Military Heritage Tourism Stories

In the summer of 1941, almost the entire local Jewish community of more than 1,800 people was brutally destroyed in Plungė. People were imprisoned in terrible conditions, starved to death, and finally shot in the Kaušėnai forest. The mass murders were carried out by local collaborators.

At the end of World War II, the 6th Battery of the German Naval 532nd Artillery Division was stationed in Melnsil, but the Red Army had its own plans for the area, which were never realised until the surrender of the German army in May 1945.

Latvia and Estonia choose new and modern weapons to strengthen their military forces – submarines built in France and Great Britain. Two submarines of the Latvian Navy later did not participate in the naval battles of World War II, but one of the two Estonian submarines was lost, while the surviving Lembit is now on display in the museum exhibition in the renovated seaplane hangars in Tallinn.

After regaining independence, the residents of Dundaga erected a large wooden Star of David at the site of the murder and reburial of Jews near the Mazirbe-Dundagas road, and later the Council of Jewish Congregations and Communities of Latvia also unveiled a memorial stone next to it.

It was in the Akmensrags lighthouse area that, on January 13, 1923, the steamer Saratov , on which the provisional government led by K. Ulmanis took refuge when the independent state of Latvia was established, tragically ran aground and crashed.

Memories of Kocēnietis Tālavs Megnis about the events at the 1991 barricades in Riga.
"On January 13, about 40 Kocēni residents left the collective farm in an organized manner for a demonstration in Riga on the Laz bus, driven by Vitaly Sprukts, and the Latvija minibus, driven by Jānis Grava.
After the demonstration, when we met at the buses, we heard the Latvian People's Front's call on the radio several times for those who can to stay in Riga and defend strategically important objects to make their capture more difficult, similar to what happened at Vilnius Television. We saw these footage filmed by Podnieks before leaving for Riga.

During the Soviet era, border patrol ships were based in the port of Ventspils, whose task was to patrol the waters of the Baltic Sea and prevent border crossings from either side – from the outside in or from the inside out. However, in the 1970s, an extraordinary incident occurred in Ventspils, about which the people of Ventspils have long whispered and laughed heartily.

The barely visible, grass-covered hangars by the highway to Tukums were home to army fighter jets during the Soviet era. Even in those days, the airfield and hangars were camouflaged, and the uninitiated had no idea about it.

Kolka resident Mirdza Stankevica shares her memories of the times when she was a laundress.

The Mustjala War of Independence Memorial was a memorial stone during the Republic of Estonia.

As the time of change approached in Latvia, the coast guard also became friendlier.

During World War II, when the armies retreated, a large number of militarily and logistically important facilities in Latvia were blown up so that these resources would not be left for the enemy. Such facilities were also in the vicinity of Ķegums, where one of the most important facilities is the Ķegums HPP, which, thanks to the efforts and efforts of its employees, was not completely destroyed.

On January 7, 1948, in the forest of Miliai village, Viekšniai parish, after a long resistance, two young partisans - Pranas Šiuipys and Albertas Švažas - died after refusing to surrender to the Soviet army.

In the early days of February 2010, news appeared on the Swedish television channel SVT that shocked and deeply surprised many.

On August 31, 1993, the last military echelon of the Russian army passed through Kena railway station, officially ending the nearly 50-year Soviet military occupation of Lithuania.

Description of the Battle of Tähtvere in January 1919 during the Estonian War of Independence, during which Estonian troops liberated Tartu from the Red Army.

During the Soviet era, there was a helicopter base in the southwestern part of Spilve Airport. It could be clearly seen from the nearby Kleisti Forest dunes and the Riga-Bolderaja railway branch, which led to the Riga varnish and paint factory.

Colonel Kalpaks was a respected figure in military circles and a true patriot. It was the spirit of patriotism and an unfortunate coincidence that led to the fatal clash between him and the German battalions, which unfortunately ended with the death of Colonel Kalpaks.

The story of a protected plant photo in a border guard area.

During the Cold War, the entire Kurzeme coastline was a closed zone to the public - Soviet border guards were the main decision-makers here, with guard posts at certain distances and observation towers with spotlight stations on the beach. Civilians were only allowed on the seafront during daylight hours.

In July 2019, the Soldiers' Search Team "Leģenda" exhumed 66 soldiers' ashes in a forest in Blīdene parish. Due to superficiality or omission during the Soviet era, the majority of these soldiers are counted as officially reburied during the Soviet years. The names of these soldiers are even engraved on the tombstones in the Tuški Brethren Cemetery.

The memoirs vividly describe the daily lives of soldiers on Death Island.

On the night of January 15, the Kalpaks Battalion fought the first battle at Lielauce, repelling the Red attack. It was the first significant battle of the Kalpaks Battalion, and the victory gave the soldiers a particularly strong morale boost.

In 1955, the partisans of Samogitia became victims of a treacherous operation by a Soviet MGB agent - honey-filled slurries poisoned with special preparations were intended to kill the freedom fighters.

Just two months after their wedding, teacher Rimtautė Jakaitienė was exiled to Siberia, along with her husband and his parents. Without trial, without charges - simply for being family.

The description examines the problems of battlefield fortification in general. It is based on the experience of World War I and the situation when it was necessary to organize extensive work on the creation of fortifications.

Pieta, or Mammy, is a well-known motif in European culture and art, and was also used in Soviet times.

A story about the mood in Tartu and among students immediately after the statue of Kalevipoeg was taken down in 1950.

The story of the Soviet heavy tank IS-2 in Salantai is told from the events of World War II to its becoming an element of the Soviet memorial and part of the artistic space (Orvidai Homestead-Museum).

The history of the Finnish Jaegers is interesting because it is extremely similar to the fate of Latvian soldiers in World War I and their great importance in the creation of a national state. For the Finns, World War I was also an opportunity to lay the foundations for Finnish independence and the creation of its army. The source describes the event when a monument to the Finnish Jaegers is unveiled in Latvia.

On the evening of October 8, in the dark, advancing Soviet and retreating German troops met near the village of Tehumardi.

Spending my childhood near the Zvārde target range, under the sounds of explosions and flying jet planes, but still sometimes on weekends I could enter the range. After the Soviet army left, the land was strewn with bomb craters and many explosive objects, not only from the range times, but also from World War II

At the bridge over the Amata, the German Landeswehr attacks an Estonian armored train that has arrived for negotiations. The Estonians open counterfire, the Germans are repulsed, and the armored train returns to Cēsis.

The last fortification lines of the army group "Kurzeme" were located in the vicinity of Krotė and many objects related to the Second World War have been found there.

The 1944 battles near Seda experienced not only heroic moments, but also episodes of panicked running, when soldiers, seeing the impending threat of defeat, tried to save their lives.

The documentation of the German Army Group "North", which was later renamed "Kurland" during the siege of Kurzeme, still does not contain clear information about approximately 50,000 German army soldiers. These soldiers are listed as missing in action. Even today, relatives of these soldiers are trying to find traces of their relatives and ancestors in Kurzeme, both documentary and physical. One such story is about Herman Faul, who has been missing since December 27, 1944 - the 3rd Battle of Kurzeme, or Christmas Battles.

The Red Army's "Panfilov Division" was located near Pampāli on May 9, 1945. The division headquarters was most likely located in the Pampāli elementary school.

At the beginning of 1945, fierce battles were still taking place in the Courland fortress, where Latvians were fighting in the ranks of the German army. One of them was Alfrēds Riekstiņš in the 19th division. For his bravery, Riekstiņš was awarded the Knight's Cross and presented it at the Remte Castle. Shortly before the capitulation, he became a lieutenant.

The Ventspils Military Heritage Site is unique because it is one of the few coastal defence structures in Latvia and the Baltics that depict the history of World War II fortifications. It is also unique in that it is a military object built by the Soviet Union during the years of independence of the Republic of Latvia and in a way symbolises the inability of a small country to confront the superpowers on the eve of World War II. It is the only coastal defence battery that has survived so well, without historical layers and in its complete state of construction. The site shows the entire evolution of the Soviet military concept from 1939 until the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1994.

Kolka resident Valija Laukšteine's memories of the times in Kolka when there were border guards.

A top-secret hangar was installed at the underground thermonuclear missile base in the Plokštinė forests, about which local residents still know very little and whose purpose is shrouded in rumors about the storage of nuclear missile warheads.

Pranas Beleckas-Malūnininkas, a former non-commissioned officer of the Lithuanian Army, became famous as the brave commander of the Vytis detachment of the Šatrija detachment of the Samogitian region, under whose leadership the partisans organized a daring attack near the Gudai mill.

The last Livonian villages on the northwestern coast of Latvia were systematically destroyed and declared a forbidden zone by the Councils since 1950. Only a tiny handful of this people survived in 12 fishing villages, and they are currently experiencing a kind of cultural renaissance.

The newspaper "Australian Latvian" published an article about a meeting with Arvīds Blūmentāls at his home in Australia. 

(A small episode from the journey to the roots of the Australian centre and west coast together with Aivars and Benita Browne.)

In 2020, in anticipation of the 30th anniversary of the 1991 barricades, Vismants Priedīte shares the story of the participation of local residents in these historical events.

With the extensive amphibious landing from the mainland to the Muhu coast in 1941, the Germans also landed in the southeastern part of Saaremaa.

About times in the border regime zone.

People's memory is sometimes quite short. Now, when everyone can go and go wherever they want, many cry about the lost cheap sausage, but they have already forgotten that right behind Mērsrags, in front of the road, a striped bomb often landed and armed Russian soldiers, called border guards, let them through only with written and stamped passes. And not just any resident of the Latvian SSR could receive a permit, but only those who had first received a so-called summons from the Roja or Kolka village council, on the basis of which, after ten days, they could (or could not) receive a visa for entry into the prohibited border zone at their militia unit. I had bought a house on this unfortunate coast of Kurzeme, so every spring I and my family members had to pray and humble themselves so that the authorities would renew the entry permit.

Edgars Hausmanis, who spent almost his entire life in his family home in the village of Vaide, "Purvziedi", tells about life on the Baltic Sea coast at different times. Edgar has something to remember, and we have something to learn from.

The narrator describes her first impressions of arriving at the Corner House. The memories reveal the harsh living conditions of the prisoners.

The memoirs tell about the celebration of Christmas among the partisans, the efforts of the NKVD/MGB to take advantage of it, and the efforts of the partisan leadership to protect them.

With the departure of the Soviet occupation troops, the looting of many former military bases began. Soviet soldiers tried to take out as much as possible and leave the infrastructure in a degraded state. After the troops left, civilians continued to loot these bases and exploit the former military infrastructure.

An authentic testimony about the Battle of Širvintos, which conveys the perspective of a participant and emphasizes the high spirits of victory.

Various scenes from life during the Soviet era, as remembered by Gunārs Anševics, a writer, prose and poetry author, while living in the border zone.

During the USSR era, the seacoast in North and West Kurzeme were actually military zones closed to the public, but it was forbidden to visit the lighthouses or even take photographs

The local cow pasture was near the missile base.

The victory in the Battle of Cēsis was destined to become a turning point in the Latvian and Estonian struggle for the independence of their country. This victory put an end to the plans of the Andrievs Niedra government and the German general Rüdiger von der Goltz to conquer the Baltics. Instead, the Latvian Provisional Government of Kārlis Ulmanis resumed its activities in Liepāja.

The Cēsis New Castle was built on the ruins of a military fortification – a medieval castle. However, this is not the only military significance of the building.

After successfully repelling an enemy attack, the commander of the armed train A.Klestrov falls and Colonel Danker issued the grounds for the award

The narrator describes the memories of Kārlis Zāles as a personality who created the most famous works of Latvian art. The description is dedicated to the memory of Zāles in 1942 (the year of K. Zāles' death). The memories were chosen to characterize K. Zāles' works based on the author's personal characteristics and perception of the world.

A "propusk" or permission to cross the border regime zone was as mandatory as a bus ticket.

The bombing of Rēzekne took place on Easter 1944, and as a result, a large part of the city's buildings were destroyed and dozens of civilians were killed, while thousands more were left homeless. The people who experienced these events firsthand and can tell us about them were only children at the time. The author of this story is one of them.

A small military relic can tell a vast historical story. And although the badge represents events that took place during the Russo-Japanese War, it also shows the colorful military history and the involvement of our Latvian Riflemen in other military conflicts, both before and after the Wars of Independence.

Veterinary doctor Stanislovas Mikašauskas, who worked at the Plokštinė military base, shares his memories of unusual access to the base's territory and strict secrecy even in an informal environment.

The memoirs recount the experiences of battles, captivity, and escape from captivity of Lithuanian and Polish military units. The author of the memoirs is unknown, but the story stands out among the experiences of Lithuanian soldiers in the independence struggles.

P. Čevers gathered around him former officers of the legion, and also accepted local residents of Kurzeme into the group. They all chose to remain faithful to the idea of a free and independent Latvian state, rather than submit to a foreign occupying power. Čevers' group deployed in the territory of the Vandzene - Upesgrīva - Okte parishes of Talsi district, trying to avoid frontal clashes with Cheka troops or fighters of the destroyer battalions.

The fate of the legendary battery commander, Captain Aleksandr Stebel, is shrouded in mystery.

General K. Goppers (1876-1941) was an outstanding soldier and an outstanding person. He distinguished himself as a successful commander who took command of battalions and regiments, heroically leading his riflemen in battles for the freedom of Latvia during the First World War (1914-1919). He participated in the battles at Tīreļpurva, Ložmetējkalns, and in the defense of Riga.

The story of one of the most destroyed parishes in Latvia during the First World War - Tomes parish

The Cold War intelligence and counterintelligence battles between the West and the USSR involved agents from both sides and double agents. Since the 1920s, the Soviet security services had developed a completely new means of protecting the regime: disinformation. A term that was previously unknown in the West.

Sniper hunting in the trenches. The narrator describes the actions to capture and destroy enemy snipers.

G. Kirilovičs' story about the establishment of the Latvian state border after the restoration of Latvia's independence (interview in audio file, in Latvian)

On April 15, 1920, an assassination attempt was made on Kārlis Ulmanis, who was the Prime Minister of Latvia at the time, while he was driving in a car in a wooded area on the Lubāna - Dzelzava highway. A memorial plaque was installed at this location between the border of Dzelzava and Indrāni parishes on August 11, 1939.

The narrator describes the circumstances under which the most famous Latvian memorial, dedicated to fallen soldiers, was created. As can be seen in the memoirs, the cemetery of national heroes faced a series of obstacles and unfavorable - dismissive attitudes not only from the church, but also from the Riga city government.

In July 1941, 30 local Jews were murdered on Jazminų Hill in the town of Plateliai, and the place later became memorable for the tragic events that occurred there.

The winter of 1945/46, the Brass Group spent in the Zūri forest in the Dzelzkalni area, where several bunkers had been built. Approximately 40 partisans lived there. On February 23, 1946, the camp was surrounded by the USSR Internal Affairs troops and a fierce battle took place.

There was a military complex in Akmeņrags during the Soviet era.

As German forces rapidly approached Tallinn, a massive naval operation to evacuate Tallinn took place. During this operation, many ships and their crews, along with the people on board, were killed in minefields, air attacks, and coastal artillery fire.

The Arsenal military factory produced Estonia's own armored cars between the two world wars. A copy of them is located in the Jõgewa Military Museum.

The Baltics were one of the most important lines of defense for the Soviet Empire, the westernmost bastion, so the concentration of troops there was enormous. It is believed that Latvia was the most militarized territory in the world at that time. The exact number of military personnel is unknown, different sources for different times mention 200,000 to 350,000. In Latvia alone, in 50 years, 3,009 military units were deployed in more than 700 locations. One of these locations was the USSR army base in Mārcienė.

Description of the Battle of Reola in January 1919, considered a turning point in the War of Independence, during which Estonian troops thwarted the Red Army's attempt to capture Tartu.

During the interwar period, a bombing range operated in the Šilėnai marshland near Šiauliai, where Lithuanian Air Force bombing and shooting exercises were conducted. The concrete observation towers that have survived to this day remind us of the existence of this range.

In this story, you can learn about the people who maintained order on the eastern border of Latgale – the border guards – and their daily lives from the founding of Latvia in 1918 to the Soviet occupation in 1940.

The Cēsis Regiment volunteer schoolboy company participated in the 1919 Cēsis battles, which formed as a combat unit from 108 young people from Valmiera and Cēsis schools on June 5 in the premises of the Cēsis Progymnasium. Already on the night of June 5 to 6, about an hour after midnight, there was an alarm and the company was ordered to move to positions. The company moved to the Mācītājmuiža - Meijermuiža line, which was considered the most important battle area.
In the first battle, several schoolchildren were wounded, but Edgars Krieviņš, a Valmiera native, died on the same day from a very serious wound to the stomach. He was buried with military honors at the Valmiera City Cemetery on June 13. Edgars Krieviņš was posthumously awarded the Lāčplēsis War Order.

The description vividly describes the extent to which the memorial site is politicized and its role in the ideology of the Soviet Union. The text mentions that one of the main goals is the fight against the “rebirth of fascism”. This indicates that efforts continue to use the ideological infrastructure to hide the crimes of the communists and prevent the opinions of those who think differently. Memorial sites, Soviet army cemeteries and museums, and various cultural events maintained the myth of the “liberation of Latvia” and the “fraternal Soviet Union”. The facts of Nazi crimes were used to create a distorted view of the events of World War II in Latvia.

In order to protect the Kurzeme coast from a possible Soviet or even Western Allied attack, the German armed forces deployed radar stations in several locations, which allowed for a much earlier identification of enemy air activity. One of them was installed at Jūrkalne

Lāčupīte spring in Kleistu forest

At the time when Riga Central Market was built, it was one of the most modern markets in the world. It was built using the metal structures of the German army airship hangars of World War I as a basis. The author describes the prerequisites for the construction of Riga Central Market and the scope of the construction work, making it one of the most ambitious structures in post-war Latvia and one of the most modern markets in the world.

Memories of Valdis Pigožnis during the operation of "Upīškalns" about Upīškalns military base

(Pigožnis was former head of Kurmale parish)

Artūrs Ozols graduated from Riga Polytechnic and served as a naval officer (midshipman) and engineer in the Russian Black Sea Fleet aboard the warship Panteleimon. During the Latvian Liberation Struggle, he joined the Student Company. In Liepaja he put the ship "Saratov" into service. Arthurs Ozols' memoirs about the ship "Saratov" were published in the Dauagava Vanagi monthly

On 25 March 1949, the second major wave of deportation from the Baltic Republics took place. In Estonia almost 21 000 people (7,500 families) were sent to Siberia. The story is about the family in Valga county.

In 1918, when German troops entered Alūksne, the Latvian rifle battalions retreated to Soviet Russia. By the beginning of December 1918, a German regime was established and reorganizations were carried out. After Germany surrendered in the war, the Bolsheviks returned to Alūksne and restored their power. Finnish volunteers also fought as part of the Estonian army in the Latvian War of Independence. On February 21, 1919, fierce battles took place between the Bolsheviks and the Finnish volunteer regiment “Northern Boys” in Alūksne, near the station.

The grave of Julius Kuperjanov, a hero of the Estonian War of Independence, became a symbol of resistance during the Soviet era.

When Moscow was preparing for the Summer Olympics in 1980, the question was where to hold the sailing competition? It turns out that the choice initially fell on Riga, because there are ideal conditions for sailing in the Gulf of Riga and the city is also old and beautiful, it will not be ashamed. However, some Riga residents still remember or the younger generation has read on the Internet that Riga "supposedly.. refused this high honor and therefore the organization of the competition was moved to Pirita, a suburb of Tallinn. The Estonians received huge funding and built themselves a new and modern complex for sailing and recreation, which after the end of the Olympics, not a single Latvian went to admire... But now one interesting nuance has been revealed - it has become known why Riga refused this honor...

After the last Soviet troops left Latvia in 1993, the Krasnoflotsk or Olmani coastal defence battery also came into the possession of the Latvian National Defence Forces. Soon the orphaned property began to be seized by for-profit prospectors.

It tells the story of the post-war situation in the Lithuanian countryside and the decision to become a partisan.

The Tisza missile base was one of the secret strategic military bases of the USSR, where R12 ballistic missiles were deployed.

On November 7, 1944, a bright mood was brought to the Latvian refugee settlement on the Kurzeme coast by the commemorations of the poet Kārlis Skalbe’s 65th birthday in the “Laukgaļi” in Jūrkalne. Just four days later, Kārlis Skalbe set off by boat to Sweden as a refugee. It was the day when Kārlis Skalbe celebrated his birthday for the last time.

Žanis Skudra devotes all his free time to local history, all his vacations to traveling around Latvia. This is how he accumulated materials, took photographs, and created the "Book of Occupied Latvia Days", which is published by the Latvian National Foundation in Stockholm under the pseudonym Jānis Dzintars.

On June 7, 1978, Žani Skudra was arrested in Tallinn and in November of the same year, the Riga Supreme Court sentenced him to twelve years in prison for treason and espionage.

Various objects belonging to former soldiers are often found at the site of the Grieze filtration camp and along the roads leading to it. Soldiers, arrested civilians, prisoners of war, etc. disposed of them for various reasons, both to avoid being identified and to avoid being subjected to "special attention".

On October 7, 1944, the same day as the Battle of Seda, the young poet Vytautas Mačernis was tragically killed while trying to escape to the West.

The memoirs convey the experience of hearing about the declaration of Lithuanian independence, the organization of military units, and the battles with the Bolsheviks.

Gunta Kārkliņa's memories of the Soviet era on the Livonian coast - how did the boat cemetery come about there?

The order of the Army Group “Kurland” is: "Build and build!" It is a task for every soldier of the front of the rear services. Which is best marked by the word: "Digging is better than burrial!"

The Embute Church is one of the most vivid witnesses of the Second World War in Kurzeme. Traces of artillery and other shells can still be seen on the church walls and bell tower. The German army used the church (like many others in Kurzeme and elsewhere) for impregnable defensive purposes. As a result, the church was destroyed and has not been rebuilt since the Soviet

The Riteli cemetery was actually located in the centre of the target area. The locals could only watch as they were destroyed.

It tells the story of the Red Army's approach to Kaunas and the withdrawal of the German army in the summer of 1944.

On October 12, 1952, Egons Užkurelis, who was only 14 years old at the time, together with his friend Jānis Ģēģeris, who was a year older, hung a homemade Latvian national flag on the tower of the Holy Trinity Church in Jelgava, which was destroyed in the Soviet-German war in July-August 1944.

The story of sisters who were awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis for helping the army in the battles against the Bolsheviks.

As early as 1907, Russia began making preparations to develop forward defensive positions for its capital, St. Petersburg.

Writer Regina Guntulytė-Rutkauskienė, who was exiled at the age of nine, remembers the deportation of June 14, 1941, when she and her family were taken to Siberia. Her story reveals not only the physical but also the emotional pain of exile, which accompanied her even after returning to Lithuania.

The memoirs convey experiences from the Lithuanian Army military hospital operating in southern Lithuania, during battles with the Polish army in Suvalkija.

Col. Oskaras Urbonas' story about the formation of the Local Team in 1944.

Captain Jānis Ozols was a Latvian officer, a participant in World War II, a Knight of the Order of the Three Stars, whose artillery division prevented a breach of the front during the Third Battle of Courland.

On February 10-20, 1949, the only congress of partisan commanders in occupied Lithuania took place in the Mikniai farmstead bunker in the Minaičiai village of Radviliškis district, during which the Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement (LLKS) was founded and the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.

Through the eyes of journalists, the film tells the story of the impressions and emotions of the participants of the Baltic Way in 1989, and the shared experiences of Lithuanians and Latvians that day.

When troops occupied an area, it was not always possible to find out the names of specific houses, hamlets or villages. The local population had been evacuated and there was no one to ask, so the Germans tended to give places their own names. A story about the house in Wilischki has survived. In his memoirs, the commander of the pioneer company, Lieutenant Colonel Koch, who had attended a reserve officer course, writes that one of the artillery units was stationed near the house.

In Aizvīķi Park, you can still clearly see the remains of World War II bunkers, trenches and caponier ramparts where weapons were stored. One of the types of weapons was the Katyusha rocket launcher system.

The first flag of the Independent Finland was consecrated in 1918 in Liepaja, at the Holy Trinity Church, where the Finnish Jägers took an oath of allegiance to the legitimate government of Independent Finland before going home.

In early 1992, two Soviet Mig-27 D aircraft crashed on one day under mysterious circumstances, 40 minutes apart, at the Lēdurga and Zvārde training grounds.

In March 1917, more than a year before the proclamation of the state of Latvia, the Vidzeme Provisional Land Council was founded in Valmiera, which adopted a resolution on the autonomy and self-determination rights of Latvia. On the day of the founding of the Council, the red, white and red flag was raised for the first time at the meeting place.

The records of the German army group "North", later renamed "Kurland" during the siege of Courland, still do not contain clear information about the approximately 50 000 German soldiers. These soldiers are listed as missing. Even today, the relatives of these soldiers are trying to find traces of their relatives and ancestors in Kurland, both documentary and physical. One such story is that of Karl Grimm, a German soldier from Swabia (a historical region in south-west Germany, at the source of the Rhine and Danube rivers), whose war career was cut short on 27 October 1944 at the Krūmi home near Vaiņode (5 km to the NW from Vaiņode, Latvia)

The narrator describes the circumstances under which the War Museum was established. The problems and the work of creating collections are mentioned.

On September 16, 1941, in connection with the successful offensive of German troops in Muhu and Saaremaa, work began on establishing a defensive line in the area between the villages of Lõpe, Teesü and Kaimri.

How anti-tank trenches were dug on the Jalaka line to protect against the German offensive in the summer of 1941.

On August 13, 1949, a fateful battle took place in Radviliškis County, in the Užpelkiai Forest, during which Bronius Liesys-Naktis, a member of the Presidium of the Lithuanian Communist Party Council and a signatory of the February 16 Declaration, was killed, along with other partisans from the Prisikėlimų district.

The memoirs contain a variety of recollections from everyday life in the war, experiences of battles, military humor, everyday conditions, and Bolshevik searches.

In its more than 100 years of existence, the bridge has survived two wars and different owners, which have affected its operation. The bridge was blown up during World War I, but was rebuilt after the war, only to be damaged again in 1926 by the steamship Narne. The bridge was rebuilt again, but it also suffered during World War II when the invading Soviet army shelled the port of Liepaja.

One of the most striking stories about the birth of the Tartu Peace is how young soldiers were ordered to march in a circle around the city in the winter of 1919/1920. It probably started when the border negotiations failed to make any progress. In 1919, the commander of the 2nd Division, Colonel Viktor Puskar, ordered the Tartu schoolchildren's battalion to march around the city in such a way that it would repeatedly pass through both Aia (now Vanemuine) Street near the conference building and Veski Street, where the Russian delegation was staying.

The narrator describes his impressions of the battles in the Lestene area and the role of the Latvian 19th Division in the battles.

After the capitulation of Germany and Army Group "Courland" on May 8 and 9, 1945, the victors celebrated their victory in various ways in many places in Courland. In Remte, the Remte church was burned down during these celebrations. The church bell ringer's family kept the church bell in their homestead throughout the occupation.

The memorial site was established on the site of the former houses of “Daiņkalni” and “Graškalni” in Rauna parish, under which a group of national partisans led by Dailonis Breikšis (nickname Edgars, 1911-1952) hid in bunkers from 1950 to 1952.

Numerous stories of machinery sinking in swamps and lakes have survived in Latvia. Few of them are true.

Jānis Tilibs' memoirs about the activities of the partisan unit "Tēvijas Vanagi" in Southern Kurzeme until the year 1950

The memoirs reflect the daily life of Latvian riflemen in the Olaine area. Not only are the living conditions described, but also their usual task - reconnaissance of enemy positions.

According to legend, a Russian engineer who drew up a plan for the convent building in 1785 found a walled-in cellar in the eastern corner of the castle's courtyard.

Fragments from local history enthusiast Aivars Viļnis's story about history and its evidence found in Lode and Liepa, in what is now Cēsis municipality.

During the Soviet occupation, the Soviet authorities wanted to dismantle the Freedom Monument, but legend has it that Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina advocated for the preservation of the monument, emphasizing its artistic and emotional value to the Latvian people.

The Cēsis Regiment volunteer schoolboy company participated in the 1919 Cēsis battles, which formed as a combat unit from 108 young people from Valmiera and Cēsis schools on June 5 in the former Cēsis German Progymnasium premises on Dārza Street (now Bērzaines Street 4). Already on the night of June 5 to 6, about an hour after midnight, there was an alarm and the company was ordered to go to positions. The company went out to the Mācītājmuiža – Meijermuiža line, which was considered the most important battle area.

Description of the combat activity of the commander of the detachment, Lieutenant Commander Julius Rosenthal Vilis Narkevics, 3 November 1921

The memoirs describe an episode from the independence struggles, which shows the relationship between the Lithuanian army and the Saxon volunteers.

The main task of the battlefield railways in the Irbes Strait area was to provide the German army's coastal defense positions with cannons and ammunition.

The story tells the story of the escape from a concentration camp and the death of Capt. R. Marcinkus, who escaped to England and served in the British Air Force.

Povilas Plechavičius – Lithuanian army general, famous for his battles against the Bolsheviks and Bermontites. After returning to Lithuania from Russia on 25 July 1918, P. Plechavičius settled in Samogitia and organized volunteer partisan units to fight against the Bolshevik and Bermontite forces, with whom he fought in the areas of Seda, Mažeikiai, Kretinga and Telšiai.

A world-famous Soviet and Russian small arms engineer visited Saaremaa.

The memoirs describe an episode when the coup plotters released Col. V. Grigaliūnas Glowackis from Kaunas prison and ordered him to join the coup.

A monument in the shape of a woman erected by the German army during World War I

The narrators describe the mood and personal experiences of the Barricades period. The memories well illustrate how information was able to reach the inhabitants of Latvia throughout its territory.

A mysterious object on the Curonian Spit near Alksnynes, supposedly from the Soviet era. It is believed to have been a pier or a stopover for Soviet submarines. Although it is difficult to establish the exact facts today, various memories and associations arise in the minds of the inhabitants of that region.

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.

In the period 1960-1978, in the forests of Šateikiai village, in the Plungė district, a ground-based missile launch base operated, where medium-range thermonuclear missiles R12U were deployed. After the missiles were transported, the 384th High-Power Artillery Brigade was deployed at the base. At its disposal were self-propelled 203 mm caliber howitzers 2S7 "Pion" and a variety of other weapons, which cost lives.

The memoirs of the junior non-commissioned officer Zaranka describe the battles against the Bolsheviks, Poles, and Bermontites. The memoirs describe the motives of the battles, and much attention is paid to the description of the daily life of the war and combat actions.

The later popular actor Harijs Liepiņš was drafted into the German army and sent to Ķegums in the fall of 1944.

Knight of the Knight's Cross in the battles for the capture of Hiiumaa

The Sūpes swamp is associated with the sites of national partisan settlements and battles, which were formed through the interaction of people and places. It is described in the ballad of the exiled Latvian writer Alberts Eglītis about the events in his native Sūpes swamp “In Moss and Mud” - a tribute to the Sūpes swamp partisans:

… “In 1945, as autumn glowed in the swamp -

On Pokļevinskis' birthday, Lieljānis shares at dinner:

Beer fermented in willows,

The Romulans worship butter,

I dry my mother's caraway bread,

Dried ham in March cuts,

And Stuchka's onions,

Ildzeniece cheese.

Rooms in resinous walls

And lightning has struck hearts,

And in eleven souls languish-

"The roots that have rotted in the ground..."

This interpretation of the past, with its post-World War II events, included human testimonies, expressions of spirit, and value systems. It recalls the popular support for the national partisans, whom the occupying power could not defeat so easily.

The Varniai concentration camp, which operated from 1926 to 1931, became a special place where communists, Christian Democrats, and even petty hooligans were imprisoned together - anyone who could pose a threat to the Smetona regime.

Kurzeme emerged as a separate and isolated battlefield on October 10, 1944. About 500,000 German soldiers were considered surrounded. According to reports from the headquarters of the 1st Baltic Front, only "a small effort" was needed to completely liberate the entire Baltic coast. However, the fighting in Kurzeme continued for another seven months and Kurzeme became a symbol of the end of World War II.

During the seven months of fighting until May 1945, the German armed forces in Courland lost 154,108 soldiers killed, wounded, and missing, while the Red Army's losses were around 400,000 killed, wounded, or missing.

During the Soviet era, border guards observed and controlled the waters of the Irbe Strait from this tower, and in those days it was said that even a duck could not swim through this strait without the border guards' knowledge.

The landfill continued to be used until 1992, and even in March 1992, an airplane taking off from Lielvārde crashed in the landfill territory for unknown reasons.

Cīravas airfield – established during World War II, used as a DOSAAF airfield by the Soviets, currently used for agricultural purposes and recreational trips, and Soviet-era aircraft can be viewed in the hangar

Memories of Lieutenant Commander Jānis Ķīselis about the battles at Skrunda School on 22 January 1919

The Battle of More is an episode of the final stage of World War II, which had a great importance in the further course of the war in the territory of Latvia. The Battle of More refers to the hostilities that took place from September 25 to October 5, 1944, on the Sigulda Defense Line in the territory of More parish. In the trenches of the Sigulda Defense Line, approximately 12 km long, soldiers of the 19th Division of the Latvian Legion, fighting heavy battles with a 10 to 15-fold superiority of the enemy for 10 days, stopped the advance of the Red / Soviet Army units towards Riga.

The recommendations mentioned in the cyclist training regulations are intended for the training of cyclists in the Latvian Army. The recommendations are focused primarily on soldier health issues.

The diary of partisan Lionginas Baliukevičius Dzūkas describes the construction work of the bunker.

In 1956, inspired by the Hungarian uprising, Lithuanians raised the tricolor on the Rebels' Hill - a brief but significant sign of freedom during the Soviet era.

A list of materials and costs used to make the memorial.

For years, I have not noticed any sustained interest in the unique places just eight to ten kilometres north of the city centre among the residents of Old Liepaja. But hidden in the thicket of the forest, on the dune bank or on the marsh paths, the historic sites of the Karosta are no less interesting historical facts and stories worthy of long-forgotten legends. One of them - the former 23rd Coastal Artillery Battery of the USSR - will be the subject of this story.

The military unit of the Maantee village was located almost at the end of the world, even when viewed from Kuressaare.

The narrator describes an event in the Daugavgrīva Fortress during World War I, when it was bombed by a German army airship. The fortress was one of the strategic objects that retained its importance until the end of World War II.

Young people and foreigners unfamiliar with Soviet times will find it difficult to believe that it was practically impossible for a Soviet citizen to legally leave the USSR.

Evidence of World War II in the forests of Kurzeme is found from time to time, as enthusiasts of war relics and historical antiquities visit the forests and fields of Kurzeme with metal detectors very often. At the beginning of 2021, in the Remte side of Saldus municipality, various documents were found in an ammunition box buried in the forest, confirming belonging to the 19th Division of the Latvian Legion, as well as the personal belongings of a soldier. They had been lying in the ground for 76 years.

During the Soviet era, the concrete cargo ship Lady Kathleen crashed here, in a military zone, and its remains can still be seen in the sea near the shore. Various myths are still associated with it.

In 1940, the existence of the independent state of Latvia was interrupted by the occupation and annexation, or incorporation, of the Soviet Union into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Kolka resident Baiba Šuvcāne talks about the times in Kolka when there were border guards there.

Aizporu Half Manor, Aizpute district, Kalvene municipality, is the westernmost place in Latvia to which Colonel Oskars Kalpaks' separate battalion retreated.

Halfway between Rudbārži and Kalvenė, on the side of the road, is the Aizpore cemetery. There is a monument and 12 memorials to the volunteer soldiers of Oskars Kalpaka's battalion.

Memories of Andris Zaļkalns, chairman of the Vērgale village council of people's deputies (1982-1989), about life in the border zone.

It tells the story of one of the largest Lithuanian partisan battles, presenting the causes, course and consequences of the battles.

Pēteris Čevera - national partisan and commander of a national partisan group

While performing his duties as a botanist, he was only allowed to walk along the coast with a border guard.

During the Soviet era, there was a strange object north of Spilves Street, if memory serves - with two low rectangular "mega-chimneys" built of red brick, from which a jet-like sound similar to the roar of airplane engines could be heard quite often.

A short excerpt from an interview with Eriks Sēnis from Ģipka. He tells his memories of his life.

Memories of the former Aivzvīgīk Alfrēdas Leja from the book "An Endless Stream of Rain Falls Forever".

Aizvīķi and its residents also suffered greatly in the mills of the superpowers of World War II.

Alfred Ley writes in his memoirs:

The North Latvian Army was a Latvian military formation during the Latvian War of Independence, which was formed from 3 February to 31 March 1919 in the territory of Estonia and the Northern Vidzeme regions liberated by the Estonian Army. Until July 1919, the brigade was subordinate to the Estonian Armed Forces Headquarters and the Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Army in terms of logistics and operations. It was then merged with the South Latvian Brigade, forming the Latvian Army.

Jānis Baltmanis shares his memories of participating in the national resistance movement from the summer of 1944 to the summer of 1946.

In July and August 1941, the Nazi authorities in Kražiai massacred almost the entire community of the town. Marytė Gerčienė, a prisoner of the Kražiai ghetto and a collective farmer of the K. Požėla collective farm, miraculously survived this tragedy.

On January 7, 1951, two partisans from the Samogitian region - Albertas Švažas-Vanagas and Pranas Šiuipys - were killed in the Jonuškiai forest bunker. Half a century later, the Mažeikiai riflemen rebuilt the bunker and immortalized the memory of the fighters.

Recollections of a soldier who served in the battery

In the autumn of 1915, the front line stabilized. The positions of the Russian Imperial Army passed through Medumi. The 250th searchlight division of the searchlight company was also stationed in Medumi. The exact location of this division in the village of Medumi has been determined.

Spending my childhood near the Zvārde target range, under the sounds of explosions and flying jet planes, but still sometimes on weekends you could enter the range. After the Soviet army left, the land was strewn with bomb craters and many explosive objects, not only from the time of the range, but also from World War II. The boys especially liked to burn phosphorus capsules ...

Valdemārs Ģinters' name was the last hope for many Latvian refugees to escape to Sweden. Too much attention from the refugees was dangerous, and therefore Ģinters kept it a secret.

In June 1941, the successful attack of the German army had reached Liepaja, when Liepaja was attacked by the 291st Infantry Division of the German Armored Forces. When hostilities between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union began in June 1941, the Liepaja garrison of the Soviet Army consisted of troops from the Liepaja naval base of the Navy and the Red Army. During these battles Major General N.Dedaev was mortally wounded

Domicella Pundure is 90. On May 3, 2018, at Riga Castle, she received the Viesturas Order from the hands of President Raimonds Vējonis for special merits in the national resistance movement and the defense of the country's independence. Domicella Pundure is the last witness to the Battle of Stompaku Marsh.

At the end of July 1941, a mass murder of Jews began in Mažeikiai, initiated by the Germans and later continued by local white-collar criminals. People were taken in groups to the Jewish cemetery, forced to undress, and shot near dug pits. Over the course of a few days, more than 2,000 Jews from Mažeikiai and surrounding towns were murdered.

The Īle "Kārļa Krauja" Latvian and Lithuanian joint national partisan group was one of the largest resistance groups in the territory of Latvia in the period from 1947 to 1949.

From 1944 to 1946, Pēteris Supe managed to unite the national partisan units scattered in the forests into an organized movement, which continued to fight against the occupation of Latvia in Abrene County for several years after World War II. Pēteris Supe, nicknamed “Cinītis”, was one of the most outstanding organizers and leaders of the national partisan movement in Northern Latgale.

Before leaving Irbene, the Soviet army damaged all radio telescope systems

About the Battle of Avinurme and the bloodshed committed by Soviet soldiers.

On June 20, 1919, the 7th Sigulda Infantry Regiment began to be formed in Naukšēni Manor, near Rūjiena, according to the order of the commander of the North Latvian Brigade, Colonel Jorģis Zemitāns. Initially, a small combat group consisting of 22 officers and 1,580 soldiers was formed from the reserve battalion of the North Latvian Brigade, which, in honor of its first commander Oskars Danker, was named the Danker Division. A few days later, the division was included in the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Jelgava Regiment, and on August 23, with the addition of a company, it was included in the 7th Sigulda Infantry Regiment.

It tells the story of how the Stribs and MGB officers discovered a partisan bunker in the post-war years and liquidated the partisans hiding inside.

The story of the destruction of the Victory Altar of the Aidu War of Independence and the history of its remains.

On March 27, 1919, the 1st Valmiera Infantry Regiment, together with the Estonian Guards (kaitselit) battalions of Tallinn (then Rēvele) and Tērbatas, as well as three armored trains, began the liberation of Latvia from the Bolsheviks from the banks of the Melnupe River.

Colonel Oskars Kalpaks won the respect of his soldiers by his personal example and encouragement.

On 11 September 1939, a German Henkel He-111 bomber was raiding Polish cities when it went off course at night and made an emergency landing on Liepāja beach. This event is recounted in the memoirs of Vilis Zobens, a Liepaja resident and a liaison company officer of the Kurzeme Division. The landing site is not marked in nature. The approximate coordinates are N 56.59368° E 21.01598° - on the beach near the Northern Forts.

Former guard commander Aivars Skurstenis has come forward for an open conversation with the Tukums district newspaper “Neatkarīgās Tukuma Ziņas”. He was once a reserve officer and a field guard, who in 1993 was offered a position as a guard at the agricultural company “Durbe” led by Laimonis Mucenieks. There, he had to guard an office – the Līvāni house. That is how the story begins.

Capt. Mikelėnas' memoirs talk about his escape from the prisoner of war camp, his return to Lithuania, his joining the Lithuanian army, and his first battles with the Bolsheviks.

The story tells the story of a female partisan's decision to become a partisan, her joining a partisan unit, and her eventual arrest.

A biographical story written by Valentīne Lasmane about how she managed to escape from detention during the German occupation

Most of the monuments to Independence (related to Lithuanian statehood and the struggles for it) erected between the wars were destroyed during the Soviet era as ideologically dangerous or inappropriate. The occupiers destroyed not only people, but also memory and signs of memory. The monuments created by sculptor Roberts Antinis also suffered a similar fate.

In the northern part of the fortress was located one of the four coastal defence batteries, Battery No.1, but at the time of the fortress's liquidation its armament was not fully installed.

On March 27, 1919, the 1st Valmiera Infantry Regiment, together with the Estonian Guards (kaitselit) battalions of Tallinn (then Rēvele) and Tērbatas, as well as three armored trains, began the liberation of Latvia from the Bolsheviks from the banks of the Melnupe River.

On 25 March 1949, Elmārs Heniņš, a pupil in Skrunda, witnessed his classmates being taken away. He took his camera and climbed a pine tree on a nearby hill to document what was happening, later hiding the pictures.

In February 1919, both sides of the Venta River were active in reconnaissance activities. Captain Alexander Loeving, Chief of the Cavalry Division, was one of the commanders of the reconnaissance raids.

Bronius Gotautas, known to the people as Broliuk, risked his life during and after World War II to save persecuted people - both Jews, Lithuanian nationalists, and Russian soldiers.

Latvian Army Armoured Train No.5 or "Kalpaks" was a light armoured train in the Latvian Armed Forces in 1919.

Alfons Volgemuth was a 19-year-old boy, a radio operator and served in the army of Nazi Germany.

"No one has come back from this operation and it is not known if there are any survivors. I myself took part in that war as a 19-year-old radio operator and I am one of the 2, later 3 survivors who were taken prisoner by the Russians. I want to reflect the events from my own experience."

In 1915, when German troops entered the territory of Latvia, the first phase of the war was characterized by a war of maneuver. In the fall of 1915, when the front stabilized at the natural obstacle of the Daugava, a war of positions began, which lasted two years - until the fall of 1917, when the German army, taking advantage of the revolutionary changes in the Russian Empire and the demoralization and collapse of the Russian army, went on the offensive.

In 1930, Col. V. Skorupskis' French publishing house Charles – Lavauzelle & Co published the book "Memories of a Witness to Military Events in Lithuania", the sixth chapter of which is dedicated to the December Coup.

The memories contain vivid impressions of the presence of the Latvian army on Mangalsala. The forts are described, as well as the reinforced concrete fortification built by Sapiers. The memories describe the soldiers' everyday life, the rhythm of life and illustrate the environment on Mangalsala. Visit of Mangalsala and Latvian army soldiers

One of the most striking manifestations of post-war armed resistance in Kurzeme was the capture of Kabile on Christmas 1945 and the subsequent battle near the Āpuznieki house on January 1, 1946.

One of the manifestations of the changing society during the Lithuanian Persistörkymo Sąjūdis era was the search and restoration of Independence monuments destroyed during the Soviet era, which began in 1988. Symbols of Independence, Freedom and Statehood once again appeared in Lithuanian cities and towns.

Andrus Müüripeal (1877-1945) or Puka Andrus from the village of Lepiku, Puka, was a famous blacksmith in Muhu before the war.

Lithuanian exiles, accustomed to traditional female roles in interwar Lithuania, faced hard physical labor and a new reality in exile, where there was no longer a distinction between "male" and "female" work.

After World War II, the land of Latvia was full of physical remnants of war. It was a large number of shells, unexploded mines and simply cartridges. Even now, especially in places where active war activity took place, unexploded mines are found, which is a great rarity, while in the post-war years these shells were a part of everyday life for residents in forests and even in yards, and even children's toys.

In the Mažeikiai district, in Kurmaičiai, the railway bridge over the Venta River, built in 1904-1905, became not only a strategically important object during the war, but also a place about which mysterious stories about the ghosts of soldiers and inexplicable phenomena circulate.

Robert Ancans (11 November 1919 - 1 January 1982) was an officer of the Latvian Legion, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, who took part in the battles of Pilsblidene on 16 and 17 March 1945. The Sixth Kurland Battle is now in its fourth day. Anzāns had served in the Pilsblidene area and therefore knew the area well. Anzans' division is again diverted by another break in the front - an 8km deep invasion by the Red Army. Anzán is wounded in these battles.

On October 7, 1944, one of the last major battles of the regular army on Lithuanian territory took place near Seda, where volunteers of the Homeland Defense Team joined the fight against the Red Army, defending the freedom of Lithuania.

Col. V. Skorupskis's memoirs convey

The experience of the battles with the Polish army in the autumn of 1920, emphasizing the victory of the Lithuanian army at Širvintos and Giedraičiai.

A powerful factory with a rich history dating back to 1878.

The memoirs represent farewells to family members, trips to a military unit, and experiences of the first days in the army.

During the Second World War, when most of Latvia was already controlled by the Soviet Union and Kurzeme was ruled by Hitler's German viceroys, the so-called Kurelians in Kurzeme started the struggle for the restoration of Latvia's state independence.

The book excerpt presents a chronological sequence of the battles of the Lithuanian army against the Polish army in 1920, describing the most important events and their assessments.

It is often said that war is the father of all things, and that has literally been the case with the Latvian rural railways. Any army, whether attacking or defending, requires considerable resources to ensure warfare. When the German army entered the territory of Latvia in 1915, it faced supply challenges. By the end of 1915, the front had stabilized along the Daugava line. Historically, the population density in the territory of Sēlija was low, and therefore there was no extensive network of transport routes.

Historian Roberts Sipenieks talks about the finds at the Grieze filtration camp site

The ghost of Karosta prison.

The narrator describes one of Latvia's most popular and widely attended events – the Aviation Festival in Spilve. He describes the course and scope of the festival. He emphasizes the popularity of aviation in Latvia.

Donāts Pudulis was a sergeant of Liepaja Military Port Commandant's Office, who received the Order of the Battle of the Battle of the Bulge for bravery and valour on 14 November 1919, when after the enemy attacked Redāns Fort, he took over the command of the commandant's company from the mortally wounded Lieutenant Commander Robert Radziņš and in a swift counterattack drove the enemy out of the fort, taking 8 prisoners and 2 working machine guns. His life up to the Battle of Liepaja is interesting. He volunteered for the Siberian Rifle Regiment in 1911 at the age of 16. In 1914 he took part in the battles against the German army at Warsaw, Lodz and elsewhere on the Polish front, and later in the battles against the Austrian army. In 1915 he sailed to France via Vladivostok as part of the Russian Expeditionary Corps and fought for 4 months at Verdun. At the beginning of 1917 he joined the Latvian Rifle Regiments, and on 7 April 1919 - the Latvian Armed Forces in Liepaja.

In November 1944, a court-martial of the German occupation authorities sentenced 8 staff officers of General Kurel's group, three staff officers were pardoned for various reasons. The lieutenant colonel managed to escape from being shot, but Graudiņš was "trampled" by the German concentration camp system

The Ezere Cultural History and Local History Materials Repository "Customs House" is located in a historically significant building. On May 8, 1945, the act of capitulation of the Nazi German Army Group "Kurland", which was surrounded on the Kurzeme Front, was signed here.

Former Red Army soldier Kārlis Liberts shares his memories of the events of that day.

What happened to Lady Kathleen?

In Tukums, several monuments to the Red Army were erected during the Soviet occupation. Today, they still have not lost their former, Soviet ideological goals and continue to create the myth of the Red Army as liberators. A variety of sources have survived about the crimes of the Red Army soldiers. One group of sources can be found in local newspapers, which vividly describe the permissiveness and extent of the crimes of the Red Army.

After the restoration of Latvia's independence, Uldis Veldre, head of the Alūksne Brothers' Cemetery Committee, took on the responsibility for maintaining the Garrison Cemetery, identifying the resting places of the LKOK related to Alūksne, and installing memorial signs in the Garrison Cemetery.

Hidden in the last pine trees of Cape Kolka is a border guard tower, where a border guard post was constantly located during the Soviet era, and the small stone building next to it is now abandoned and falling into ruin.

Alfred Riekstins, a Latvian legionnaire, was recruited to work with the US intelligence agency, the CIA, after World War II.

The inhabitants of Liepāja were among the first in Latvia to experience the outbreak of the Second World War and among the last for whom the war ended both literally and symbolically. The Second World War and the Soviet occupation of Liepāja ended only in 1994, when the last troops of the USSR's heir, Russia, left the city.

Soviet military helicopter crash in Riga, Āgenskalns, Ormaņu Street

It can be assumed that Liepaja was the capital of Latvia for a short period of time, because during the Freedom Struggle the Provisional Government was stationed on the ship Saratov in this very city. The Saratov took the Provisional Government to Riga after its liberation, but many people do not know that the history of such an important ship for us ended at sea at Akmenrags.

On 7 March 1945, the "Red Arrows" partisan camp was surrounded and attempted to be destroyed by German troops. Vilis Samsons, in his book published in 1974 by "Zinātne", Riga, describes the course of this battle

Excerpt from a memoir about the surrender of Kurzeme in May 1945, from the memoirs of Air Lance Corporal Edgars Aunins

The first flights in the skies of Estonia - pilot Utotškin over Raadi in 1912.

At the very end of the Second World War, both the Red Army in offensive positions and the German Army in defensive positions had plans which, given the end of the Second World War, were not implemented by either side.

At the end of World War II, the German forces in Courland were able to successfully defend themselves for seven months, as the German Navy maintained combat capability until the end of World War II and supplied Army Group North and later Army Group Courland. The main port was Liepaja, through which 80% of all cargo was delivered and shipped. Liepaja thus became an important target for the Soviet Baltic Navy and long-range aviation.

In the fall of 2011, I came across the memoirs of Jūlijs Bērziņš (1900–after 1963), a Latvian living in Russia and a former soldier of the 201st (43rd Guards) Latvian Rifle Division (hereinafter – the 201st Latvian Rifle Division; Division) of the Red Army – a 189-page story written by hand in Russian in two lined notebooks by a Latvian soldier about his experiences in the German-USSR war (1941–1945). These memoirs were also not commissioned work.

The essays in the book "Commanders of the Latvian Army" convince us that history is significantly influenced by specific individuals. Although they were at the epicenter of the most important historical events for a short time, true Latvian patriots, with their rich military experience, managed to do a lot in the formation and strengthening of the Latvian army and in the turning points of historical events.
This story is about the first Commander-in-Chief of the Latvian Army, Dāvids Sīmansons (1859-1933).

Fragments of three different people's memoirs were deliberately chosen, allowing us to look more closely at the crime of the Holocaust from different perspectives.

It tells the story of the life of partisans in winter, their wandering between Lithuania and Latvia, and the care of wounded partisans.

Lithuania had to fight for its Independence, which was restored on March 11, 1990. There was unarmed resistance, but the Soviet occupiers and aggressors used the army, firearms and tanks against the unarmed. In January 1991, the Soviet leadership and army began to implement a plan aimed at destroying Lithuania's Independence. A coup d'état was launched. The Lithuanian people resisted the Soviet empire.

Alfred Brown's story about the German headquarters in the yard of his native house, where a German soldier led Alfred blindfolded under cover of night, not knowing that this house was his native house and Alfred knew every stone in the yard even with his eyes closed.

During the Soviet Union, marriage registrations took place at the Vital Statistics Office in the city of Kingisepp.

The Battle of Cēsis is one of the most significant stages of the Latvian War of Independence and also occupies a significant place in the history of the Estonian War of Independence.

On 31 October 1944, the boat "Centība" left the Kurzeme coast. The departure of this boat was reconstructed by Valentīne Lasmane, the Convener of the Latvian Central Council, from the recollections of several fellow passengers

The Tukums airfield holds a secret that no one has yet solved - is there really a nuclear warhead of a nuclear missile on the airfield territory, which was dug up there by the Russian army's special services after the airfield was abandoned in the 1990s?

Memories of former employees of the Slītere State Reserve about the Soviet era.

During World War II, Miriam Javnaitė-Voronova survived the Holocaust thanks to many Lithuanians who, risking their own lives and the lives of their loved ones, hid, fed, and cared for persecuted Jews.

The heroic actions of fallen officer Jakob Kunder of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Red Army ensured the successful assault of the battalion, but he himself was killed, and a monument has been dedicated to Jakob Kunder at the site of his fall and a monument has been erected at the Tuškis Brothers Cemetery.

Bumbu Hill is a high hill in the Bolderāja dunes, Kleistu Forest, Riga. A memorial site for the Latvian Freedom Struggle. During the Bermontiades in November 1919, the command post of the Latgale Division led by Krišjānis Berķis was located here. The 6th Riga Infantry Regiment, attacking from Bumbu Hill, captured Sudrabkalniņš. A memorial plaque was installed in 1939, which was destroyed in 1969. The memorial site was restored in 1989.

It tells the story of the post-war situation in the Lithuanian countryside and the decision to become a partisan.

Pāvilosta residents Aina Jakovļeva and Irina Kurčanova share their memories of the Soviet era in Pāvilosta.

The story tells of a female partisan's hiding and the birth and raising of a child in the forests.

To the north of the South Fort is the largest cemetery in Liepāja - the Central Cemetery. In the southern part of the cemetery there is a Red Army cemetery, where Soviet soldiers who died in the vicinity of Liepāja are reburied, including the commander of the 67th Rifle Division, Major General Nikolai Dedaev, who led the defence of Liepāja in June 1941.

The Courland Fortress was formed after the fall of Riga on October 13, 1944, and the Russian breakthrough to Klaipėda on October 10, thus cutting off land traffic with Germany.

In October 1944, the German army retreats. The 3rd armoured train arrives at Vaiņode station.

As a result of the collapse of the German front, only small units of the German 61st Infantry Division, supported by the armoured train, were present in the eastern outskirts of Vaiņode. The resistance was quickly overcome and by the evening of 9 October the whole of Vaiņode was under the complete control of the Red Army.

The report of the commander of the German army armoured train No.3 reflects the intense events of those days and the loss of armoured train No.3.

On June 24, 1941, at Lūšės station in Mažeikiai County, a small group of Lithuanian rebels disarmed a train of Soviet soldiers and freed Lithuanians and Latvian families being transported to Siberia - this became one of the unique episodes of the June 1941 Uprising.

During World War II, two families from the village of Šarnelė – the Striaupiai and the Kerpauskas – despite mortal danger, saved the lives of Jews. The Striaupiai family saved as many as 26 people, including nine families, and a hiding place was set up in the forest of the Kerpauskas homestead for the family of a Jewish furrier from Alsėdžiai.

For more than twenty years, the Liepāja coastline has been dangerous due to fake amber, which the sea tends to wash up from its depths especially generously during spring and autumn storms.

The origins of the idea for the Rauna Freedom Monument can be traced back to August 21, 1929, when the mayor of Cēsis and the head of Cēsis district invited the most prominent public figures of Rauna parish to a meeting, inviting them to honor the achievement of freedom and build a monument in Rauna.

The memoirs of prisoners of the Telšiai KGB prison reveal horrific conditions of detention - from physical torture to inhuman living conditions in overcrowded cells.

In 2020, I.Kupce tells the story of her family member's father-in-law's experience in the Grieze Soviet filtration camp in 1945, after the surrender of the German army in Kurzeme.

The former missile bases in the Plungė district hide an impressive history of the Cold War - from the secret transportation of rocket fuel at night to the construction of underground shafts with artificial pressure. The memoirs of doctor Kajetonas Meškauskas reveal little-known details about the activities of the Soviet military and the lives of the builders. His story is not only about the base, but also about a man who found himself in the middle of history.

A sharp event from the life of Vilnis Blumbergs, when coming to Mazirbe to visit his aunt, turned into an unpleasant misunderstanding with the soviet border guards and a harsh night in the winter

Extrajudicial killings in Latvian territory during the war, in late June and early July 1941, were the last manifestation of repression and violence in the first stage of the communist occupation, which ended with the entry of Nazi German troops into the entire territory of Latvia.

The reason for the shooting was terrible and tragic – it was no longer possible to transfer the prisoners to Russia, but it was not allowed to leave them alive. As a result, during the war, extrajudicial shootings of residents also took place in Liepāja, similar to the Riga Central Prison, Valmiera Prison, Valka and Rēzekne militia, and Greizā kalns near Ludza. In Liepāja, this crime of the Soviet occupation power was carried out in the “Blue Miracle” – in the Liepāja militia building, at Republikas Street 19.

During the German retreat in 1944, many important objects were blown up and it was very difficult to prevent this, however, there are also stories about miraculous incidents when the courage of local residents and the tolerance of a soldier allow places that are important to the locals to be saved, and the salmon survived. One of the stories is this one about a discussion between a housewife and a German soldier that saved an entire bridge from being blown up.

Border guards had a unique way of finding out about strangers in the border area.

The former principal of the Pampāļi School (until 1959), Alfrēds Brūns, has personally typed an impressive book about the history of the Pampāļi School and historical events surrounding it, with authentic photographs. In the book, A. Brūns describes the events of the War of Independence in Pampāļi, describing in detail the events involving Latvian statesmen, Bolshevik supporters, the actions of the German army, etc.

Documents related to the organization of the Baltic Way in 1989 are presented, revealing the organizational concerns of the campaign, its symbolic details, and their meanings.

On June 24-25, 1941, in the Rainiai forest, near Telšiai, the NKVD and Red Army soldiers brutally tortured 73 political prisoners from Telšiai prison - this became one of the most horrific Soviet crimes in Lithuania.

Kurzeme emerged as a separate and distinct battlefield on 10 October 1944. Some 500 000 German troops were counted as surrounded. According to reports from the 1st Baltic Front Headquarters, only a "small effort" was needed to completely liberate the entire Baltic coast. However, the fighting in Kurland continued for another seven months and Kurland became a symbol of the end of the Second World War. 

During the seven months of fighting until May 1945, German forces in Courland lost 154 108 soldiers killed, wounded and missing. Since 1997, a war cemetery survey and reburial of soldiers near Saldus has been carried out and currently 27,000 names of fallen soldiers can be found here