Lestene Brothers' Cemetery, Memorial Exposition and bunker
Muziejus

Lestene Brothers’ Cemetery is located in Tukums municipality, Lestene, next to the Lestene church. The construction of the Brothers’ Cemetery in Lestene began in 1998. It is the second largest military cemetery in Latvia, and more than 1,300 Latvian legionnaires are buried here. Only after regaining the independence, it was possible to rebury Latvian soldiers who fell during World War II. The Latvian Legion was a combat unit of the German Army, formed mainly from illegally drafted Latvians. The soldiers thought of their presence in the legion as something that had to be done to be able to restore Latvia’s independence, despite the fact that they were in the ranks of the German armed forces and that Germany had occupied Latvia. Latvian legionnaires fought against the Red Army, which had destroyed Latvia's independence and its army and committed crimes against civilians. Between 110,000 and 115,000 soldiers fought in the ranks of the German Army and about 30,000–50,000 of them never left the battlefield. The Brothers’ Cemetery central theme ‘Motherland – Mother – Latvia’ was created by the sculptor Arta Dumpe. Across the road an exhibit dedicated to the history of the Latvian Legion has been created in a former pub. Right next to it the men of the Latvian Officers Association, under the leadership of Captain Jānis Slaidiņš, have built an underground bunker to show how soldiers and officers lived on the front lines.