Memorial stele for the knights of the War Order of Lāčplēš
Memorialinis vieta

Stēlas atklāšana un iesvētīšana 2017.gada Lāčplēša dienā. Avots: Viļakas novada pašvaldības mājaslapa
AZF_4102_1280x853.jpg
AZF_4137_1280x853.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L1.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L2.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L3.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L4.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L5.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L6.jpg
Stela_Vilaka_L7.jpg
 Baznīcas iela 53, Viļaka, Balvu nov., Latvija
 +371 28686600
 Viļakas tūrisma informācijas centrs
246

It is located next to the Roman Catholic Church of the Heart of Jesus in Viļaka.

The memorial stele for the knights of the Lāčplēš War Order in Viļakas region was opened on November 11, 2017. The destinies of 28 Lāčplēš Knights of the Military Order are connected with the name of Viļakas county.
The granite stele was created as part of the project "Remember Lāčplēšus" dedicated to the centenary of the Latvian state. Commemorative stelae of a uniform model will be installed throughout Latvia in honor of the soldiers who died in the Latvian Freedom Struggle. The initiator of the project is the Jaunsardze and Information Center.

Five knights of the Lāčplēš War Order, whose names are engraved on the memorial stele, lived in the territory of the present-day Viļakas district after the end of the Freedom Struggle:
– Jānis Kuļšs was a young farmer in Apsīs, Šķilbēni parish,
– Aleksej Lyubimov (Lavrentiev) lived on the Fortepianova farm in Šķilbēni parish, later in Vilaka,
– Teodors Mende managed the farm assigned to him and was a forest guard in the village of Katleši, Žigur parish,
– Eduard Tennyson lived at Vecumu station, later lived in Chabatrova village and worked at p/s "Viļaka",
– Jānis Burmeisters after 1928 lived in Šķilbēni parish for some time.

The brothers' cemetery in Viļakas county is the resting place of 45 soldiers who gave their lives in 1920, defending Latvia from bigots. January 9 was the day when the attacks began in North Latgale, and despite the difficult weather conditions at that time, Viļaka was also liberated on the same day.
In the battles for the liberation of Latgale, Estonian soldiers also fought side by side with Latvian army soldiers and partisans against the Red Army in Viļakas county. Many of them gave their lives for a free Latvia.

Panaudoti šaltiniai ir literatūra:

http://old.vilaka.lv/uploads/docs/avize/Vilakas%20novada_NOVEMBRIS_2017.pdf
http://old.vilaka.lv/index.php?mact=CGBlog,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=4645&cntnt01returnid=19
https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/dzive--stils/vesture/brivibas-cinam-ziemellatgale--100-gadadiena.a344388/

Susijusi istorija

Liberation of Northern Latgale from the Bolsheviks

On December 1, 1918, parts of the Red Army, based on the Red Rifle units, invaded the territory of Latvia. In order to protect their homes, families, native counties and escape from terror, the men around Balvi took up arms and went into the forests, and the first "green" groups began to form. In the spring of 1919, when the mobilization was announced, many men in the Balvi area were not allowed to fight in the Soviet Latvian army and they joined the "green" groups. Balvi, Silakrog, Rugāji, Teteru-Dūrupe and Liepna groups were formed. In the vicinity of Balvi, the activity of "green" groups became more active in March 1919.