Balvi

A monument dedicated to the Latgale partisan regiment.

In the history of the War of Independence of Latvia (1919-1920), the Latgale partisan regiment, whose cradle was once in the territory of the former Balvi district, was formed from the "green" regiments already at the end of 1918.
The monument was opened for the first time on August 14, 1938, with the participation of General Jānis Balodis. The author of the monument is the artist Kārlis Jansons.
In 1940, the communists destroyed the monument, after the establishment of Soviet power, the executive committee of Abrene district decided to demolish the monument in the spring of 1941, but the image of the partisan was buried in the courtyard of the Balva militia. During the German era, the monument was restored, but when the Red Army returned, the monument was torn down a second time, taken away and destroyed. When Latvia regained its national independence, the people of Balveni collected donations for the restoration of the Latgale partisan monument. On November 11, 1993, the restored monument of Andrej Jansons, the son of the artist Kārļis Jansons, was unveiled at Balvos.

The museum is located in the territory of the Balvi Manor complex, in the building of the former manor barn. The exhibition allows you to look into the history of the Latvian War of Independence from the point of view of Northern Latgale, tracing the history of the formation and activities of the Latgale Partisan Regiment. There are photographs and copies of documents that are not available elsewhere, including the order of 5 July 1919 on the formation of the regiment. The internal orders of the regiment are unique – they were written in Russian between July and October 1919. This reflects the peculiarities of the formation and composition of the regiment as a local unit, where Latvians, Latgalians, Russians, and Jews fought together. The regiment only switched to Latvian in its internal orders after it was fully integrated into the Latvian Army system when it was supplemented by mobilised soldiers from other regions of Latvia. The exhibition also reflects the liberation operation of Northern Latgale, during which the Latgale Division of the Latvian Army liberated the surroundings of Viļaka, Jaunlatgale and Kārsava in battles that lasted from 9 to 15 January 1920. Evidence of both the operation as a whole and the combat activities of the Latgale Partisan Regiment during the liberation of Kārsava are on display in the exhibition.