About Latvian riflemen in the Olaine area

(..) We spent the night near the battlefield in the artillery blinds. In the morning we had to go to the "Foxes", near the Olaine station, where we spent a few days and nights in the open air, in the woods. Hinged wires and kiln bricks could be obtained in full at the ruined Olaine station, where, as our Russian neighbors said, the German could not go because the German could see and fire. After about a week we left "Foxes" and went headquarters located at Baloži station. (..)

(..) As soon as a German rocket appears, although their trenches on the other side of the swamp, we lie down. As we weave in the morning, we break into a rare chain. Our training team is on the right wing of the chain. Before we get to the German trenches, we have to walk for a long time through small bushes that are covered in snow, with every touch of snow, the snow falls behind the collar, the legs are in the swamp, and the bag is shouldered. When walking through the bushes, be careful not to stray from each other. We hear bullet shots all the time in the left wing of the chain, where our jewelry was located. Our artillery is also starting to work. We are also starting to smash bullets in front of us. Some drown, some burst in front of a tree branch. We don't shoot because we can't see the enemy, but we're just moving forward. Also, none of the enemy bullets are hiding. Here, too, we can start, because the "freaks" are close. More intense firing has started. I remember a landlord in Tukums, Muri already believed in Latvia and felt the greatest hatred for the Germans, he disappeared after the battle. , the Latvian people loved it - everyone fell, starting with a deer and ending with an unknown, unobtrusive rifleman. If they had light souls. , but since our jewelry has not been able to break into the German trenches, we are not allowed to do so. e one of our comrades, fallen in the March battle, a brave Courlander fires. We see a German birch running through the small birches. With the second shot, another member kills the other German. Both Germans carried a box of cartridges. Here I see something moving in the bush, I tell my friend next door how to shoot. Let's shoot both at once. Immediately, the bushes parted and an old German appears with a bleeding hand who, with his birch and spico beard, leaves an impression similar to Mephistopheles. He calls not shooting because there are five children at home. We took him captive, but touching it was organically opposite. He was taken away by Russian soldiers. By his comparison, perhaps, I am offending him, perhaps, he was an honest father of the family, separated from his daily work, but at that moment he left a bad impression. There was also a case after that when I was very angry about the war, seeing the torment of a badly wounded enemy. But all such moments could only leave a passing impression, because there was a war ...