Latvian national partisans
Encyclopedia
Latvian national partisans were the Latvia
n nation
al partisans
who waged guerrilla warfare
against Soviet rule.
The decisions of the 1917 congresses and the declaration of independence
on November 18, 1918, with Latgale
as part of the Latvia
n state, moved both the military of Latvia as well as local partisans
to struggle for the liberation of Latgale. This was a difficult task, given the territorial interests of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
, Second Polish Republic
, and Belarusian People's Republic. On June 10, 1919 the Lithuanian army
reached the territory controlled by the partisan (Green Guard).
n nation
al partisans
waged guerrilla warfare
against Soviet rule during the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
during World War II, and the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic after the war. Similar anti-Soviet
resistance
groups fought against Soviet rule in Estonia
, Lithuania
, Belarus
, Poland
, Romania
and Galicia (Central Europe).
The Red Army
occupied
the formerly independent Latvia
in 1940–1941 and, after the period of occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
, again in 1944–1945. As Stalinist repression
intensified over the following years, thousands of residents of this country used the heavily-forested countryside as a natural refuge and basis for armed anti-Soviet resistance
.
Resistance units varied in size and composition, ranging from individually operating guerrillas, armed primarily for self-defence, to large and well-organised groups able to engage significant Soviet forces in battle.
had gained her independence
in 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire
. The ideals of self-determination
had taken hold with many people as a result of having established an independent country for the first time in history. Allied declarations such as the Atlantic Charter
had offered promise of a post-war world in which Latvia could re-establish itself. Having already experienced occupation by the Soviet regime followed by the Nazi regime, many people were unwilling to accept another occupation.
Preparations for partisan operations in Courland were begun during the German occupation, but the leaders of these nationalist units were arrested by Nazi authorities. Longer-lived resistance units began to form during the last months of the war; their ranks were composed of a good number of Latvian Legion soldiers as well as civilians.
The partisan operations in Latvia had some basis in Hitler's authorisation of a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid-September 1944—and in the fate of Army Group Courland
, among the last of Hitler's forces to surrender after it became trapped in
the Courland Pocket
on the Latvian peninsula in 1945. After the capitulation of Germany on May 8, 1945 approximately 4000 legionaries went to the forests. Many Latvian and Estonian soldiers, and a few Germans, evaded capture and fought as the Forest Brothers
in the countryside for years after the war. Others, such as Alfons Rebane
and Alfrēds Riekstiņš
escaped to the United Kingdom
and Sweden
and participated in Allied
intelligence
operations in aid of the Forest Brothers.
The ranks of the resistance swelled with the Red Army's attempts at conscription
in Latvia after the war, with fewer than half the registered conscripts reporting in some districts. The widespread harassment of disappearing conscripts' families pushed more people to evade authorities in the forests. Many enlisted men deserted, taking their weapons with them.
(MI6), American, and Swedish
secret intelligence service
s in a period from 1945 to 1954 (about 25 agents) were arrested by KGB
and could not get into contact with partisans. And also this poor support diminished significantly after MI6's Operation Jungle
was severely compromised by the activities of British spies (Kim Philby
and others
) who forwarded information to the Soviets, enabling the KGB
to identify, infiltrate and eliminate many Latvian partisan units and cut others off from any further contact with Western intelligence
operatives.
The conflict between the Soviet armed forces and the Latvian national partisans lasted over a decade and cost at least thousands of lives. Estimates for the number of fighters in each country vary. Misiunas and Taagepera
estimate that figures reached between 10,000 and 15,000 in Latvia.
The number of active combatants peaked at between 10,000 and 15,000, while the total number of resistance fighters was as high as 40,000. One author gives a figure of up to 12,000 grouped in 700 bands during the 1945–55 decade, but definitive figures are unavailable. Over time, the partisans replaced their German weapons with Russian ones. The partisan organizations which attempted to unite and coordinate their activities were the Latvian National Partisan Association in Vidzeme
and Latgale
, the Northern Courland Partisan Organization, Latvian National Partisan Organization in Courland
, Latvian Defenders of the Homeland (partisan) Association in Latgale and the "Fatherland Hawks" in Southern Courland. The Central Command of Latvian resistance organizations maintained an office on Matīsa Street in Riga
until 1947. In some 3,000 raids, the partisans inflicted damage on uniformed military personnel, party cadres (particularly in rural areas), buildings, and ammunition depots. Communist authorities reported 1,562 Soviet personnel killed and 560 wounded during the entire resistance period.
The Latvian national partisans were most active in the border regions. Areas where they were most active included Abrene district
, Ilūkste
, Dundaga
, Taurkalne, Lubāna
, Aloja
, Smiltene
, Rauna
and Līvāni
. In the eastern regions, they had ties with Estonian Forest Brothers. As in Estonia, the partisans were killed off and infiltrated by the MVD and NKVD
over time, and as in Estonia, Western assistance and intelligence was severely compromised by Soviet counter-intelligence
and Latvian double agents such as Augusts Bergmanis and Vidvuds Sveics. Furthermore, the Soviets gradually consolidated their rule in the cities, help from rural civilians was not as forthcoming, and special military and security units were sent to control the partisans. The last groups emerged from the forest and surrendered to the authorities in 1957.
Many of the remaining national partisans laid down their weapons when offered an amnesty
by the Soviet authorities after Stalin
's death in 1953, although isolated engagements continued into the 1960s. The last individual guerrillas are known to have remained in hiding and evaded capture into the 1980s, by which time Latvia was pressing for independence through peaceful means. (See The Baltic Way, Singing Revolution
) All three republics regained their independence in 1991.
hostilities between the West, which never formally recognized the Soviet occupation
, and the Soviet Union might escalate to an armed conflict in which Latvia would be liberated. This never materialised, and according to Laar many of the surviving former Forest Brothers remained bitter that the West did not take on the Soviets militarily. (See also Yalta Conference
, Western betrayal
)
As the conflict was relatively undocumented by the Soviet Union (the Latvian fighters were never formally acknowledged as anything but "bandits and illegals"), some consider it and the Soviet-Latvian conflict as a whole to be an unknown or forgotten war
.
, Pelēči parish
. In 1994 a new passport of the Republic of Latvia was issued to Jānis Pīnups and he has said that he's waiting for a moment when he can see Riga
– capital of once more independent Latvia.
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
al partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
who waged guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
against Soviet rule.
Aftermath of World War I
On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia
The Declaration "On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia" was adopted on 4 May 1990, by the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR...
on November 18, 1918, with Latgale
Latgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava River...
as part of the Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n state, moved both the military of Latvia as well as local partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
to struggle for the liberation of Latgale. This was a difficult task, given the territorial interests of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
, Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, and Belarusian People's Republic. On June 10, 1919 the Lithuanian army
Military of Lithuania
The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of ~14,500 active personnel . Conscription was ended in September 2008.Lithuania's defence system is based on the concept of "total and unconditional defence" mandated by Lithuania's national Security Strategy...
reached the territory controlled by the partisan (Green Guard).
Aftermath of World War II
LatviaLatvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
al partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
waged guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
against Soviet rule during the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers, according to the European Court of Human Rights, the Government of Latvia, the State Department of the United States of America, and the European Union, to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union ostensibly under the...
during World War II, and the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic after the war. Similar anti-Soviet
Anti-Sovietism
Anti-Sovietism and Anti-Soviet refer to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union.Three different flavors of the usage of the term may be distinguished....
resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
groups fought against Soviet rule in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Galicia (Central Europe).
The Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
occupied
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
the formerly independent Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
in 1940–1941 and, after the period of occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on July 10, 1941 by Germany's armed forces. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany's Reichskommissariat Ostland — the Province General of Latvia...
, again in 1944–1945. As Stalinist repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
intensified over the following years, thousands of residents of this country used the heavily-forested countryside as a natural refuge and basis for armed anti-Soviet resistance
Anti-Soviet partisans
Anti-Soviet partisans may refer to:*Chetniks*Čorny Kot*Forest Brothers*Forest Brothers *Green Army of Nikifor Grigoriev*Grey Wolves*Latvian national partisans*Lithuanian Activist Front*Lithuanian partisans...
.
Resistance units varied in size and composition, ranging from individually operating guerrillas, armed primarily for self-defence, to large and well-organised groups able to engage significant Soviet forces in battle.
Caught between two powers
LatviaLatvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
had gained her independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
in 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. The ideals of self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
had taken hold with many people as a result of having established an independent country for the first time in history. Allied declarations such as the Atlantic Charter
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement first issued in August 1941 that early in World War II defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies...
had offered promise of a post-war world in which Latvia could re-establish itself. Having already experienced occupation by the Soviet regime followed by the Nazi regime, many people were unwilling to accept another occupation.
Preparations for partisan operations in Courland were begun during the German occupation, but the leaders of these nationalist units were arrested by Nazi authorities. Longer-lived resistance units began to form during the last months of the war; their ranks were composed of a good number of Latvian Legion soldiers as well as civilians.
The partisan operations in Latvia had some basis in Hitler's authorisation of a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid-September 1944—and in the fate of Army Group Courland
Army Group Courland
Army Group Courland was a German Army Group on the Eastern Front which was created from remnants of the Army Group North, isolated in the Courland peninsula by the advancing Soviet Army forces during the 1944 Baltic Offensive of the Second World War. The army group remained isolated until the end...
, among the last of Hitler's forces to surrender after it became trapped in
the Courland Pocket
Courland Pocket
The Courland Pocket referred to the Red Army's blockade or encirclement of Axis forces on the Courland peninsula during the closing months of World War II...
on the Latvian peninsula in 1945. After the capitulation of Germany on May 8, 1945 approximately 4000 legionaries went to the forests. Many Latvian and Estonian soldiers, and a few Germans, evaded capture and fought as the Forest Brothers
Forest Brothers
The Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
in the countryside for years after the war. Others, such as Alfons Rebane
Alfons Rebane
Alfons Vilhelm Robert Rebane, known simply as Alfons Rebane was an Estonian military commander. He was the most highly decorated Estonian military officer in the course of the Second World War, serving in various German military units against the armed forces of the Soviet Union.After World War...
and Alfrēds Riekstiņš
Alfreds Riekstinš
Alfrēds Riekstiņš was a soldier of the Latvian Legion who later collaborated with British Intelligence to fight the Soviet Union.Alfrēds Riekstiņš was born in Matkule, Tukuma County, Latvia.- Occupation and war :...
escaped to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and participated in Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
operations in aid of the Forest Brothers.
The ranks of the resistance swelled with the Red Army's attempts at conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
in Latvia after the war, with fewer than half the registered conscripts reporting in some districts. The widespread harassment of disappearing conscripts' families pushed more people to evade authorities in the forests. Many enlisted men deserted, taking their weapons with them.
The partisan war
There was not any significant support to the national partisans from the West. Most of the agents sent by the Western- BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(MI6), American, and Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
secret intelligence service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
s in a period from 1945 to 1954 (about 25 agents) were arrested by KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
and could not get into contact with partisans. And also this poor support diminished significantly after MI6's Operation Jungle
Operation Jungle
Operation Jungle was a program by the British Secret Intelligence Service early in the Cold War for the clandestine insertion of intelligence and resistance agents into the Baltic states...
was severely compromised by the activities of British spies (Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
and others
Cambridge Five
The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies, recruited in part by Russian talent spotter Arnold Deutsch in the United Kingdom, who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and at least into the early 1950s...
) who forwarded information to the Soviets, enabling the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
to identify, infiltrate and eliminate many Latvian partisan units and cut others off from any further contact with Western intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
operatives.
The conflict between the Soviet armed forces and the Latvian national partisans lasted over a decade and cost at least thousands of lives. Estimates for the number of fighters in each country vary. Misiunas and Taagepera
Rein Taagepera
Rein Taagepera is an Estonian political scientist and politician.- Education :Born in Tartu, Estonia, Taagepera fled from occupied Estonia in 1944. Taagepera graduated from high school in Marrakech, Morocco and then studied physics in Canada and the United States. He received a Ph.D. from the...
estimate that figures reached between 10,000 and 15,000 in Latvia.
The number of active combatants peaked at between 10,000 and 15,000, while the total number of resistance fighters was as high as 40,000. One author gives a figure of up to 12,000 grouped in 700 bands during the 1945–55 decade, but definitive figures are unavailable. Over time, the partisans replaced their German weapons with Russian ones. The partisan organizations which attempted to unite and coordinate their activities were the Latvian National Partisan Association in Vidzeme
Vidzeme
Vidzeme is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. Literally meaning "the Middle Land" it is situated in north-central Latvia north of the Daugava River...
and Latgale
Latgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava River...
, the Northern Courland Partisan Organization, Latvian National Partisan Organization in Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, Latvian Defenders of the Homeland (partisan) Association in Latgale and the "Fatherland Hawks" in Southern Courland. The Central Command of Latvian resistance organizations maintained an office on Matīsa Street in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
until 1947. In some 3,000 raids, the partisans inflicted damage on uniformed military personnel, party cadres (particularly in rural areas), buildings, and ammunition depots. Communist authorities reported 1,562 Soviet personnel killed and 560 wounded during the entire resistance period.
The Latvian national partisans were most active in the border regions. Areas where they were most active included Abrene district
Abrene district
The Abrene district was an administrative district in the Republic of Latvia with an area of 4292 square kilometers, formed in 1925 from the northern part of the Ludza district and the western part of the Ostrov region as the Jaunlatgale district, but this was renamed Abrene in 1938...
, Ilūkste
Ilukste
- History :Ilūkste was first mentioned in 1559, part of the estate lands of Count Kasper Zibergs.By 1795, thanks to its strategic location at the crossroads of Lithuania, Belarus and Daugavpils, Ilūkste became an important trade city and regional center, with 50 churches, 15 schools, and 150 taverns...
, Dundaga
Dundaga
Dundaga is a village in Courland, Latvia. From 2009 its an administrative centre of Dundaga municipality.Dundaga is famous for its castle from late 13th century, constructed by Archbishopric of Riga. From the 16th until the 20th century, Dundaga Castle was the centre of the largest private estate...
, Taurkalne, Lubāna
Lubana
Lubāna is a Latvian town situated in the district of Madona by the Aiviekste river. It acquired a town status in 1992, and the current population is 1974...
, Aloja
Aloja, Latvia
Aloja is a town in northern Latvia, close to the border with Estonia. It is within the country's Limbaži District.-See also:List of cities in Latvia...
, Smiltene
Smiltene
Smiltene is a town in the Vidzeme region of in northern Latvia, 150 km northeast of the capital Riga. It has a population of 5,880 .-The name:...
, Rauna
Rauna
Rauna is an extinct genus of prawn, containing the single species Rauna angusta, described from the Solnhofen limestones of southern Germany....
and Līvāni
Livani
Līvāni is a town in central Latvia. It is situated at the junction of the Dubna and Daugava rivers, approximately 170 kilometers east of Riga, the capital....
. In the eastern regions, they had ties with Estonian Forest Brothers. As in Estonia, the partisans were killed off and infiltrated by the MVD and NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
over time, and as in Estonia, Western assistance and intelligence was severely compromised by Soviet counter-intelligence
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
and Latvian double agents such as Augusts Bergmanis and Vidvuds Sveics. Furthermore, the Soviets gradually consolidated their rule in the cities, help from rural civilians was not as forthcoming, and special military and security units were sent to control the partisans. The last groups emerged from the forest and surrendered to the authorities in 1957.
Decline of the resistance movements
By the early 1950s, the Soviet forces had eradicated most of the Latvian national resistance. Intelligence gathered by the Soviet spies in the West and KGB infiltrators within the resistance movement, in combination with large-scale Soviet operations in 1952 managed to end the campaigns against them.Many of the remaining national partisans laid down their weapons when offered an amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
by the Soviet authorities after Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's death in 1953, although isolated engagements continued into the 1960s. The last individual guerrillas are known to have remained in hiding and evaded capture into the 1980s, by which time Latvia was pressing for independence through peaceful means. (See The Baltic Way, Singing Revolution
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania...
) All three republics regained their independence in 1991.
Aftermath, memorials and remembrances
Many Latvian national partisans persisted in the hope that Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
hostilities between the West, which never formally recognized the Soviet occupation
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...
, and the Soviet Union might escalate to an armed conflict in which Latvia would be liberated. This never materialised, and according to Laar many of the surviving former Forest Brothers remained bitter that the West did not take on the Soviets militarily. (See also Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
, Western betrayal
Western betrayal
Western betrayal, also called Yalta betrayal, refers to a range of critical views concerning the foreign policies of several Western countries between approximately 1919 and 1968 regarding Eastern Europe and Central Europe...
)
As the conflict was relatively undocumented by the Soviet Union (the Latvian fighters were never formally acknowledged as anything but "bandits and illegals"), some consider it and the Soviet-Latvian conflict as a whole to be an unknown or forgotten war
Forgotten war
"The Forgotten War" typically refers to:* The Korean War * The Ifni War * The resistance in Baltic countries, see Forest Brothers...
.
Trivia
The last known Forest Brother is Jānis Pīnups who become a legal citizen again only in 9. May 1995. He went to the forest in 1944 as a member of a resistance organization called "Don't Serve the Occupant Army". Jānis Pīnups never had a Soviet passport and his legal status was nonexistent during the era of Soviet occupation. His hideaway was located in the forest of the Preiļi districtPreili District
Preiļi District was an administrative division of Latvia, located in Latgale region, in the country's east. It bordered the former districts of Jēkabpils, Madona, Rēzekne, Krāslava and Daugavpils....
, Pelēči parish
Pelēči parish
- Towns, villages and settlements of Pelēči parish :*...
. In 1994 a new passport of the Republic of Latvia was issued to Jānis Pīnups and he has said that he's waiting for a moment when he can see Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
– capital of once more independent Latvia.
See also
- Forest BrothersForest BrothersThe Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
- Latvian partisansLatvian partisansLatvian partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Latvian resistance movement, including against Nazi Germany and collaborationism during World War II.- Latvian War of Independence :...
- Latvian resistance movementLatvian resistance movementA large number of Latvians resisted the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany. The Latvian resistance movement was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council and the pro-Soviet units under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow...
- LeśniLeśniLeśni is one of the informal names applied to the anti-German partisan groups operating in occupied Poland during World War II. The groups were formed mostly by people who for various reasons could not operate from settlements they lived in and had to retreat to the forests...
- Lithuanian partisans (1944–1953)Lithuanian partisans (1944–1953)The Lithuanian partisans were partisans who waged uniformed guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of Lithuania during and after World War II...
- Lithuanian partisans (1941)Lithuanian partisans (1941)Lithuanian partisans is a generic term used during World War II by Nazi officials and quoted in books by modern historians to describe Lithuanian collaborators with the Nazis during the first months of the occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany...
- Romanian anti-communist resistance movementRomanian anti-communist resistance movementAn armed resistance movement against the communist regime in Romania was active from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, with isolated individual fighters remaining at large until the early 1960s. Armed resistance was the first and most structured form of resistance against the communist regime...
- Cursed soldiersCursed soldiersThe cursed soldiers is a name applied to a variety of Polish resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II and afterwards. Created by some members of the Polish Secret State, these clandestine organizations continued their armed struggle against the Stalinist government of Poland...
- Hovhannes BagramyanHovhannes BagramyanIvan Khristoforovich Bagramyan , also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi BaghramyanPronunciation: Bagramyan's name is most commonly written in English as Bagramyan "bahg-rahm-yahn" or Bagramian...
- Estonian anti-German resistance movement 1941-1944Estonian anti-German resistance movement 1941-1944Estonian resistance movement was an underground movement to resist the occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany, 1941–1944 during World War II...
- Ukrainian Insurgent Army
- March deportation
External links
- Could the Baltic States have resisted to the Soviet Union? – Forum discussion.
- Occupation Museum of Latvia
- Crimes of Soviet Communists – Wide collection of sources and links