Monument to the First World War refugees of Kurzeme and Zemgale at the Leja Cemetery
Memorial site
89
Located in the Lower Cemetery of Cēsis.
A monument to the First World War refugees from Kurzeme and Zemgale is worth visiting.
In the lower cemetery, a roughly hewn granite stela rises above a square base, with a bronze cross at the top. Below it is a message in bronze letters:
MENTION
HERE IN GOD'S PEACE
DURING
96 COURZIE
AND ZEMGALE
REFUGEES
1915-1918
On February 17, 1933, a refugee committee met in Riga and decided to “operate as a unit under the Cēsis City Parish with the aim of collecting and beautifying refugee grave sites, 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, an agreement was reached with sculptor Kārlis Jansons to erect monuments in the Leja and Bērzaine cemeteries. Both monuments were unveiled on June 14, 1936, and they cost 4,600 lats.
Used sources and references:
S.Upīte, P.Puķite, World War I and Freedom Struggle Memorial Sites in the Cēsis District, Cēsis Museum Association, 1989
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Memorial sites and burials of Kurzeme and Zemgale refugees in Cēsis
Before the First World War, 2,552 thousand people lived in the territory of Latvia. The census of 1920 registered 1,596 thousand 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 Courland and Semigallia. More than half a million refugees left their native places in an endless stream. The first refugees arrived in Cēsis in April 1915.