This is where the "Panfilov Division" met May 9th
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.
The 8th Guards Rifle Division participated in the battles near Moscow in 1941, where it stopped the German offensive. The division's commander, Major General Ivan Panfilov, fell in the fighting. The division was later given the name Panfilov, and it met the end of the war in the Courland fortress.
The Red Army's "Panfilov Division" was severely defeated by German units in the forest near Pampāļi in March 1945 and was in reserve/training when the war ended. The division's headquarters was most likely located in the Pampāļi Elementary School.
In the Soviet Union, the Panfilovites were considered heroes.
Remains of 95 more fallen soldiers found in Pampāļi (tvnet.lv)
https://www.tvnet.lv/4517048/pampalos-atrastas-vel-95-krituso-karaviru-mirstigas-atliekas
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Pampali church and the walls of the destroyed house
Pampāļi is a settlement in Pampāļu parish of Saldus county, the center of the parish is on the banks of Zaņas and its tributary Abrupe, 27 km from the county center Saldus and 147 km from Riga. The settlement was formed around the center of Pampāli manor after the agrarian reform. In 1933, Pampālis was granted the status of a densely populated place.
The hostilities on the outskirts of the Pampali began on November 21, 1944, when the Soviet 4th shock army, forcing Venta, began an attack in the direction of Saldus. By November 24, the situation stabilized and the front line remained unchanged until December 21.
On December 21, 1944, the so-called 3rd Battle of Kurzeme began, during which the 4th shock army of the 1st Baltic Front with 4 rifle corps (12 rifle divisions) and the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps attacked in the direction of Saldus to connect there with the 2nd Baltic Front units. The German 132nd Infantry Division, whose 1st Battalion of the 436th Grenadier Regiment had fortified itself in the vicinity of the manor and the church, was defending itself in the Pampali district.
The attack on Pampāliai was carried out under the support of massive artillery fire by the 357th and 145th Rifle Divisions of the 1st Rifle Corps, supported by the 39th Guards Tank Brigade. During the first 24 hours of the battle, the Pampali garrison, commanded by the commander of the 14th (Anti-Tank) Company of the 436th Grenadier Regiment, Captain Eberard Coll, was encircled and virtually destroyed in fierce fighting.
Since Pampali was located right on the front line, all the buildings were hit by artillery fire and practically have not been preserved today.
