The idea of exile implies a dual reality: not being in one’s homeland yet holding on to the memory of it (King, 2008). For Latvians who fled as refugees during the Second World War and established exile communities in the West, nostalgia for Latvia became a core part of their identity, persisting even after Latvia’s independence was restored in 1991. Independence, however, brought a seismic shift: the political basis of their exile was gone, challenging their very identity as exiles and introducing a crossroads in their lives. While nostalgia may seem to represent a static yearning for the past, anthropologists have highlighted how narratives of home are dynamic and adapt to changing political and social contexts (Dossa, Golubovic, 2019). For many exiles, homes lost to another place were also lost to another time, with home increasingly framed as a place of permanent loss rather than eventual return. Accordingly, despite the opportunity to repatriate, most chose to stay, as both their lives abroad and Latvia had changed fundamentally. This shift from exile to diaspora involved redefining their identity—not as exiles but as members of a distinct diaspora with a strong cultural bond to Latvia. This paper aims to analyze these identity transformations through life story interviews with exile Latvians, drawn from the Latvian National Oral History Archive. By examining these narratives, we gain insight into the emotional and psychological complexities exiles faced as they navigated a new relationship with Latvia. These stories reveal a nuanced process of identity formation, as the exiles negotiated their sense of belonging in the context of Latvia’s political changes, transforming their notion of home from a place to a shared cultural memory and connection.