Memorial place for the members of P. Prauliņas national partisan group in Vidsala
Memorial site

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The group of national partisans of Pētera Prauliņa (1911-1949) of Biržu parish was part of the group led by Mārtiņas Pokļevińskas (1902-1951). The group carried out several partisan actions in which they punished Soviet collaborators and requisitioned food and property of the economic institutions of the occupying power. The partisans of P. Prauliņa's group did not observe sufficient conspiracy, many persons visited their settlement, which created an opportunity for betrayal. Lack of military experience was one of the weaknesses of the guerrilla armed movement.

P. Prauliņa's partisan group was destroyed on May 16, 1949 in the Kalna forest of Biržu parish during the operation of the Ministry of State Security of the LPSR, in which military units also participated. The Forest Brothers had created a bunker with circle defenses, well camouflaged and located at an indeterminate height in a swampy area. The partisans fiercely resisted the Czech army units for at least 40 minutes, but the entire composition of the group fell: Pēteris Prauliņš, Artūrs Bružuks, Jānis Kalvāns, Edvīns Slikšāns and Francis Skromanis. The forest brothers who were shot were dumped near the parish house, but their remains were later buried in nearby gravel pits. Irma Bružuk was seriously wounded, who was captured and died on May 17 in Jēkabpils hospital. She was buried outside the cemetery, but when the cemetery was expanded after the restoration of Latvia's independence, a monument was placed on her grave.

The memorial stone for the partisans of P. Prauliņa's group in Kalna parish was consecrated in November 1998. The place of P. Prauliņa's bunker is located in the 4th district of the 99th block of Vidsalas, Kalna parish. The stone on which P. Prauliņš sat has been preserved.

Used sources and references:

H. Knight. Cheating death. Riga: Latvijas Mediji, 2022, pp. 227-229, 242.

The unknown war. The struggle of Latvian national partisans against the Soviet occupiers 1944-1956. 1st ed. Riga: Power of Thought, 2010, 326-327. p.

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