German army corporal Felker's account of the reconnaissance battle on 8 and 9 November 1944 at the Selješa home in Zvārde
Felker (German: Völcker) was a 20-year-old boy, serving in an intelligence division in the Nazi German army, who narrates the events of November 8 and 9, which vividly reflect the frontline events in Zvārde, where the frontline moved back and forth for 4 months, including in the vicinity of the Ķērkliņi church.
In November 1944, our severely weakened division was regularly used as a kind of "fire brigade". Loaded into trucks, we were taken to the hottest spots, and usually had to straighten out the breaches in the front line, only to be taken elsewhere.
As it happened, I still cannot tell you where I was on the afternoon of 8 November 1944. Our regimental reconnaissance unit was camped in a shelter we called the "potato cellar". My comrade, soldier Ksedl, a sturdy fellow of 20 from Passau, was stretched out on the grass behind me and fast asleep. Ivan had taken a long break with artillery fire, and everyone took advantage of the short rest. I was sitting there splitting a stick when one Russian shell hit the valley. Nothing exciting, but I realised that our telephone lines, which were set up there, must have picked up something.
Before our commander, Dorst, could give me the appropriate order, I had already taken my repair materials, (masking tape, pliers) and reported to Dorst. I told him that he did not need to wake Private Ksedl. I could solve this small problem myself. I got down into the valley and quickly found the damaged area. I repaired the line and finally checked with my fingers if there was a flow of energy. I wanted to return to our dugout and had gone about 50 metres up the slope when our commander, Dorst, came down the slope to meet me. He was gesticulating wildly, shouting for me to run back to the forest, the Russians were breaking through. From the "potato cellar" my company comrades ran down the slope towards me, and behind them the Russian soldiers with shouts of "urräh" and heavy infantry fire.
We ran to the next wood, and there we met other, smaller units that had gathered together to help us stop the invasion, which fortunately took place without the support of tanks. It was not a major offensive, more of a shelling, but the Russian soldiers had taken the hill without too much trouble. It is probable that the Russian leadership, thanks to intelligence, had realised that our armament was more than pathetic as far as heavy weapons were concerned. We sat in the woods and watched the Russian soldiers who continued to expand their positions on the mountain. There was no way of stopping them.
Two days later, with the help of a tank unit led by Captain Furman, we were able to counter-attack, taking the high ground with the 'potato cellar'. Shortly before the spot where I had patched up the line two days before, my friend Ksedl lay, fatally shot in the head. It gave me some comfort that he probably felt nothing of his death.
Only about 70 soldiers from my division survived the war. Some, like me, with more or less serious injuries, others, like Private Ritweiler, who lost his mind in December 1944 after several hours of shelling. To this day, my memories have faded, but even today, at almost 80 years of age, they are sometimes still very intense in my dreams...
Photo (left to right): Lieutenant Ölker, Sergeant Dorst, Corporal Völcker, Soldier Rittweiler.
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Soviet air force target firing ground in Zvārde
Zvārde landfill is located in Zvārde municipality, Saldus region. It is a former military aviation training ground of the USSR, covering more than 24 000 hectares.
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Zvārde church ruins
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The first wooden church and rectory were built here in 1567, and the stone church was built in 1783 at the expense of local peasants, Kurzeme nobles and Duke of Courland Peter Byron. During the Second World War, the church roof and tower were damaged in the fighting. In 1953, when the Soviet Ministry of Defence requested the establishment of an air-target range on the site, Zvārde Church, Ķerkliņi Church and Rīteļi Cemetery were placed in the centre of the air-target range - next to an artificial airfield with access roads and defensive positions, which was used as a target by Soviet pilots. Planes flew here from airfields in Latvia and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. In less than 40 years, the church, the cemetery, the former manor house and dozens of surrounding buildings were reduced to ruins.
Soviet Army Observation Tower (Kurgan of Officers)
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The remains of the tower can be seen here today - the brick walls. As the barrage is relatively high, you can even see the Lithuanian oil refinery in Mažeikiai on a clear day.
