Jānis Tilibs' memories of the partisan unit "Tēvijas Vanagi"

In the autumn of 1941 my brother Alfred Tilibs joined the Liepaja 21st Police Battalion. In 1942 he went to the front. At the front he fought in Volkhov, where in early 1943 he was wounded and sent back to Riga for treatment. His brother was one of the first Latvian Legionnaires to receive the Iron Cross of the second degree, which was written about in the press of the time. The newspaper also carried a photo of him with the award on his chest.

In 1946, his brother was released from a filtration camp in Moscow. He returned to his father's home in "Aizkapi" in Barta parish. On his return, he started to form an illegal organisation called "Patriotic Hawks". A partisan group was formed, consisting of nationalists from Barta, Nīca and Liepāja. Soon local communists started bringing newspapers with his photo with Dzelzkrusts on them. They were worried that such men would be allowed to walk free. My brother heard this and went into the forest. His group "Patriotic Hawks" started to work. Since the Cheka couldn't get hold of my brother, they arrested me. I was only 16 at the time. On the way to Liepaja I escaped from the Cheka and joined my brother in the partisans. My brother was leading a group of 18 people. I remember there was Jānis Brūns from Nīca, Gunārs Rukutis and Jānis Pirtnieks from Barta. I didn't know the others. We were mainly armed with German weapons: submachine guns, machine guns, so-called "bone saws".

In the summer of 1947, several operations were carried out against the Chekists and local co-runners. In the autumn of 1947, the Cheka discovered our bunker. Gunārs Rukutis, Aivars Roze fell in the battle, Jānis Brūnas was seriously wounded. 6 people from the group fell.

As winter approached, we divided into two groups. The group led by Janis Bruns stayed in the Nica forest, while my brother and I and some other partisans moved to the forests of Aizpute and Kuldiga. We passed the winter peacefully and in 1948 we reunited. We were in the Kuldīga district. As it turned out later, a traitor had infiltrated the group, and soon our group was attacked by Chekists. In Turlava parish, near the Platkai home, my brother Alfred Tilib was seriously wounded. Shot in the legs and head, seeing that the fight was lost, he fired the last bullet at himself.

I was left alone. I returned to Janis Bruns in Nice. On 17 November 1948, Bruno told me to go to the parish of Gavieze to reconnoitre so that an operation could be organised for 18 November. Coming out of the forest near one of the houses, late in the evening, we were met by a Cheka ambush. A battle broke out, in which both Bruno and I were seriously wounded. Bruno was shot, but I, though badly wounded, was dragged back to the camp, about 10 km away.

In 1949, the deportation began and almost all our supporters were taken away. At that time, however, there were many Latvian patriots in the Latvian countryside, more than communists. I lived in the forest until March 1950. There were only two of us left from the big group: Jānis Pirtnieks and myself. The bunker was discovered and the Cheka attacked us. A grenade was thrown into the bunker. I was badly wounded. We were both arrested.

In the autumn of 1950, we, about 10 people, were tried by a military tribunal. They sentenced us to 25 years. I was sent to Karaganda, where I lived until 1956.