Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
Encyclopedia
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 . Anyone who opposed the German occupation, as well as those who had cooperated with the Soviet Union, were killed or sent to concentration camps.
authority in the beginning of July 1941, the elimination of the Jewish and Roma population began, with a major mass killings taking place at Rumbula
and elsewhere. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, and the Wehrmacht
. Latvian collaborators, including the 500–1,500 members of the Arājs Commando
(which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and other Latvian members of the SD
, were also involved. By the end of 1941, almost the entire Jewish population was exterminated. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed.
During the years of Nazi occupation, special campaigns killed 90,000 people in Latvia
, approximately 70,000 of whom were Jews and 2,000 Gypsies. Those who were not Jews or Gypsies were mostly civilians whose political opinions and activity were unacceptable to the German occupiers. Jewish and Gypsy civilians were eliminated as a result of the Nazi "theory of races".
was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council
and the pro-Soviet forces under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis
. The Latvian Central Council published the outlawed publication Brīvā Latvija
(Free Latvia). The periodical promoted the idea of renewing democracy in Latvia after the war.
and Belarus
. Nazi Germany began to suffer regular defeats on the eastern front and was pushed back to the west. In mid-July 1944, the Soviet Army once again crossed Latvia's pre-war eastern border, and by October 13 had re-captured Riga. By mid October, the German Army, which partly included the "Latvian Legion", was besieged in Kurzeme, in the "Courland Pocket
".
Some 200,000 German
troops held out in Courland
. They were trapped between the Baltic Sea
and the Soviet lines while the Soviet Army concentrated on attacks in East Prussia
, Silesia
, Pomerania
, and ultimately Berlin
. Colonel-General Heinz Guderian
, the Chief of the German General Staff
, insisted that the troops in Courland be evacuated by sea and used for the defense of the Reich
. However, Hitler refused and ordered the German forces in Courland to hold out. He believed them necessary to protect German submarine bases along the Baltic coast. On January 15, 1945, Army Group Courland
was formed under Colonel-General Dr. Lothar Rendulic
. Until the end of the war, Army Group Courland (including divisions such as the Latvian Freiwiliger SS Legion) successfully defended the area in which they were besieged. It held out until May 8, 1945, when Colonel-General Carl Hilpert
, the army group's last commander, surrendered to Marshal Leonid Govorov
. At this time, the group consisted of some 31 divisions of varying strength. Approximately 203,000 troops of Army Group Courland were deported to Soviet prison camps in the east after surrender on 9 May.
Many Latvians fled through this battlefield in fishing boats and ships to Sweden
and Germany
, from where they emigrated to various parts of the world, mostly Australia
and North America
. Approximately 150,000 Latvians ended up in exile in the West.
As of 1940, most western governments did not recognise the incorporation of Latvia and the other Baltic States into the Soviet Union. The only exception was Sweden, which returned the members of the "Latvian Legion", who had ended up in Sweden at the end of the war, to the USSR, and handed the diplomatic representative offices of the Baltic countries in Stockholm to the USSR. After the war, the United States applied the most persistent pressure on the Soviet Union regarding the Baltic States' wish for independence. Throughout the entire period of occupation, the embassy of independent Latvia continued to function in Washington D.C.
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
— the Province General of Latvia . Anyone who opposed the German occupation, as well as those who had cooperated with the Soviet Union, were killed or sent to concentration camps.
Persecutions
Immediately after the establishment of GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
authority in the beginning of July 1941, the elimination of the Jewish and Roma population began, with a major mass killings taking place at Rumbula
Rumbula massacre
The Rumbula massacre was the two-day killing of about 25,000 Jews in and on the way to Rumbula forest near Riga, Latvia, during the Holocaust. Save only the Babi Yar massacre in Ukraine, this was the biggest two-day Holocaust atrocity until the operation of the death camps...
and elsewhere. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, and the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. Latvian collaborators, including the 500–1,500 members of the Arājs Commando
Arajs Commando
The Arajs Kommando , led by SS-Sturmbannführer Viktors Arājs, was a unit of Latvian Auxiliary Police subordinated to the Nazi SD...
(which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and other Latvian members of the SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
, were also involved. By the end of 1941, almost the entire Jewish population was exterminated. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed.
During the years of Nazi occupation, special campaigns killed 90,000 people in 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...
, approximately 70,000 of whom were Jews and 2,000 Gypsies. Those who were not Jews or Gypsies were mostly civilians whose political opinions and activity were unacceptable to the German occupiers. Jewish and Gypsy civilians were eliminated as a result of the Nazi "theory of races".
Resistance
Many Latvians resisted the German occupation. Žanis Lipke risked his life to save more than 50 Jews. The Latvian resistance movementLatvian resistance movement
A 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...
was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council
Latvian Central Council
The Latvian Central Council was the pro-independence Latvian resistance movement during World War II in 1943-1945. Its military units were an alternative to the Soviet partisans also operating in Latvia....
and the pro-Soviet forces under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis
Arturs Sproģis
Arturs Sproģis was a Latvian colonel and commander of the Soviet partisans during the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany in World War II.-Early life and career:...
. The Latvian Central Council published the outlawed publication Brīvā Latvija
Brīvā Latvija (1943-44)
Brīvā Latvija. Latvju Raksti was the name of an underground, anti-German resistance newspaper in Nazi-occupied Latvia during World War II. Its first four issues appeared under the title Vēstījums . The newspaper's editor and principal author was the Latvian fascist Gustavs Celmiņš...
(Free Latvia). The periodical promoted the idea of renewing democracy in Latvia after the war.
Conscription of Latvians by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany conscripted Latvia's inhabitants in their armed forces. During World War II more than 200,000 Latvian soldiers ended up in the rank and file of both occupation forces; approximately half of them (100,000) were killed on the battlefield.Latvians in the German and Soviet armies
The Soviet Union conscripted into its army sections of independent Latvia's military units, as well as those Latvians who had ended up in Russia as a result of previous wars or had originally lived there. Nazi Germany also mobilised former Latvian soldiers. Initially, volunteer recruitment campaigns were organised, but when these did not work, soldiers were forcibly conscripted into the SS "Volunteer" Legions. In 1943-1944, two divisions of Waffen SS were formed, largely from Latvian soldiers, to fight the Soviet army. In 1944, heavy fighting took place in Latvia between German and Soviet troops, with the USSR gaining the upper hand.Defeat and retreat of Nazi forces
In 1944, the Red Army lifted the siege of Leningrad and re-conquered the Baltic area along with much of UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and 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 ,...
. Nazi Germany began to suffer regular defeats on the eastern front and was pushed back to the west. In mid-July 1944, the Soviet Army once again crossed Latvia's pre-war eastern border, and by October 13 had re-captured Riga. By mid October, the German Army, which partly included the "Latvian Legion", was besieged in Kurzeme, 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...
".
Some 200,000 German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
troops held out 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 :...
. They were trapped between the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
and the Soviet lines while the Soviet Army concentrated on attacks in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, and ultimately Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Colonel-General Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
, the Chief of the German General Staff
German General Staff
The German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....
, insisted that the troops in Courland be evacuated by sea and used for the defense of the Reich
Reich
Reich is a German word cognate with the English rich, but also used to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is the word traditionally used for a variety of sovereign entities, including Germany in many periods of its history...
. However, Hitler refused and ordered the German forces in Courland to hold out. He believed them necessary to protect German submarine bases along the Baltic coast. On January 15, 1945, 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...
was formed under Colonel-General Dr. Lothar Rendulic
Lothar Rendulic
Generaloberst Lothar Rendulic was an Austro-Hungarian and Austrian Army officer of Croatian origin who served as a German general during World War II. He commanded the 14. Infanterie-Division, 52. Infanterie-Division, XXXV Armeekorps, 2. Panzer-Armee, 20...
. Until the end of the war, Army Group Courland (including divisions such as the Latvian Freiwiliger SS Legion) successfully defended the area in which they were besieged. It held out until May 8, 1945, when Colonel-General Carl Hilpert
Carl Hilpert
Carl Hilpert was an officer in the German Army during World War II.Hilpert was born in Nuremberg, Bavaria....
, the army group's last commander, surrendered to Marshal Leonid Govorov
Leonid Govorov
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was a Soviet military commander. An artillery officer, he joined the Red Army in 1920. He graduated from several Soviet military academies, including the Military Academy of Red Army General Staff. He participated in the Winter War as a senior artillery officer.In...
. At this time, the group consisted of some 31 divisions of varying strength. Approximately 203,000 troops of Army Group Courland were deported to Soviet prison camps in the east after surrender on 9 May.
Many Latvians fled through this battlefield in fishing boats and ships to 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 Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, from where they emigrated to various parts of the world, mostly Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Approximately 150,000 Latvians ended up in exile in the West.
Aftermath of the Second World War
It is estimated that, as a result of the war, the population of Latvia decreased by between 300,000 to 500,000 (a 25% decrease compared to 1939). The war also heavily damaged the economy: many historic cities were destroyed, as well as industry and infrastructure.As of 1940, most western governments did not recognise the incorporation of Latvia and the other Baltic States into the Soviet Union. The only exception was Sweden, which returned the members of the "Latvian Legion", who had ended up in Sweden at the end of the war, to the USSR, and handed the diplomatic representative offices of the Baltic countries in Stockholm to the USSR. After the war, the United States applied the most persistent pressure on the Soviet Union regarding the Baltic States' wish for independence. Throughout the entire period of occupation, the embassy of independent Latvia continued to function in Washington D.C.
See also
- Molotov-Ribbentrop PactMolotov-Ribbentrop PactThe Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
- 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...
- Reichskommissariat OstlandReichskommissariat OstlandReichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
- RumbulaRumbulaRumbula is a pine forest enclave in Riga, Latvia, in which Jews were massacred during the Holocaust. For the air base at Rumbula, see Rumbula ....
- 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was formed in the Waffen SS's drive for manpower in the wake of Operation Barbarossa; Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941...
- 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)The 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was an Infantry Division of the Waffen SS during World War II. It was the second Latvian division formed in January 1944, after its sister unit, the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS...
- Luftwaffen-Legion LettlandLuftwaffen-Legion LettlandLuftwaffen Legion - LettlandLiepāja-Grobiņa, Latvia Under an OKL order of August 11, 1944 the Latvian Flying Units were combined into the Luftwaffen-Legion Lettland. The training centre at Liepāja-Grobiņa became Erg. Flg.Gr. Lettland Obstl. Jānis Rucels was appointed commander of the...
- Occupation of Baltic republics by Nazi Germany
- Occupation of Baltic states (by Nazi Germany and the USSR, 1939–1991)
- Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940The 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...
