Monument to refugees of the First World War in Kurzeme and Zemgale in the Leja cemetery
Memorial site
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It is located in the Lower Cemetery of the city of Cēsis.
Monument to the refugees of the First World War of Kurzeme and Zemgale.
In the lower cemetery, a rough-hewn granite stele rises above the four-sided base, with a bronze cross in the upper part. Below it follows a message in bronze letters:
REMEMBER
GOD BE IN PEACE
STROKING
96 CURZEMES
AND ZEMGALES
REFUGEES
1915-1918
On February 17, 1933, a refugee committee met in Riga, which decided "to work as a unit at the Cēsis city parish with the aim of collecting and beautifying the graves of refugees, as well as erecting memorials in the cemeteries of Cēsis and the surrounding area".
By May 1935, 6,883.20 lats had been donated.
On February 11, 1936, he agreed with the sculptor Kārli Jansons on the construction of monuments in the Leja and Bērzaine cemeteries. Both monuments were opened on June 14, 1936, and they cost 4,600 lats.
Used sources and references:
S. Upīte, P. Puķīte, 1 World War and Freedom Struggle memorial sites in Cēsi district, Cēsi Museum Association, 1989
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Memorial sites and burials of refugees from Kurzeme and Zemgale in Cēsis
Before the First World War, 2552 thousand people lived in the territory of Latvia. people. The 1920 census registered 1,596 thousand people. people. This means that during this period the population of Latvia had decreased by 956 thousand. people or by 37.5%.
In the summer of 1915, German troops occupied Kurzeme and Zemgale. More than half a million refugees fled their homelands in an endless stream. The first refugees arrived in Cēsis in April 1915.