The end of World War II and the beginning of the Soviet occupation of Courland and Samogitia
The route, located between Latvia and Lithuania, will introduce students to the legacy of World War II, national partisan battles and the Soviet occupation in Kurzeme and Samogitia. Students will visit the Ezere Customs House, the Saldus German soldiers’ cemetery, the Plokštine Cold War Museum and the Samogitian Museum “Alka”, where they can trace both the events of the war and the history of occupation and resistance. The excursion provides an opportunity to understand the impact of the 20th century conflicts on the people and landscape of the region.
What the tour includes
The Saldus German Soldiers' Cemetery is one of the largest World War II burial grounds in Kurzeme, where 25,000 German soldiers and some Latvian legionnaires lie in an area of 8 hectares. In the Ezere Customs House (Ezere Cultural History and Local History Materials Storage "Customs House"), the act of capitulation of the German troops surrounded in the Kurzeme Cauldron was signed on May 8, 1945. At the end of 1962, in the Plokštine Forest - in the Samogitian Highlands, in Lithuania, the underground ballistic missile R-12 launch complex "Dvina" was discovered, which until 1978 housed four nuclear missiles aimed at Western Europe, but none of them were fired. After the withdrawal of the USSR forces, the complex was destroyed, but since 2012 it has been a museum with a Cold War exhibition, offering the only underground missile shaft preserved in Europe. Students will be able to visit the museum and the adjacent Military Town, equipped with information stands and an audio guide (QR codes). The route can end in Telšiai, where they can visit the Samogitian Museum “Alka” with an interactive exhibition about the Nazi German and Soviet occupation and the national partisan war in Samogitia.