France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand. Special attention should be paid to the fact that the activity under exile conditions was of a large scale, well-organized and long-lasting. Substantial work at that time has been done by a number of pharmacists. Among them, the pharmacist and doctor Hugo Skudins (1903-1976) should be emphasized, who organized the purveyance of medication and sending them to Latvians in the occupied Latvia and to the penal camps in Siberia.