Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

and that “in the past almost all churches have made all kind of compromises with secular powers’. War became for him not only a tragic event but also a sign of renewal, because he hoped © Ausma was published from 1941 to 1944. 7 Adolfs Eglitis, who was elected pastor of the church in New York, did not arrive in the USA until the end of the war. The church was led by Gruber until 1947. After moving to the United States, he changed his surname from Purgailis to Gruber. Articles published in the 1930s in Kristiga Balss were signed also as Grube. ”® Carlos Gruber, e-mail to V. Téraudkalns (3 May 2001). ” The USA never recognized the occupation of the Baltic states by Soviet forces. Therefore, embassies of these countries continued to operate. * Janis Daugmanis, “Atbilde uz Dr A. Bilmana atklatu véstuli ‘Ausmas’ redaktoram’, Ausma (July 1941), pp. 29-33. *! Janis Daugmanis, “Draudzes uzdevums pasaulé Sodien”, Ausma (September 1942), p. 4. »> *? Daugmanis, “Draudzes uzdevums pasaulé ‘Sodien’, p. 5. 115 that leaving behind “narrow nationalism and isolated sovereignty” would renew nations.* He saw the embodiment of Christian values as an answer to the crisis which had emerged in old democracies, turning into fertile soil for fascist ideologies. He viewed repression of religion in Communist Russia as unacceptable, an expression of a very narrow understanding of the role of religion in the past. At the same time he was optimistic about the economic experiments of the Soviet government: “The Soviet Union in its social-economic reforms - collectivism, industrialisation, planning of production and consumption - has shown humanity a good path, placing the first cornerstones under the building of new civilization.”** He believed that the USSR and the USA would learn to cooperate more closely in order to promote peace and progress. As we know, soon the realities of the Cold War uncovered irreconcilable differences between the former allies against the Nazis. Daugmanis’ hope that after the war the USSR would grant inde- pendence to the Baltic states also turned out to be unrealistic. Such expec- tations were probably raised by rumours circulating during the war, and the conviction spread among emigrants as well those remaining in Latvia that the allies would not abandon the Baltic people. In 1943, in a speech made at the fifth anniversary of the United Forum of Latvians in Boston, he asserted that “Soviet Russia promised the Baltic states the right to choose their fate freely and without presence of military force in general voting.”® Daugmanis was involved in a number of public debates with commu- nists. For example, in 1934 he had a dispute about the Bible in light of modern criticism. His arguments, as described by a reporter, were prag- matic. He stated that the Bible is the most read book and has been respected by famous people. His selection of philosophers for his argumentation is especially intere