SSRS/komunistinė okupacija IV Sovietų okupacija

Atkurtas 46-osios pakrančių apsaugos baterijos ugnies valdymo bokštas Ventspilyje yra Saulrietos gatvėje ir lankytojams prieinamas apžvalgos bokšto pavidalu. Šalia bokšto yra keturios artilerijos pabūklų pozicijos, ir tai vienintelė tokios geros būklės Antrojo pasaulinio karo pakrančių gynybos baterija Latvijoje. Lankytojai gali lipti bokšto laiptais į lauko apžvalgos aikštelę su vaizdu į jūrą. Šalia bokšto yra informacinis stendas su QR kodu. Naudodami QR kodą galite žiūrėti animaciją apie istorinius įvykius. Į bokštą veda nauja gatvė, didelė automobilių stovėjimo aikštelė ir medinis pėsčiųjų tiltas, einantis per šalia bokšto esančią saugomą gamtos teritoriją.

Šis karinis kompleksas buvo pastatytas 1939 m., žymint SSRS karinių bazių statybos Latvijoje pradžią. 46-oji pakrančių apsaugos baterija turėjo keturias pozicijas B-13 tipo pabūklams. Pirmąjį karinį mūšį ši baterija surengė 1941 m. birželio 24 d., kai Ventspilio uostą užpuolė vokiečių torpediniai kateriai, kurie baterijų ugnimi buvo atitraukti nuo Baltijos jūros krantų. Birželio 28 d. sovietų armija susprogdino pabūklus ir pasitraukė.

200 hektarų ploto teritorija kadaise buvo itin slapta karinė bazė, kurioje buvo įsikūręs 51429 karinis dalinys.

Pirmosios pakrantės gynybos baterijos Irbės sąsiaurio gynybai buvo pastatytos po 1912 m., kai buvo patvirtintas Baltijos laivyno minų ir artilerijos gynybos pozicijų planas, kuriame buvo numatytos kelios pakrantės gynybos baterijos ir jūros minų statymas.

Irbės sąsiaurio pozicija buvo toliausiai į pietus, o jos užduotis buvo užblokuoti bet kokį priešo patekimą į Rygos įlanką. Pagrindinis dėmesys buvo skiriamas jūrinėms minoms, kurių dešimtys tūkstančių buvo padėti Irbės sąsiauryje Pirmojo pasaulinio karo metu Baltijos laivyno laivai. Tik 1916 m. Saremos salos pietiniame gale, Sorvės kyšulyje, pradėtos statyti pakrantės gynybos baterijos. Iš viso buvo pastatytos septynios baterijos, o 43-ioji baterija buvo aprūpinta 305 mm pabūklais. Latvijos Irbės sąsiaurio pakrantėje gynybos baterijų nebuvo pastatyta.

Net ir įkūrus Latvijos Respubliką, Latvijos armija ir karinis jūrų laivynas neįrengė artilerijos pozicijų Irbės sąsiauriui ginti.

Padėtis pasikeitė po 1939 m. spalio 5 d. Latvijos Respublikos ir SSRS savitarpio pagalbos pakto, kuris numatė Raudonosios armijos ir Baltijos karinio jūrų laivyno kontingento dislokavimą Kuržemėje. Sovietų Sąjungos planuose taip pat buvo numatyta sukurti pakrantės gynybos sistemą pagal 1912 m. planą su patobulinimais. Buvo numatyta pastatyti pakrantės gynybos baterijas Liepojos tvirtovės vietoje, naujas baterijas į pietus nuo Ventspilio (46-oji baterija) ir dvi baterijas siauriausioje Irbės sąsiaurio dalyje netoli Mikeltornio. Jau po Latvijos okupacijos ir aneksijos Baltijos karinio jūrų laivyno pakrantės gynybos planai buvo papildyti ir iki 1941 m. birželio mėn. buvo planuojama įkurti 207-ąją artilerijos diviziją su penkiomis baterijomis šiaurinėje Kuržemės dalyje. Mikeltornio apylinkėse turėjo būti įrengtos dvi baterijos – 40-oji baterija Lūžnoje su 130 mm B-13 pabūklais gelžbetoniniuose įtvirtinimuose ir 117-oji baterija Olmaniuose (vieta Latvijos armijos žemėlapiuose pažymėta Ķesteriais) su 152 mm MU-2 pabūklais. Kadangi 152 mm pabūklų kūrimas nebuvo baigtas, ant baterijos gelžbetoninių įtvirtinimų buvo pastatytos laikinos medinės platformos ir sumontuoti dar keturi 130 mm pabūklai. Abi baterijos buvo baigtos iki 1941 m. birželio mėn., tačiau kare prieš vokiečių 291-ąją pėstininkų diviziją baterijų nepavyko aptikti, todėl jų įgulos persikėlė į Saremos salą.

Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigoje Vokietijos armijų grupė „Kuršas“ gana rimtai svarstė galimus sovietų išsilaipinimus šiaurinėje Kuršo dalyje, ypač ištirpus ledui Suomijos įlankoje ir vakarinėje Estijos pakrantėje. Visoje Kuršo pakrantėje buvo dislokuotos savadarbės pakrantės gynybos baterijos. Sovietų Sąjungos 40-oji baterija „Gerate Batterie Sommer“, priklausanti 289-ajai artilerijos divizijai, su dviem 122 mm sovietinėmis haubicomis, buvo dislokuota gelžbetoninėse pozicijose netoli Lužnės. 117-osios baterijos pozicijų rajone buvo 530-osios artilerijos divizijos 2-oji baterija su trimis 152 mm sovietinėmis trofėjinėmis patrankomis, trimis 37 mm zenitiniais dronais, vienu 20 mm keturių vamzdžių zenitiniu dronu, dviem 75 mm prieštankinėmis patrankomis ir dviem minosvaidžiais apšvietimui.

Pasibaigus aktyviems karo veiksmams 1945 m. gegužę, SSRS pradėjo atkurti pakrantės gynybos sistemą Kuržemės pakrantėje. 1945 m. rudenį netoli Olmanių ūkio, kuris buvo pervadintas į „Krasnoflotskaja“, buvo dislokuota laikina 456-oji baterija su 152 mm Kane sistemos pabūklais.

1952 m. laikini baterijos pabūklai buvo pakeisti naujausiais 152 mm MU-2 ginklų sistemomis. Bateriją sudarė keturios gelžbetoninės pabūklų pozicijos, gelžbetoninis vadovavimo postas su tolimačio bokšteliu ir techniniai pastatai. Baterijos statyba buvo baigta 1958 m.

1958 m., išmontavus Lūžnios pakrantės gynybos bateriją, ją pakeitė mobili 130 mm SM-4-1 patrankų baterija Nr. 343. Mobiliosios patrankos neturėjo gelžbetoninių patrankų lizdų, tačiau buvo pastatytos kelios rąstų ir smėlio konstrukcijos.

343 baterija veikė iki septintojo dešimtmečio pradžios, o 456 baterija – iki 1975 m., kai buvo išsaugota. Baterijų pozicijose buvo dislokuoti S-125 oro gynybos raketų kompleksai, taip pat 10-asis pakrantės gynybos artilerijos-raketų pulkas su CP-2 „Sopka“ raketų kompleksais, o infrastruktūra buvo atitinkamai modifikuota.

Sovietų armija Olmanių ir Lūžnių baterijų infrastruktūrą Latvijos Respublikai perdavė 1993 m.

Sovietinis pasienio apsaugos apžvalgos bokštas yra netoli Pietinio molo Paviluostoje. Buvęs sovietinis pasienio apsaugos apžvalgos bokštas, kuris buvo nenaudojamas nuo XX a. dešimtojo dešimtmečio pradžios, dabar tarnauja kaip apžvalgos aikštelė su 360 laipsnių kampu besisukančiu sausumos teleskopu. Iš jo atsiveria gražūs jūros ir laivų vaizdai, jį galima naudoti paukščių stebėjimui. Lipti į bokštą leidžiama tik vasaros sezonu dienos šviesoje. Kadangi bokšto laiptai yra gana statūs, lankytojai turėtų įvertinti savo sugebėjimus, sveikatą ir susijusią riziką. Apžvalgos bokštas ir apylinkės stebimos vaizdo kameromis. Žiemos sezonu bokštas lankytojams uždarytas.

Edgaras Kārklevalkas Dundagos rajone valdo svečių namus „Pūpoli“ ir jau daugiau nei 15 metų savo restauruotu sovietinės armijos sunkvežimiu GAZ-66 (iki 24 asmenų) ir UAZ-3151 (iki 6 asmenų) veda žmones į istorines ir edukacines keliones po šiaurinę Kuržemę (įskaitant buvusias karines teritorijas). Sovietinės armijos sunkvežimiai ir kita įranga eksponuojami aplink svečių namus esančioje teritorijoje.

The "Officers' Kurgan" is located less than a kilometre from the ruins of Zvārde Church. The Kurgan is made of the ruins and remains of the surrounding houses and manor house, which have been bulldozed together. An observation tower was built on the kurgan. According to the inscription, the present tower was built in 1981. The tower was used to record bomb hits. The training bombs had a reduced explosive content, so their hits had to be watched more carefully. Unexploded bombs were neutralized immediately, but not all could be found.

 The remains of the tower can be seen here today - the brick walls. As the barrage is relatively high, you can even see the Lithuanian oil refinery in Mažeikiai on a clear day.

Located in Līgatne parish, Cēsis municipality, the Soviet Secret Bunker lies 9 metres below the Līgatne Rehabilitation Centre building and its adjacent territory. The bunker is open to visitors and offers guided tours, meals in the bunker canteen, Soviet-style parties and the reality game Object X. The purpose of the bunker was to provide the minimum necessary conditions for long-term work for the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR, the leadership of the Communist Council of the LSSR and the management of the LSSR state planning committee in the event of a nuclear war threat. The 2,000-square-metre underground bunker was the strongest autonomous structure with all the required and most state-of-the-art equipment of the time, and also one of the most strategically important sites in Soviet-era Latvia in the event of a nuclear war. The site has a protected underground workspace (shelter), a sanatorium-type sleeping block for 250 people, security facilities and a 24-apartment residential house for service staff. All of the authentic underground equipment and plans have been preserved to this day. Highlights include an autonomous power plant with diesel generators and fuel storage, conditioning equipment for air purification with oxygen reserves, water supply and sewerage equipment operating on the submarine principle, a telecommunications unit capable of providing direct contact with the Kremlin in Moscow and autonomous communications with all major services in the country, a unique map with historical names of collective farms, an authentic canteen with typical Soviet-era meals, as well as various Soviet-era attributes and household items.

Buvusi sovietų armijos raketų bazė yra Medņukalnuose, Zeltinių valsčiuje, Alūksnės savivaldybėje. Ši branduolinių raketų bazė buvo ypač slaptas sovietų armijos karinis objektas, veikė Zeltiniuose, Alūksnės savivaldybėje, nuo 1961 iki 1989 m. Objekte buvo dislokuotos vidutinio nuotolio balistinės raketos P-12 (8K63) ir P12Y (8K63Y) su 4 paleidimo aikštelėmis. Jų skrydžio atstumas buvo 2200 kilometrų. Šiuo laikotarpiu armija spygliuota viela saugojo apie 300 ha plotą, esantį mažiau nei kilometro atstumu nuo nacionalinio regioninio greitkelio Sinole-Silakrogs P34. Gyvosios ir itin slaptos zonos išliko iki šių dienų. Betoniniai keliai veda į tuo metu nuo akių paslėptas vietas: angarus, paleidimo aikšteles ir slėptuves nuo bombų. Dešimčių hektarų plote išsidėstę įvairūs branduolinių raketų priežiūros ir aptarnavimo statiniai. Įrenginiai, tiekę autonominį elektros energijos, vandens ir šilumos tiekimą teritorijai, buvo sunaikinti pasitraukus kariuomenei. Kariuomenei pasitraukus, dalis įrangos buvo perduota vietos savivaldybei. Šiuo metu lankytojai gali apžiūrėti 20 ha buvusios raketinės bazės teritorijos, kurios pietvakarinė dalis yra turistų traukos objektas. Bazę aplankę turistai gali rinktis iš pagrindinės ekspozicijos apie raketinės bazės istoriją, esančios Zeltinių muziejuje, arba turistinio maršruto bazės teritorijoje. Draugų grupės iki 12 žmonių čia gali žaisti lazerinį žaidimą.

Įsikūręs Salacgryvoje, šiaurės rytų kryptimi, 1 km nuo tilto per Salacos upę.

Sovietų armijos karinė bazė Salacgryvoje yra viena iš buvusių okupacinių pajėgų dislokacijos vietų. Salacgryvoje buvo dislokuotas oro gynybos dalinys. Jis buvo palyginti mažas ir tapo pirmuoju kariniu daliniu, 1992 m. palikusiu Latviją. Tuo metu Latvijoje vyko didelio masto plėšikavimas, kai Latvijos valstybė pasidavė Rusijos reikalavimams, kad okupacinė armija kuo greičiau paliktų teritoriją.

Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo Latvijos teritorijoje tęsėsi sparti ir ambicinga sovietų armijos karinių objektų statyba. Karinės bazės buvo tarsi valstybė valstybėje. Manoma, kad okupuota Latvija tapo labiausiai militarizuota vieta pasaulyje ir karo atveju būtų visiškai sunaikinta. Kriminaliniai nusikaltimai, imperinis požiūris ir atlaidumas ryškiausiai apibūdino sovietų armijos buvimą Latvijoje. Kruopščiai puoselėjamas mitas apie „laimingą gyvenimą sovietų Latvijoje“ ir sovietų armiją kaip „išvaduotoją“ iš tikrųjų buvo „gyvenimas ant parako statinės“. Atkūrus Latvijos nepriklausomybę, užsienio armija iš Latvijos pasitraukė tik 1994 m., tačiau dešimtys tūkstančių į pensiją išėjusių sovietų kariškių ir jų šeimų liko Latvijoje.

Šiandien galite aplankyti bazinę teritoriją.

Minint Latvijos šimtmetį, 2018 m. lapkritį Aizkrauklės seniū nijos kultūros namuose pradėjo veikti Aizkrauklės istorijos ir meno muziejaus ekspozicija „Sovietmetis“ – didžiausia ekspozicija Baltijos šalyse, skirta XX amžiaus (1950–1980 m.) kultūriniam ir istoriniam paveldui. Ekspozicija išdėsty ta per tris aukštus ir užima 1060 m2 plotą. Joje pristatomi įvairūs gyvenimo sovietmečiu aspektai: buitis, darbas ir laisvalaikis, švietimas ir kultūra. Pirmajame aukšte ekspo nuojami sovietmečio automobiliai. Atskirai įrengta biblio teka – Raudonasis kampelis. Įvairialypė ekspozicija kvie čia susipažinti su sovietmečio kasdienybe ir butų interjeru – baldais, buities reikmenimis, indais, tekstilės gaminiais ir elektros prietaisais. Kitos ekspozicijos erdvės skirtos emigracijai, sovietinių laikų represijoms, kasdieniam gyvenimui, medicinai, valstybės institucijoms, turizmui ir sportui, vaikystei bei švietimui. Gali ma apžiūrėti SSRS karinę atributiką ir uniformas.

Buvusios sovietinės armijos bazės pastatai yra apgriuvusios būklės, tačiau toje vietoje yra automobilių trasa. Vietovę galima apžiūrėti pėsčiomis, tačiau reikalinga gera avalynė, apsauganti nuo purvo ir smėlio.

Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo Latvijoje galiojo įvairūs draudimai pasienio ir pakrantės zonose. Nuo 1945 m. birželio 19 d. žvejams buvo paskirtos prieplaukos, aptvertos spygliuota viela, saugomos patrulių ir stebėjimo bokštų. 1946 m. rugsėjo 4 d. buvo įvestos draudžiamos pakrančių apsaugos zonos vakarinėje LTSR sienoje.

Jūrmalcų kaime yra buvęs pasienio kontrolės postas, bokštas ir paplūdimyje išdidžiai siūbuojantis traktorius! Kaip jis ten atsidūrė, verta paklausti vietinių gidų!

Pasakiškai graži ir įdomi vieta – ir su sovietmečio aura, ir su pajūrio žavesiu.

Poligono aptarnavimo bazė yra maždaug 2 kilometrus į rytus nuo Strikių dvaro, prie Saldus-Auce kelio. Į pietus nuo Saldus yra buvęs sovietų karinės aviacijos taikinių poligonas (karinis dalinys Nr. 15439) Zvārdėje. Aerodromo teritorijoje yra keletas lankytinų vietų – Zvārdės ir Ķerklinių bažnyčių griuvėsiai, sugriautos Rītelių kapinės, aerodromo stebėjimo postas, vadinamasis „Karininkų kurganas“ ir buvusi aerodromo personalo bazė bei šaudykla „Lapsas“.

Zvārdės oro taikinių poligonui aptarnauti – taikiniams įrengti, pažeidimams taisyti, oro taikinių poligonui saugoti ir oro skrydžiams koordinuoti – reikėjo maždaug vienos kuopos dalinio. Iki Antrojo pasaulinio karo jis buvo įsikūręs namo, vadinamo „Lapsas“, vietoje. Pastačius aerodromą, buvo pastatytos kareivinės, transporto depo, skrydžių valdymo bokštas ir šaudykla mokomajam personalui.

Latvijai atgavus nepriklausomybę, čia veikė Zvārdės gynybos pajėgų mokymo centras, tačiau nuo 2007 m. ši vieta priklauso savivaldybei ir ją nuomoja keli medžiotojų kolektyvai. Buvusiose kareivinėse įrengta ekspozicija apie Zvardės parapijos istoriją.

The Akmeņrags Lighthouse is located in Saka parish, 10 kilometres southwest of Pāvilosta. The top of the lighthouse can be reached by a spiral staircase and it offers views of the sea and the surrounding forests. Standing at 37 metres high, the current lighthouse tower was built in 1921, while the previous lighthouse was destroyed during World War I.

The Akmeņrags Lighthouse stands out among other lighthouses in Latvia, as it is located in one of the most dangerous places for sailing in the entire Baltic Sea coast. The signal beam of the lighthouse marks a rocky bank, which extends approximately two nautical miles or 3.7 kilometres into the sea in a north-western direction. The depth of the bank is just over two metres. The location of the lighthouse has remained unchanged, but the coastline has been receding over the years. Although a navigation light has been here since 1879, Akmeņrags has seen several shipwrecks. The most notable occurred in September 1923 when a Latvian steamer named Saratow struck the ground. In 1919, Saratow briefly served as the seat of the Latvian Provisional Government. Akmeņrags used to be home to a border guard post, and buildings of the Soviet Army are can be viewed here.

During the Soviet era, a border guard unit was located here, other Soviet army units - liaison officers and a surface-to-air missile base were located several kilometres away in the forest. After independence, the Latvian army was stationed there.

The former Soviet army military base is now a recreation, leisure and camping centre - for personal development in interaction with nature and the people around. 

A place for recreation and accommodation for both tourist groups and families. Rooms, showers, WC, fireplaces, spacious area for activities, sounds of nature. Book in advance by calling +371 26314505.

Buvęs sovietinės armijos miestelis yra Mežgarciems mieste, Adažių savivaldybėje, netoli P1 greitkelio. Tai buvo nedidelis miestelis, kuriame gyveno sovietinės armijos oro gynybos daliniai ir kuris buvo naudojamas kaip karinė mokymo bazė. Šalia miestelio pastatyti informaciniai stendai. Buvusios armijos bazės teritorija yra prieinama lankytojams. Mežgarciemso sovietinės okupacijos metu žemėlapiuose nebuvo. Ir nebuvo nieko, kas leistų manyti, kad čia buvo nedidelis miestelis, pastatytas sovietinei kariuomenei su oro gynybos pajėgumais. Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo Latvijos teritorijoje sparčiai pradėta statyti sovietinės armijos stotis. O šios armijos bazės buvo tarsi atskiros valstybės šalies viduje. Kariniai daliniai buvo beveik kiekvienoje Latvijos vietoje. Ypač privilegijuota visuomenės dalis buvo SSRS atsargos kariškiai ir jų šeimos, kuriems prioriteto tvarka buvo suteikta gyvenamoji erdvė. Daugelis rinkosi Latvijos miestus, nes gyvenimo lygis čia buvo aukštesnis nei kitur Sovietų Sąjungoje. Sovietinės armijos buvimui Latvijoje buvo būdingas nusikalstamas elgesys, imperialistinis požiūris ir nebaudžiamumas, rodantys abejingą režimo požiūrį į Latviją ir jos žmones. O kruopščiai puoselėjamas mitas apie laimingą gyvenimą sovietinėje Latvijoje ir sovietų armiją kaip išvaduotoją iš tikrųjų buvo tarsi gyvenimas ant parako statinės.

Mokyklos pastatas yra miesto centre, kairėje Ausekļa gatvės pusėje, šalia Valkos Janio Cimzės gimnazijos.

Pastatas, pavadintas mokytojo Adamo Tēraudo vardu, iš pradžių buvo mokykla, o jo statyba buvo baigta 1923 m. 1946 m. čia buvo įsikūręs armijos garnizono karinis štabas. Taip Valkos miesto centre buvo įkurtas karinis centras, o Valka tapo svarbiu SSRS armijos branduolinių ginklų objektu. Pastato teritorija buvo aptverta aukšta tvora ir vadinama miestu mieste, nes turėjo savo parduotuvę, ligoninę, katilinę ir net kavinę armijos poreikiams. Ant pastato stogo buvo uždėta sovietinės valdžios simbolika – raudona žvaigždė. Armija paliko šią vietą devintojo dešimtmečio pabaigoje, pasiimdama viską, ką galėjo panešti.

Šalia, už Adamo Plieno mokyklos ir požeminių bunkerių, yra Švedų (Šeremetjevo) pylimas. Dirbtinai sukurtas žemių pylimas buvo pastatytas Šiaurės karo pradžioje, apie 1702 m., siekiant apsaugoti Valką nuo švedų. Stačiausia pylimo siena yra nukreipta į Ērgemi, o kita pusė – į Auseklės gatvę.

Šiandien Adamo Steelo mokyklą galima apžiūrėti tik iš išorės.

Valkos bunkeriai yra Valkos miesto centre, kairėje Ausekļa gatvės pusėje, šalia Adamo Tēraudo mokyklos. Lankytojai bunkerius gali apžiūrėti tik iš išorės. Sovietų armijos bunkeriai Valkoje buvo vienos slapčiausių vietų Sovietų Latvijoje, prieinamos tik asmenims su specialiais leidimais. Nuo 1953 iki 1989 m. juose buvo įsikūręs Sovietų armijos strateginių raketų ryšių rezervas. Dideliais šešiolikračiais sunkvežimiais buvo pristatomi masyvūs gelžbetonio blokai bunkerių statybai. Baigus statyti, visi trys bunkeriai buvo uždengti žvyru, kad būtų galima papildomai sutvirtinti ir izoliuoti. Bunkeriuose buvo įsikūręs strateginių raketų ryšių rezervas, pavaldus Leningrado ryšių centrui. Iš šių bunkerių buvo valdomi silosai su armijos raketomis. Valkos ir Valgos apylinkėse buvo 20 tokių silosų. 1962 m. spalį, per Kubos raketų krizę, šios raketos buvo paruoštos kovai ir nukreiptos į Floridą. Pasak legendos, likus porai valandų iki paleidimo, jos buvo paleistos. Šalia Adamo Tēraudo mokyklos ir požeminių bunkerių yra Švedų (Šeremetjevo) įtvirtinimas. Dirbtinė žemių siena buvo pastatyta Šiaurės karo pradžioje, apie 1702 m., siekiant apsaugoti Valką nuo švedų. Stačiausia įtvirtinimo siena yra nukreipta į Ērgemės kaimą, o kita pusė – į Auseklės gatvę.

Valkos geležinkelio stotis yra Porukos gatvės gale, šalia nenaudojamų geležinkelio bėgių. Stoties pastatą galima apžiūrėti tik iš išorės, kur yra informaciniai stendai apie geležinkelio svarbą Valkoje ir Valgoje. Šalia stoties pastato yra atminimo akmuo, skirtas 1941 m. birželio 14 d. į Sibirą ištremtiems žmonėms. Stoties pastatas buvo pastatytas apie 1896–1897 m. Iš pradžių čia buvo nutiestos siaurojo geležinkelio linijos Valkos-Rūjienos-Pernu ruože. Pirmojo pasaulinio karo metu geležinkelis buvo smarkiai apgadintas. Nustačius valstybės sieną, Valkos geležinkelio stotis (Valka II) tapo pasienio stotimi. 1920 m. rugsėjo pabaigoje į Valką atvyko speciali Geležinkelių valdybos komisija. Komisija buvo įgaliota derėtis ir sudaryti sutartį su Estija dėl keleivių perkėlimo iš vienos valstybės stoties į kitą. Trikampiu išdėstytų Lugažių, Valkos ir Valgos stočių bėgiai buvo strategiškai svarbūs, nes leido šarvuotiems traukiniams apsisukti ir judėti priešinga kryptimi. Sovietmečiu SSRS armija naudojo šią stotį balistinėms raketoms Valkai pristatyti. 1941 m. birželio 13–14 d. naktį įvyko masinis Latvijos gyventojų deportavimas į SSRS gilumą. Daugiau nei 90 žmonių iš Valkos ir aplinkinių vietovių buvo susodinti į gyvulių vagonus ir deportuoti iš Valkos geležinkelio stoties be jokio teismo sprendimo, išankstinio įspėjimo ar paaiškinimų. 1944 m. rugsėjį stotį sunaikino besitraukianti vokiečių armija.

Latvijos armijos vasaros stovykla Litenėje įsikūrusi miške, Litenės valsčiuje, netoli Pededzės upės. Litenės stovyklos ištakos siekia 1935 m., kai buvo pradėtas Latvijos armijos Latgalos divizijos vasaros stovyklos komplekso statyba. Nuo gegužės iki rudens Litenėje keli tūkstančiai kareivių mokėsi kovos taktikos ir šaudymo įgūdžių. 1941 m. vasarą Latvijos armijos karininkus Litenės armijos vasaros stovykloje suėmė Raudonosios armijos ir NKVD kariuomenės daliniai. Keletas karininkų buvo sušaudyti vietoje, kiti ištremti į Sibirą. 1941 m. birželio 14 d. mažiausiai 430 karininkų buvo suimti ir ištremti į Sibirą į Litenės ir Ostroviečių stovyklas, esančias maždaug už 10 kilometrų nuo Litenės. Vienintelis išlikęs istorinis stovyklos pastatas yra maisto sandėlis. Iš kitų pastatų išlikę tik pamatai. Yra apžvalgos aikštelė su Latvijos vėliava, suolai ir gerai prižiūrima laužavietė. Gynybos ministerijos ir Nacionalinių ginkluotųjų pajėgų remiant, buvo įrengta demilitarizuota patranka. Pastatyti informaciniai stendai. Su Litenės stovyklos įvykiais taip pat susijęs Skausmo sienos memorialas Litenės kapinėse. Latvijos armijos „YouTube“ kanale yra vaizdo įrašas pavadinimu „Litene, Latvijos armijos Katynė“.

Įsikūręs netoli Vecgulbenės dvaro, Litenes gatvėje.

Antroje XX a. 5-ojo dešimtmečio pusėje Vecgulbenės dvaro oranžerijoje ir greta esančiame dvaro sodininko name buvo dislokuota sovietinės armijos dalinio Nr. 75568 radiolokatorių kuopa. Jos reikmėms buvo supilti lokatorių pylimai ir įrengti lokatoriai aerodrome (buvusiame Latvijos karinės aviacijos aerodrome). Devintojo dešimtmečio pabaigoje jie buvo perkelti į Beliavos valsčių. Sovietinė armija iš Gulbenės pasitraukė 1993 m.

Matoma aikštė, Litenes gatvėje – du dirbtinai iškilę kalvos.

Litenės kapinėse randama meno kūrinių.

2001 m. birželio 14 d. Litenės kapinėse buvo atidengtas architektų Dinos Grūbės, Benitos ir Dainio Bērzinių, akmenkalių Ivaro Feldbergo ir Sandro Skribnovskio sukurtas memorialas „Skausmo siena“. Jis simbolizuoja 1941 m. žuvusių karių poilsio vietą. 1988 m. spalį buvusios Latvijos armijos vasaros stovyklos teritorijoje Sita siloje, Litenės parapijoje, rasti 11 karininkų, kuriuos 1941 m. birželį nužudė sovietų armija, pelenai. Nors jų atpažinti nepavyko, 1989 m. gruodžio 2 d., po pašventinimo pamaldose Gulbenės evangelikų liuteronų bažnyčioje, jie buvo iškilmingai perlaidoti Litenės kapinėse.

11 baltų kryžių, atminimo lenta ir informaciniai stendai.

Sērmūkši is home to one of more than a hundred memorials to partisan battles in Latvia. There are more than six hundred partisan battle sites in Latvia. A Latvian national partisan dugout has been built based on historical evidence, and visitors can spend the night in near-authentic conditions with plank beds, lighting provided by kerosene lamps and a heating device similar to the ones used by partisans. Visits must be booked in advance. The fateful moment for the Sērmūkši National Partisan Group came on 29 November 1946 with the deaths of four fighters from the group: Jānis Zīrāks, Reinholds Pētersons, Jānis Pīlands and Anna Zariņa. Alfrēds Suipe survived, endured deportation, returned to Latvia and saw the restoration of a free state. He initiated the idea to establish a memorial site for his fallen companions in Sērmūkši.

Honoring the memory of the national partisan commander Pēteras Supes, on May 28, 2005, a monument dedicated to him was unveiled in Vilakas. It is placed near the Viļaka Catholic Church, on the edge of the trenches dug during the war, where the Chekists buried the shot national partisans. A capsule with the names of 386 fallen national partisans, battle descriptions and materials about the partisan commander is placed under the monument dedicated to P.Supem. The words engraved in stone: "I remained faithful to you, Latvia, until my last breath".
The monument was created by Pēteris Kravalis.

Next to it is a memorial place in the Stompaki forest and other places of battle for Latvian freedom fighters who fell and were murdered by the Chekists in 1944-1956.
On June 20, 2008, a granite plaque with the names of 55 fallen partisans arranged in three columns was discovered on the right wall.
The monument was erected in the place where the communist occupation authorities once displayed the remains of the murdered partisans to intimidate the rest of the population.

Words of thanks to Pēteris Supe and a poem by Bronislava Martuževa are engraved on the adjacent plaque:
"Get up, Peter Supe,
Soul, in battle!
Today Your blood sacrifice,
Risen in the nation.
Go out to live forever
In the strength and vigor of the young,
Wraps, flutters, folds
In the rising flag!"

The Forest Brothers’ Bunker is located by the Riga-Pskov (A2) highway 76 kilometres from Riga and 11 kilometres from Cēsis. The Latvian national partisans or Forest Brothers were small, armed groups of local residents who fought their independent battles against the occupation regime of the USSR in the territory of Latvia from 1944 to 1956. Forced to hide in the forests, these were people who could not or did not want to live in the Soviet Union. A total of around 20,193 Forest Brothers operated in Latvia. The bunker was formed based on the stories and memories of former Forest Brothers about life in the forests, hiding and fighting for the independent state of Latvia after 1945. The bunker showcases armaments and household items. The personal belongings, weapons and photos of partisans are on display. The guide’s narration is enriched by a video from interviews with Forest Brothers. There is a place for picnic campfires by the bunker. It is possible to pre-order a soup prepared on the fire or enjoy an evening of outdoor cinema by the fire.

It is located in the Griva forest massif.
Six objects related to the places of national and Soviet partisan battles are under consideration.
In the forest massif of Griva, there are not only the headquarters of the "Purvsaliņi" national partisans, the White Cross in the bunker of the national partisans and the cross to the commander of the resistance movement Andrejas Roskoš, but also the grave of the Soviet partisan brigade commander Artūrs Balož, a monument on the so-called Maiden Hill, where a Soviet partisan died in 1944 the group of young partisans of the brigade, as well as a monument to the Soviet partisans with a five-pointed star and the engraved words "Let's cover ourselves with needles".

It is also possible to view the objects by going for a ride with a two-wheeler on bicycle route no. 785 - "Rhymes of history in the forests of Griva" (route length 34 km, gravel and forest roads). Map for download.

Memorial place for the commander of the national partisan group Andrejas Roskoš (GPS 56.87399, 27.43524)
In the autumn of 1997, the White Cross was discovered in Lielgrivas forest for the commander of the national partisan group Andrejas Roskoš.

Monument to Artūrs Balodis (GPS 56.872926, 27.478121)
Artūrs Balodis was a Soviet partisan, the commander of special tasks of sub-unit A, which was stationed in the Griva forest massif. Fell in the extensive "combing" carried out by the occupiers of Nazi Germany. The comrades carved the letters AB in the birch tree at the place where he died, so that it would not be forgotten. After the war, local researchers found the marked birch and installed a commemorative plaque in its place.

For all those who fell in the forests of Griva (GPS 56.863280, 27.47975)
This commemorative stone in the Griva forest massif has been installed by VAS "Latvijas valsts meži" in honor of the partisans who fought for their homeland. Next to the memorial stone, there is a map-scheme with indications of the partisans' headquarters and places of interest. There is also a rest area. Nearby is the settlement of the national partisans, 1945-1947.

National partisans settlement (GPS 56.863456, 27.481148)
In this place there were settlements of national partisans who fought against the Soviet occupation. The places of individual bunkers have been preserved, by their visual appearance you can judge how big and what shape the dugouts were. National partisans, resisting the Soviet power, operated in the forests of Griva for several years after the end of the Second World War.

Griva forest memorial ensemble, dugout (GPS 56.860665, 27.490439)
It was built in memory of the Soviet partisans who lived in the forests of Griva. Guerrillas blew up the local railway network and trains to disrupt the supply of ammunition, food, etc. to the Nazi German army. Memorial stones have been placed in places where trenches were dug during the war. In the restored dugout you can feel the atmosphere of wartime.

Girls' hill (GPS 56.858187, 27.521526)
In June 1944, the occupiers of Nazi Germany carried out an extensive "combing" of the Griva forests with the intention of destroying the partisans. The soldiers on the hill of Numerne besieged the economic company, which consisted mostly of young girls, and all of them were shot. Since these tragic events, Numerne hill was renamed Meitenu hill by local residents. A memorial stone has been erected at this location.

Įsikūręs „Čūskubirž“, Alsvikių valsčiuje, Alūksnės savivaldybėje.

Atminimo akmuo atidengtas 2018 m. rugpjūčio 21 d. Akmenkalis Ainārs Zelčs.

Čia, miško masyve, išliko bunkerio vieta, kur 1947 m. birželį Latvijos nacionalinių partizanų asociacijos generalinio štabo ryšių skyriaus viršininkas Antonas Circanas atvyko į susitikimą su Bruno Bukalderso vadovaujamais partizanų atstovais, siekdamas organizuoti ir palaikyti ryšius tarp atskirų nacionalinių partizanų grupių. Antono Circano tikslas nebuvo įgyvendintas, nes jis žuvo 1947 m. liepos 7 d. netoli Drustų.

Įsikūręs Veclaicenės valsčiuje, Alūksnės rajone.

Atidaryta 2019 m. spalio 4 d. Akmenkalis Ainārs Zelčs.
1953 m. kovo 13 d. Veclaicenės miškuose, netoli „Korulių“ namų, čekistai aptiko kruopščiai užmaskuotą bunkerį ir suėmė Bernhardą Ābelkoką ir Elmārą Tortūzą.
Bunkeryje buvo rasti ginklai: 2 vokiški šautuvai ir 95 šoviniai, 2 „Parabellum“ pistoletai ir 152 šoviniai.
1949 m. lapkričio 11 d. Čekos agentai sušaudė K. Dokti-Dokteniekus, o jo grupuotė iširo. Po išpuolio B. Ābelkoksas ir E. Tortūzis kurį laiką slapstėsi bunkeryje netoli „Maskalių“ namų, tačiau nuo 1951 m. pavasario, padedami Ilonos Ābolkalnos, įsikūrė bunkerį „Koruliuose“, kur gyveno iki suėmimo.

The Broņislava Martuževa Museum is situated on the site of the poet’s childhood home in Indrāni parish, Madona municipality. The museum’s exhibit is located in a renovated barn featuring voice and video evidence from the National Resistance Movement and the work of the poet in publishing an underground magazine, as well as composing poetry and songs for national partisans. Broņislava Martuževa was involved with the resistance movement since its inception. Lazdiņas, Martuževa’s home which has not survived, also served as a place of refuge for Pēteris Supe, Head of the Latvian National Partisan Association, and his comrades-in-arms. The poet spent five years hiding in the basement of her home, meeting with partisans, writing poetry (including work dedicated to partisans Pēteris Supe, Vilis Toms, Smilga Group, Laivenieks, Salns, Celmiņš, Bruno Dundurs and others), as well as writing songs and teaching them to partisans. Now, her songs are sung by the ‘Baltie lāči’ group (literally: ‘White Bears’). In 1950, the ‘Dzimtene’ magazine (literally: ‘Motherland’) was published underground together with Vilis Toms. The poet transcribed 11 issues of the magazine, 10 copies each, by hand. The poet, her brother, sister, mother and Vilis Toms were arrested in 1951. Bronislava Martuževa returned from Siberia in 1956. Recognised locally and nationally, the poetry barn is visited by both local residents and guests of the municipality. Learning about the poet’s life gives you the opportunity to discover the fate of Latvia.

Located in Indrāni Parish, Lubāna New Cemetery.

A memorial place to the fallen soldiers of the Latvian Legion and national partisans can be seen

The memorial was opened on July 25, 1992. The memorial stone was created by Andris Briezis.

At the beginning of the Awakening, in October 1990, Kārlis Doropoļskis, a member of the Helsinki 86 human rights group, received permission from the authorities to resume the joint burial of Latvian legionnaires the cemetery of the brothers, which was arranged in the new cemetery of Lubāna. A total of 26 fallen legionnaires and national partisans were buried in the brothers' cemetery.

Įsikūręs Ziemerso parapijoje, Valstybinio miško 66-ajame kvartale.

Memorialas buvo atidengtas 2020 m. liepos 10 d.
Antrajame Latvijos nacionalinio partizanų judėjimo etape, 1948 m. viduryje, nuo J. Bitāno-Liepačo būrio Mālupē-Bėjos valsčių teritorijoje atsiskyrė 4 asmenų grupė - Vikas Pētersis, Steberas Rolandas, Bukanas Ilgmārs ir Kangsepa Elvīra, kurie pradėjo savarankišką veiklą Ziemeros-Jaunlaicenės-Veclaicenės valsčiuose. Partizanų štabas buvo netoli Estijos sienos, netoli Rygos-Pskovo plento, ant kalvos, gerai įrengtame bunkeryje.
1950 m. kovo 2 d., čekistams aptikus bunkerį, partizanai pasislėpė iš riedulių pastatytame tvarte „Napke“ name Estijos pusėje. Po ilgų ir įnirtingų susišaudymų 1950 m. kovo 3 d. čekistams pavyko tvartą padegti. Ilgmārs Bukāns, Rolands Stebers ir Elvīra Kangsepa sudegė kartu su naujagime dukra. Pēteris Viks iššoko pro tvarto langą ir pasislėpė namo palėpėje, kur buvo rastas ir sušaudytas. Ūkis buvo sudegintas. Visų žuvusių partizanų kūnai buvo išvežti į Alūksnę. Kovotojų žūties vietoje 1990-ųjų pradžioje buvo pastatytas atminimo ženklas. Elvyros Kangsepos dukra, gimusi degančiame tvarte, buvo vardu Liesma.

Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais Stompakų pelkėje buvo viena didžiausių nacionalinių partizanų būstinių Baltijos šalyse. Šiandien ši teritorija priklauso Stompakų gamtos draustiniui.

Pelkių salose esančią gyvenvietę galima pa siekti pažymėtu pėsčiųjų taku. 1945 m. pradžioje Stompakų pelkėje buvusioje nacionali nių partizanų būstinėje gyveno 350–360 žmonių, iš jų – 40 50 moterų. Joje buvo 24 gyvenamieji bunkeriai – pusiau į žemę įkasti statiniai, kuriuose galėjo gyventi 3–8 žmonės. Būstinėje taip pat veikė kepykla, požeminė bažnyčia ir trys antžeminės pašiūrės arkliams. Partizanai rengė išpuo lius prieš okupacinio režimo pareigūnus. 1945 m. kovo 2–3 d. čia vyko Stompakų mūšis – didžiau sias nacionalinių partizanų susirėmimas Latvijoje. Būstinė je buvusius 350–360 partizanų puolė NKVD 143-asis šaulių pulkas ir vietinio stribų (rus. „isterbiteli“) bataliono kovoto jai – iš viso 483 vyrai. Mūšis truko visą kovo 2 dieną. Kovo 3-iosios naktį partizanams pavyko ištrūkti iš būstinės ir pasi traukti į ankstesnės bazės vietą. Mūšyje žuvo 28 partizanai, o NKVD neteko 32 karių. Šiuo metu Stompakų būstinės vietoje yra atkurti trys bun keriai – bažnyčia, štabas ir gyvenamasis bunkeris, taip pat 21 bunkerio vieta. Įrengti informaciniai stendai apie būsti nę ir mūšį. Galima užsisakyti ekskursijas su gidu.

Vesetos partizanų žeminė ir atminimo vieta „Baltasis kryžius“ yra Vesetos užliejamos pelkės teritorijoje. Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo Vietalvoje veikė vadinamoji Parupo partizanų grupė. Jai vadovavo Richardas Parupas (1914–1946), buvęs vokiečių kariuomenės 15-osios latvių divizijos seržantas. Karo metais jis dalyvavo nacionalinių partizanų veikloje Jėka bpilio ir Maduonos apylinkėse. Per neilgą gyvavimo laikotarpį Parupo grupė surengė daugiau kaip dvidešimt ginkluotų susirė mimų su tuometės Vidaus reikalų ministerijos daliniais. Čekistų pulkininko Kotovo ataskaitoje savo vadovybei Rygoje teigiama, kad dėl šios grupės veiklos sovietinės valdžios įsitvir tinimas Jekabpilio ir Maduonos rajonuose buvo paralyžiuotas. Parupo vadovaujami nacionaliniai partizanai surado ir sunaikino kelis tremiamųjų sąrašus, taip išgelbėdami daugelio žmonių gy vybes. Kadangi atviroje kovoje nacionalinių partizanų būrio su naikinti nepavyko, Saugumo komitetas į jį infiltravo keturis čekistų specialiosios grupės narius. 1946 m. liepos 2 d. naktį šie agentai nušovė dešimt būrio partizanų, tarp jų ir Richardą Parupą. Nužudytųjų palaidojimo vieta nežinoma, tačiau Rygos brolių ka pinėse įrengta jiems skirta atminimo lenta. Prie Vesetos partizanų žeminės stovi paminklas „Baltasis kryžius“ – 3 m aukščio baltas kryžius su lenta, kurioje iškalti 1946 m. liepos 2 d. žuvusių partizanų vardai ir pavardės.

It is located 15 km from Balvi in the direction of Viļakas, on the right side of the road.

A memorial is visible.

The memorial to the members of the resistance movement, dedicated to the memory of the national partisans of Pēteras Supes who fell in the battles of March 2 and 3, 1945, on the side of the Balva - Viļaka highway opposite the Stompaki swamp, was opened on August 11, 2011, on the day of remembrance of Latvian freedom fighters. At the end of July, a capsule with a message for future generations was embedded in the base of the monument. A document with the names of 28 national partisans who fell in the battles of March 2 and 3, 1945 is placed in the capsule.

"In February 1945, Latvia's largest national partisan camp was established on the islands of the Stompaku swamp, which the people began to call the islands of the Stompaku swamp, 2 km from the Balvu - Viļaka highway, where 360 people lived in 22 dugouts. Among them, some legionnaires who, for the legion division retreating, they had stayed at their father's house with all their weapons. In order to destroy the partisans, on March 2, 1945, the soldiers of two battalions of Czech troops attacked the dugouts together with destroyers, which also had four mortars in their armament. The battles took place all day, the partisans resisted stubbornly, and the attackers suffered suffered great losses, so that they could not capture the camp and destroy the partisans. 28 inhabitants of the Stompaku swamp had also fallen or died after being seriously injured in the battle. The next night, the partisans broke the siege of the camp with a battle and left undefeated" - this is what a member of the national resistance movement of the award department writes about the Stompaku battle chairman of the case commission, Zigfrīds Berķis.

Privati ekspozicija „Abrenės kambariai“ įsikūrusi Viliakos mieste, istoriniame pastate. Iš pradžių šis pastatas stovėjo senosios Marienhauzeno turgaus aikštėje. Vėliau čia vei kė butai, biurai, įvairios parduotuvės, o Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais – latvių savigynos štabas, gestapas ir čekistų būstinė. Ekspozicijose pristatomi įvairūs Viliakos ir jos apylinkių isto rijos laikotarpiai bei įvykiai nuo 1920 iki 1960 metų – kai miestelis priklausė Jaunlatgalės, vėliau Abrenės apskri čiai. Tarp eksponatų – Stompakų pelkės partizanų štabo daiktai, pasakojantys apie nacionalinį pasipriešinimą Lat galoje, taip pat dokumentai ir fotografijos iš Nepriklauso mybės kovų laikotarpio. Naujausioje ekspozicijoje lankytojai gali susipažinti su ka daise garsia motokroso trasa „Baltasis briedis“.

Įsikūręs Mālupės valsčiuje, Alūksnės sav.

Atminimo akmuo atidengtas 2017 m. spalio 13 d. Akmenkalis Ainārs Zelčs.

1945 m. rugpjūčio 24 d. Latgaloje, Dubnos miškuose, buvo įkurta Latvijos nacionalinė partizanų asociacija (LNPA), kurios tikslas buvo atkurti 1918 m. Latvijos Respubliką. Siekiant geriau koordinuoti partizanų grupių veiklą, buvo įsteigti regioniniai štabai. Bejos, Mālupės ir Mārkalnės valsčiuose veikusios nacionalinės partizanų grupės susijungė į „Priedolainės“ sektorių. Regioniniam štabui vadovavo Janis Liepacis. Kiekviename regioniniame štabe buvo įsteigti propagandos skyriai. Vienas iš jų, vadovaujamas Janio Bitāna, buvo įkurtas Mālupės valsčiaus miškų masyve. Čia, bunkeryje, nuo 1946 iki 1948 m. buvo spausdinami penki Latvijos nacionalinės partizanų asociacijos spaudos leidiniai: „Mazais Latvis“, „Liesma“, „Auseklis“, „Māras Zeme“ ir „Tautas Sargs“. Alūksnės gimnazijos jaunimo pasipriešinimo judėjimas „Dzimtenes Sili“ dalyvavo informacijos rengime ir skleidime.

Įsikūręs Ilzenės valsčiuje, Alūksnės savivaldybėje.

Atminimo akmuo atidengtas 2018 m. rugsėjo 28 d. Akmenkalis Ainārs Zelčs.

Šių Ilzenės valsčiaus namų gyventojai nuo 1944 m. rudens rėmė Voldemaro Andersono („Vec“) vadovaujamus nacionalinius partizanus, kurių bunkeris buvo netoliese, miško tankmėje. 1945 m. lapkričio 23 d. bunkerį apsupo NKVD kareiviai. Mūšyje žuvo devyni kovotojai. Po mūšio buvo rasti 2 kulkosvaidžiai, 14 automatinių šautuvų, 11 šautuvų, 10 pistoletų, 3500 šovinių, 45 granatos, 4 žiūronai. Voldemaro Andersono grupės sunaikinimas buvo suplanuotas Čekos agentūros byloje „Grandinė“ („Цепь“).

Grupę sudarė Voldemaras Pāvelsas Andersons ("Vecais"), Gastonsas Dzelzkalējs, Voldemaras Tonnis, Centis Eizāns, Osvalds Kalējs, Jānis Koemets, Stāvais ("Polis"), Voldemaras Rappa, Eduards Rappa, Elmārs Rappa (liko gyvas).

1941 m. birželio ir 1949 m. kovo mėn. trėmimams atminti Skrundos geležinkelio stotyje pastatytas atminimo akmuo ir keturašis vagonas, kuris taip pat tarnauja kaip trėmimams skirtas muziejus. Tai pirmasis vagono tipo muziejus Latvijoje, kuriame nuolat eksponuojamos iš Skrundos stoties ištremtų žmonių nuotraukos, laiškai, atsiminimai, dokumentai ir įvairūs daiktai. Skrundos stotis buvo tremtinių surinkimo vieta ir viena iš trijų regiono stočių, į kurią buvo atvežti žmonės iš Skrundos ir Kuldygos apylinkių. 1941 m. iš čia į Krasnojarsko kraštą Sibire buvo ištremta pirmojo atkurtos Latvijos Respublikos prezidento Gunčio Ulmanio šeima.

Deportacijų pagalba sovietai susidorojo su nacionalinių partizanų šalininkais ir tuo pačiu metu baugino likusius kaimo gyventojus, versdami juos stoti į kolūkius.

Plaukdami pramoginiu laivu „Zezer“ Ciecerės ežeru netoli Brocėnų, galėsite klausytis audiogido ir kapitono pasakojimų apie Ciecerės ežerą ir Brocėnų miestą prie jo krantų, Antrojo pasaulinio karo įvykius prie Ciecerės ežero, apkasus abiejose ežero pusėse ir Ąžuolų salą, taip pat tankų maršrutą, vedantį palei apžvalgos bokštą ir tanką, kuris, kaip teigiama, yra nuskandintas ežere. Audiogidas pateikiamas latvių, lietuvių, anglų ir rusų kalbomis. Kelionė trunka 1 valandą 15 minučių.

Vienintelė Latvijoje siuvimo mašinų kolekcija, kurioje yra daugiau nei 200 skirtingų siuvimo mašinų iš ikikario ir sovietmečio laikotarpio, kurios atliko tiesioginį vaidmenį karinės aprangos gamyboje ikikario ir karo metais. Kolekcijos kūrėjas - Juris Beloivansas.

The fraternal cemetery of the Red Army 130th Latvian and 8th Estonian Rifle Corps soldiers is located about 350 metres south-west of the Blīdene-Remte road. The name derives from the farm Tušķi, which was located 400 m south of the cemetery.

On 17 March 1945, the last attempt of the Red Army in Kurzeme began. The 308th Latvian Rifle Division attacked south-west and west of the Tušķi homestead and during three days of fighting crossed the Blīdene-Remte road in the 142.2 area of the highlands and reached the Jaunāsmuižas-Mezmali line. The soldiers killed during the battles were buried in several small cemeteries near Ķēķiai, Vērotāji, Jaunāsmuiža and elsewhere.

In the late 1960s, when the Soviet Union began to commemorate the Second World War, a new cemetery was established north of the ruins of the Tušķu homestead, where it was planned to rebury all the soldiers who had fallen in the Pilsblidene and Kaulači area. In reality, the reburial was partial, as very often the fallen soldiers remained in their original gravesites, but only their names were overwritten in the cemetery of the Tuški brothers. The names of the soldiers of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps, whose main wartime cemetery was located on the site of the present Pilsblidene cemetery, can also be found in the Tuški Brethren Cemetery.

There is also a monument to Jakob Kundera, a soldier of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps, to whom the object 'Kundera dots' is dedicated. Immediately after the battle, Jakob Kundera was buried in what is now Pilsblidene Cemetery, and later reburied in the Tuški Brethren Cemetery.

Located in Krustpils Palace

Viewable exhibition "Fights for freedom in the 20th century"
Soviet repression. Hard memories. Sitting here in a club chair, you can listen to fragments of the book "Those were the times" by Ilmars Knaģ from Jēkabpils. On one of the walls of the room, a list of townspeople deported to Siberia slides dispassionately, like the credits after a movie. There you can watch an amateur video about the removal of the Lenin monument in Jēkabpils on the old TV. Visitors are interested not only in the content, but also in the technical possibilities - how did this film get on the old TV.

It is possible to listen to the lectures prepared by the museum specialists at the Jēkabpils History Museum or apply for an excursion: Jēkabpils and its surroundings in the First World War, Jēkabpils in 1990, the time of the Barricades, the deportations of 1949 - 70, Jēkabpilians Cavaliers of the Lāčplēš Military Order, etc.
The average duration of lectures is 40 min. Information and registration for lectures by calling 65221042, 27008136.

Information about prices

Jēkabpils History Museum is located in Krustpils Castle. In 1940, after the inclusion of Latvia in the USSR, the 126th Rifle Division was stationed in Krustpils Castle. During the Second World War, the castle housed a German infirmary, and after August 1944, a Red Army war hospital. After the war, Krustpils Castle with the adjacent manor buildings were occupied by the central warehouses of the 16th Long-range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment and the 15th Air Army of the Soviet Army.

Vainodės aerodrome vis dar yra 16 sovietmečio orlaivių angarų ir 1800 m ilgio kadaise 2500 m ilgio tako atkarpa. Aerodromą galima aplankyti tik iš anksto užsiregistravus. Vainodės aerodromas buvo įkurtas Latvijos nepriklausomybės metais kaip vienas iš Latvijos aviacijos lopšių, o vėliau tapo vienu didžiausių karinių aerodromų Baltijos šalyse. 1916 m. buvo pastatyti du angarai Vokietijos armijos dirižabliams. Dirižabliai buvo naudojami žvalgybai rinkti ir Rusijos armijos pozicijoms bombarduoti. Vėliau Rygos miestas įsigijo dirižablių angarus ir panaudojo jų stogo konstrukcijas Rygos centrinio turgaus paviljonams pastatyti. 1940 m. gegužę į Vainodę persikėlė 31-asis Raudonosios armijos greitųjų bombonešių aviacijos pulkas ir pradėta standartizuoto betoninių plokščių tako statyba. 1944 m. vasaros pabaigoje nebaigtu aerodromu naudojosi įvairūs vokiečių aviacijos daliniai, tačiau Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigoje tą patį aerodromą naudojo Raudonosios armijos aviacijos daliniai, kovoję su vokiečių armijos grupuote „Kurzeme“. Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo Sovietų Sąjungos oro pajėgos Vainiodėje buvo dislokuotos iki 1992 m.

Dvaro rūmai buvo pastatyti klasicistinio stiliaus XIX a. 3-ajame dešimtmetyje. Po žemės reformos dvaro kompleksas buvo nuomojamas privatiems asmenims, tačiau nuo 1932 m. atiteko Liaudies gerovės ministerijai.

6. Per įnirtingus Didžiojo Kuršo mūšio mūšius jis buvo naudojamas ir kaip atramos postas, ir kaip ligoninė.

1945 m. kovo 17 d. prasidėjo paskutinis Raudonosios armijos bandymas pulti Kuršą. Vokiečių 24-osios pėstininkų divizijos daliniai gynėsi Pilsblīdenės dvaro komplekso apylinkėse. 1945 m. kovo 18 dvarą iš pietų puolė 43-iosios gvardijos Latvijos šaulių divizijos 121-asis šaulių pulkas, tačiau nesėkmingai. Iš vakarų puolė 7-osios Estijos šaulių divizijos 300-ojo šaulių pulko 1-asis batalionas, o dienos pabaigoje 3-iojo gvardijos mechanizuotojo korpuso 35-oji tankų brigada Blīdenės-Remtės kelyje prisijungė prie 249-osios Estijos šaulių divizijos 917-ojo šaulių pulko 1-ojo bataliono.

Kovo 19-osios naktį 19-osios Latvijos SS Grenadierių divizijos 43-iasis Grenadierių pulkas atvyko į Blīdenės stoties apylinkes ir kontratakavo, siekdamas atsiimti Pilsblīdenės dvaro gyvenamąjį pastatą. Tačiau po naktinės tankų atakos stotyje įsitvirtino Raudonosios armijos estų ir latvių daliniai.

1959 m. pilyje kilo gaisras. Nuo 1961 iki 1986 m. gyvenamajame pastate veikė senelių namai. 1986 m. pilį vėl sunaikino gaisras. Nuo to laiko pilis stovi tuščia ir apgriuvusi.

Dvaro rūmus supa 24 hektarų parkas, kuris dabar apaugęs. Parke yra apie 37 nevietinių medžių ir krūmų rūšių plantacijos, jis yra saugomas valstybės. Parkas neprižiūrimas, o aplinka apaugusi.

Priekulės karių kapinių memorialinis ansamblis yra Liepojos-Priekulės-Skodos kelyje ir yra didžiausia Antrojo pasaulinio karo sovietų karių laidojimo vieta Baltijos šalyse. Čia palaidota daugiau nei 23 000 sovietų karių. Operacija „Priekulė“ buvo vienas įnirtingiausių mūšių Kuržemės tvirtovėje, vykęs nuo 1944 m. spalio iki 1945 m. vasario 21 d. Priekulės mūšis 1945 m. vasarį truko septynias dienas ir naktis be perstojo ir pareikalavo daug aukų abiejose pusėse. Iki Priekulės karių kapinių pavertimo memorialu čia buvo pastatytas paskutinis iškilaus latvių skulptoriaus K. Zālės (1888–1942) paminklas, skirtas Alojos nepriklausomybės kovoms atminti. Nuo 1974 iki 1984 m. 8 ha Priekulės karių kapinės buvo paverstos memorialiniu ansambliu, skirtu Antrojo pasaulinio karo žuvusiems. Jį suprojektavo skulptorius P. Zaļkalne, architektai A. Zoldners ir E. Salguss bei dendrologas A. Lasis.

Memorialo centre stovi 12 m aukščio statula, vadinama „Tėvyne“, o žuvusiųjų vardai iškalti granito plokštėse. Iki Latvijos nepriklausomybės atgavimo Pergalės diena buvo plačiai švenčiama kasmet gegužės 9 d.

The Nīgrande Local History Repository is located in the Nīgrande village in the manor barn, next to the Nīgrande Primary School, and is accessible by appointment.

The military history section of the repository includes an exhibition on World War II and original objects and parts found in the area after the war and in later years. You can also find out stories and see photographs about Nygrande and its surroundings from the War of Independence, World War II and the post-war period, as well as life on the collective farm in Soviet times. 

The exhibition has a special place for the local writer Jēkab Janševskis and his works, and there is an exhibition presenting traditional manor house life and furnishings. A mammoth tusk found in Nīgrande is also on display in the barn of Nīgrande Manor.

Bunkeris yra Zebrenės seniūnijoje, Ylės girininkijoje, išsukus iš kelio P104 Bikstai–Aucė.

Ylės nacionalinių partizanų grupė, kuriai vadovavo Karlis Krauja, susikūrė 1947 m. Grupės vadu buvo išrinktas V. Ž. Briz ga (slapyvardis K. Krauja). 1948 m. spalį ši grupė susijungė su lietuvių nacionalinių partizanų grupe. Kraujos grupė veikė Jelgavos apskrityje, joje buvo 27 nacionaliniai partizanai. 1948 m. spalį Jelgavos apskrities Lielaucės valsčiuje, netoli Ylės girininkijos, 300 m į šiaurę nuo sodybos „Priedaiši“, Krau jos grupė įsirengė požeminį bunkerį. Jo bendras ilgis, įskai tant slaptus priėjimus, buvo 45 metrai. Aplink bunkerį buvo išdėliota 70 nuotoliniu būdu valdomų minų. Bunkeryje buvo įrengta krosnis, šulinys, tualetas ir sandėlis. 1949 m. kovo 17 d. bunkeryje buvę 24 partizanai stojo į savo paskutinį mūšį su 760 Valstybės saugumo ministerijos (čekis tų) karių. Po mūšio 9 partizanai buvo suimti, o 15 žuvo, iš jų – 8 latviai ir 7 lietuviai. 1992 m. krašto apsaugos kariai kartu su Dauguvos vanagais atkūrė susprogdintą bunkerį. Toje vietoje pastatytas Baltasis kryžius, paminklinis akmuo ir granito stela. Bunkerio viduje yra krosnelė, stalas ir siauri gultai, ant kurių miegojo partizanai.

Prie bunkerio yra informacijos stendai, paminkliniai akmenys su partizanų vardais ir pavardėmis.

Skrunda manor has an exhibit about the Skrunda radar (Skrunda radio location station) and the activities of the Latvian Popular Front in Skrunda. The Skrunda radio location station nicknamed ‘Kombināts’ (The Plant) was a USSR missile early warning system in the western sector. Location ‘Skrunda-2’ was a special town (в/ч 18951) created 5 km from Skrunda in the direction of Kuldīga for the needs of the USSR military. The radar station Dņepr operated from here and a new, more modern station Darjal was being built. Construction was stopped and the radar station Darjal was blown up on 4 May 1995. In compliance with an international agreement the radar station Dnieper was shut down on 31 August 1998.

Mērsrago švyturys yra Mērsrago kaime, apie 1 km į šiaurę nuo kaimo centro. Švyturys buvo pradėtas eksploatuoti 1875 m. Tai 18,5 m aukščio laisvai stovintis, cilindro formos, kniedėmis sutvirtintas geležinis bokštas, kurio apatinė dalis sustiprinta gelžbetoniniais kontraforsais. Signalinio žibinto aukštis – 21,3 m. Viršuje aplink bokštą yra geležinis balkonas, paremtas konsolėmis. Švyturio bokštą pagamino „Sotera, Lemonier & Co“ Paryžiuje, todėl šis švyturys dažnai vadinamas „prancūziškuoju“. 1944 m. pabaigoje šalia švyturio buvo dislokuota Vokietijos armijos 1003-ioji artilerijos divizijos baterija su 60 cm prožektoriais. 1945 m. gegužę nacistinės Vokietijos vyriausioji vadovybė planavo perkelti 15-ąją Latvijos SS grenadierių diviziją į šią vietovę, tačiau šie planai žlugo, nes Latvijos kareiviai pasidavė Vakarų sąjungininkams. Netoli Mērsrago švyturio išlikę pastato, kuriame SSRS laikais sovietų pasieniečiai turėjo didelį, ištraukiamą prožektorių jūrai apšviesti, liekanos. Šalia švyturio yra paukščių stebėjimo bokštelis. Ekskursijas reikia užsisakyti iš anksto susisiekus su Mērsrago turizmo informacijos centru.

Sovietinis pasienio apsaugos postas buvo įsikūręs pastate, kuriame anksčiau buvo jūreivystės mokykla, o šalia jo yra gerai išsilaikęs sovietinis pasienio sargybos bokštas. Antrasis sargybos bokštas yra tiesiai ant kranto, šalia automobilių stovėjimo aikštelės. Šie sargybos bokštai primena sovietų okupaciją ir laikus, kai Mazirbė buvo uždara pasienio zona, o civiliai gyventojai krante buvo leidžiami tik specialiai tam skirtose vietose ir tik dienos metu. Šis pasienio sargybos bokštas yra vienas geriausiai išsilaikiusių tokio tipo objektų Latvijos pakrantėje. Tačiau į jį lipti pavojinga.

Šiame komplekse esantis sovietinis pasienio apsaugos bokštas yra vienas geriausiai išsilaikiusių tokio tipo Latvijos pakrantėje. Deja, pastatų būklė prasta, toje vietoje yra šautuvų užtaisymo/iškrovimo aikštelė, taip pat išgelbėta įvažiavimas ir apkasų fragmentai.

Pakrančių apsaugos postas buvo įsikūręs buvusiame Jūrų mokyklos pastate. Posovietiniu laikotarpiu dalyje pastatų buvo siūlomas apgyvendinimas.

Antrasis sovietinės pasienio apsaugos bokštas yra apie 400 m nuo paplūdimio, tačiau, deja, jis yra apgriuvusios būklės. Tačiau Mazirbės laivų kapinės yra ne toliau kaip 500 m nuo paplūdimio bokšto Sīkrago kryptimi.

The battery is located between Tobago and Marine Streets, seawards.

According to the "base agreement" between the Republic of Latvia and the USSR, signed on 5 October 1939, a contingent of nearly 25 000 Red Army and Baltic Navy troops was to be stationed in Kurzeme. By March 1941, Baltic naval bases were established in Latvia in the defence sectors of Irbe Bay, Saaremaa and Liepaja, consisting of coastal defence batteries.

The Liepaja coastal defence sector included the 208th artillery division with two 130 mm B-13 gun batteries (No 23 and No 27) and one 180 mm rail gun battery. Construction of Battery 23 began in November 1939 and was completed on 17 May 1941, partly using the reinforced concrete fortifications of Battery No. 2 of Liepaja Fortress. Battery 23 consisted of four reinforced concrete gun positions on the seafront, a command post and an observation (range-finding) tower in the dune forest. The range-finding positions were located in reinforced concrete towers to ensure better visibility while maintaining concealment in the pine forest.

Gun positions 1 and 2 are located on the seafront and partially eroded, while gun position 4 is the most visible in the dunes. Battery 23 was blown up by Soviet soldiers on 27 June 1941 during the retreat from Liepāja.

After the Second World War, Battery 23 was renamed Battery 636, armed with the same 130 mm B-13 guns, but a new range-keeping tower was built in 1954 for fire control, adjacent to the 1941 tower. In 1963, all the Liepaja coastal defence guns were dismantled.

After the restoration of Latvia's independence, the area of Battery No 2 is in the use of the Ministry of Defence.

The two towers are located very close to each other - only 10 m apart. The four gun positions were located to the right of both towers, actually on the seafront. The reinforced concrete bunker of the personnel who manned the guns is now washed away by the waves and has a washed-out foundation, tilted and leaning seawards.

The town of Seda was originally built as a workers’ village, together with the construction of a peat factory in 1953. The peat factory was declared part of the All-Union Komsomol Shock Construction Project, with young people from all over the Soviet Union coming here. This defined the character and face of the village. In 1954, Seda was granted workers’ village rights. In 1961, the workers’ village was named a township. On 14 November 1991, the township with a rural area acquired the status of the town of Seda with a rural area. An exhibit of cultural and historical heritage is on display at the Seda Culture House. The panels in the exhibition hall showcase the history of development of the Seda area, starting from the historical period when the Salānieši farm property extended across the territory of the town of Seda to the construction of the town. The exhibit features stories about the reasons for and process of the creation of the town, the history of the Seda Peat Factory and other documentary evidence. In terms of core content, the exhibit mainly includes historical archive materials: protocols, decisions and orders. To help visitors gain a better sense of this period of history, the exhibit includes a ‘manager’s office’ featuring items from that time. The exhibit is also visually enhanced by Soviet-era household items that are on display in addition to different documentary evidence.

The exposition located in the former dispatch room of the collective farm was opened in 2005. Visitors are offered to experience the atmosphere of the time of the USSR in interactive lessons: discussing the Soviet period, creating legends about historical evidence, participating in choir singing, dancing "letkis", making paper airplanes and hlapushkas, thus surviving a break at school, as well as enjoying kilava buns and linden tea .

Stories and historical evidence about traditions, ancient trades and outstanding residents.

Please book your visit in advance!

For adults: 2.00 Eur
For students, pensioners: 1.00 Eur
Guided tour for up to 6 people (1-1.5 hours): 6.00 Eur
Guided tours for more than 6 people (1-1.5 hours): 1.00 Eur per person

It was located near the house in "Brankša" on a grain field.

On September 2, 2021, under the guidance of Andras Grabčiks, a history enthusiast of the Saulkrasti region, and in coordination with Ines Karlova, the tenant of agricultural land, excavation works of the German army bunker of the Sigulda defense line of World War II took place.

"77 years have passed since the bunker was built, experienced both the attack of the Soviet Army and the driving of agricultural machinery over it. Only 3 years ago, it partially succumbed to the heavy machinery. To prevent the floor from being flooded, a drainage system was developed with a water storage reservoir at the entrance, which, if necessary, exhausted. The floor of the bunker is made of round logs 10 cm in diameter and was covered with straw. This bunker is not one of the big ones, but quite enough for about 6 people. This bunker is not the only one in the area, but one of the few that is well preserved." - this is what Andris Grabčiks says about the bunker.

After the information was published on the Internet, 2 scanned historical photographs were received from the historian and owner of the Saulkrasti Bicycle Museum, Jānis Seregins, with the inscription "29.08.44, Saulkrasti, Vidrižu parish" and the comment: "The photographs were obtained from a Saulkrasti resident, who is now dead. According to her story, refugees from Pskov and Leningrad region, who were driven out of their homes by the retreating Germans, had settled in Saulkrasti. They were employed in digging trenches in the defense line near Ķīšupe. One of the pictures shows people in forest works. In this way, the logs that we can see now in the bunker near Brankša were obtained. The second picture shows how they are fed at a distribution point near the house or in the kitchen. I think it's the Branch Mill."

The bunker has been preserved from WWII on the defensive line of Sigulda.
The site of the first rezi bunker was surveyed in April 2021, but due to the high ground water, excavation work could not take place.

The bunker is located on agricultural land and after excavation and exploration, it was filled in so as not to interfere with agricultural work.

Grieze is located at the Latvian-Lithuanian border, where the Vadakste River flows into the Venta River. The Grieze church was built in 1580, but the parish existed before 1567. The church was rebuilt several times - in 1769, in 1845 and in 1773 the first organ was installed. Both the altarpiece and the two bells have been lost for various reasons.

In the church garden there is a cemetery where people belonging to the church and noblemen are buried. One of them is Grieze organist Friedrich Baris and his wife Charlotte, who have a monument erected in front of the church sacristy. On the south side of the church, 32 Swedish soldiers who died in the Great Northern War are buried. The cemetery also contains the graves of 110 German soldiers who died in the First World War, for whom a monument was erected in 1930.

During the Second World War, the church suffered when the front line was stretched along the Venta River in late October 1944 and the German 225th Infantry Division was stationed in the vicinity of Grieze Church. When the Soviet 4th Shock Army launched attacks across the Venta River on 19 November 1944, several artillery shells hit the south wall of the church and the church tower was badly damaged.

After the surrender of Army Group Kurzeme, the Red Army's Leningrad Front accounted for 284 171 people taken prisoner. 7493 were Red Army soldiers released from German captivity. 48 German generals surrendered to captivity. According to the documents submitted at the time of the surrender of Army Group Kurzeme, the number of soldiers was about 185 000. The rest of the nearly 100 000 people subjected to filtration were Kurzeme civilians and Soviet refugees, as the Soviet Leningrad Front ordered on 10 May 1945 that all men between the ages of 16 and 60 be subjected to filtration.

In the Red Army, unlike the armed forces of other countries, the screening, guarding, maintenance and protection of prisoners of war was carried out not by army units, but by the internal affairs bodies - the People's Commissariat for State Security. The main task of the filtration was to detect citizens of the USSR and Soviet-occupied countries who had taken part in the hostilities on the German side. Captured German soldiers were examined in order to detect possible perpetrators of war crimes.

A prisoner-of-war filtration camp was located in the vicinity of the Grieze Church from 10 May to 17 June 1945. The camp was probably located here because the Grieze Church was close to the main roads. The pits in the ground where the prisoners hid from the cold on cold nights by covering themselves with whatever was available are still clearly visible in the surrounding area. During this period, the Red Army caused considerable damage to the interior of the church (all the pews were removed - "for the war effort", the pulpit was damaged, the organ was destroyed, etc.). A laundry was set up in the church building itself.

The last service in the church was in 1950 and the congregation ceased to exist. After the dissolution of the congregation, also later under the supervision of the Latvian Society for the Protection of Nature and Monuments, the church was not repaired. However, the building stood under roof until the 1960s-1970s. The church was damaged during the storm of 1961 and in 1968 the remaining interior elements were rescued by the Rundāle Palace staff.

Since 2003, a group of like-minded people from Riga parishes have been involved in the clean-up and restoration of the church. To date, the church walls have been conserved and the tower has been restored.
 

The memorial ensemble is located at Skolas Street and St Agathe of the Mountains Roman Catholic Church.

The memorial ensemble consists of four stylised carriages, each for a different time of deportation. The roofs of the wagons symbolise houses. In the middle of the ensemble are an altar and a cross. The monument is different from the others because it reminds us that Latvian citizens were deported not only on 14 June 1941 and 25 March 1949. There were deportations between these dates as well. The monument has been designed in such a way that the list of names engraved on it can be expanded as research continues.

The memorial ensemble was designed by local artist and local historian Maija Eņģele

The most dangerous direction of attack for the port of Emperor Alexander III was from the east between the lakes of Tosmare and Liepāja, where there was a 2.5 km wide strait of land. Three fortifications were built to defend the land strip. On the southern shore of Lake Tosmare there was a left redoubt, on the northern shore of Lake Liepāja a right redoubt, and between the redoubts there was a Middle Fort. The Middle Fort was the most serious fortification of the Liepaja Fortress, but it was not fully completed and artillery was not deployed until 1908.

It was at the Middle Fort that the most serious battles took place in April 1915, when German troops attacked, in November 1919 during the Latvian Army's battles against the West Russian Liberation Army, and in June 1941, when Liepāja was attacked by the 291st Infantry Division of the German Armored Forces.

In June 1941, when hostilities between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union broke out, the Liepaja garrison of the Soviet Army consisted of units of the Liepaja naval base of the Navy and the Red Army. The Liepaja naval base consisted of mine trawler, torpedo boat and submarine divisions, including former Latvian Navy ships and submarines. The coastal defence was carried out by the 23rd and 27th artillery batteries with 130 mm guns and the 18th railway artillery battery with 180 mm guns, covered by two Zenith artillery divisions. The base also included several sapper, repair, liaison and training units, totalling some 4 000 soldiers, commanded by Captain M. Klevenski, 1st rank. Of the Red Army units, the garrison was manned by the 67th Rifle Division (minus the 114th Rifle Regiment and one artillery division), commanded by Major-General N. Dedaev. The division had about 9000 soldiers before the outbreak of hostilities. The 143rd Fighter Aviation Regiment with 68 aircraft of various types was stationed at Liepāja airfield. In addition, the 12th Border Guard Unit operated in the Liepāja area.

The battle action at the Liepaja Fortress began in the early morning of 24 June 1941. Despite the Soviet losses, the German units were unable to break through the Liepaja Fortress rampart on 25 June. The fighting in Liepāja ended on 27 and 28 June, when Soviet units tried to break northwards.
 

The Liepāja Museum exhibition "Liepāja under the occupation regimes" is located in Liepāja, 7/9 Klāva Ukstiņa Street.

The exhibition covers the period from 1939 to 1991 during the double Soviet and German occupation. The inhabitants of Liepāja were among the first in Latvia to experience the outbreak of the Second World War and among the last for whom the war ended both literally and symbolically.

It was not until the collapse of the USSR in the late 1980s that the opportunity arose to restore Latvia's independence. The Latvian People's Front played a major role in this process, and its exhibition, opened on 21 January 2001, is housed in the former headquarters of the Liepāja City Branch. The Liepāja branch of the Popular Front was the second largest after the Riga branch, with 13 000 members. It was from here that buses of volunteers were organised during the barricades in January 1991 to go and defend the sites in Riga. On 23 August 1991, the day of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Lenin Monument, a symbol of Soviet power in the city, was dismantled. In later years, 500 bronze bells were made from it in Germany - souvenirs of a bygone era. One of these bells is also on display.

World War II and the Soviet occupation of Liepāja ended only in 1994, when the last troops of the USSR's heir, Russia, left the city.

The museum regularly organises thematic exhibitions of its collection and artworks, as well as lectures and meetings with historians and eyewitnesses of recent Latvian history. The museum building is currently being renovated and the exhibition is being renewed.

No military infrastructure was planned in Cape Kolka, except for several offshore lighthouses that were rebuilt over a long period of time, either before World War I, during World War I or during World War II. Coastal defence batteries were planned for the narrowest part of the Irbe Strait, between the Sirves Peninsula and the Michael Tower Lighthouse.

The only fortifications of a military nature appeared at the end of 1944, when the German Army Group North was preparing to repel possible landings by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In the spring of 1945, after the ice retreated, two batteries of the 532nd Artillery Division defended the coast at Cape Kolka. Battery 7 with four 75 mm guns and three 20 mm zenith guns. Battery 8 with four 88 mm mortars, three 20 mm mortars and an 81 mm mortar. The anti-deserter infantry garrison consisted of one of the most famous coastal defence units of the German Navy, the 5th Company of the 531st Artillery Division. Although it was an artillery unit by name, it was an infantry unit by deployment, which started its war in June 1941 at Liepāja. The unit was then garrisoned on islands in the Gulf of Finland and later took part in the fighting on the island of Saaremaa. The remnants of the division were reformed into one company and, reinforced with seven anti-tank guns and three 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, deployed at Cape Kolka.

The Soviet naval landing operation never took place and the German units capitulated in May 1945.

The military infrastructure in Cape Kolka began to be built after the Second World War, when Soviet border guard posts were deployed here and Kolka, like the entire Kurzeme coast from Mērsrags to the Lithuanian border, became a closed zone

Eidami 200 m Odžu kalno šlaitu taku, galite pamatyti keletą su Pirmuoju pasauliniu karu susijusių objektų – senus betoninius patrankų pamatus iš. Šalia paplūdimio, lygiagrečiai miško takui palei Rodžas taką, stovi nebaigtas statyti betoninis apžvalgos bokštas. Tikslus šio objekto panaudojimas nežinomas. Po pagrindu įrengtos nišos šaudmenims. Tarp pušų taip pat matomos gilios duobės, buvę apkasai.

Kai kurie objektai tikriausiai datuojami Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaiga, kai šioje vietovėje buvo dislokuotos vokiečių pakrantės gynybos baterijos. Karinio jūrų laivyno 532-osios artilerijos divizijos 4-oji baterija buvo ginkluota keturiais 88 mm pabūklais, trimis 37 mm pabūklais, viena 20 mm keturvamzde patranka ir vienu 50 mm minosvaidžiu apšvietimui naktį. Rochaso žiotyse dislokuoti du 45 mm prieštankiniai pabūklai. Miesto įgulą sudarė 64-ojo ir 109-ojo sapierių batalionų daliniai.

The ruins of the Ķerkliņu Church are located about 5 kilometres north-west of Kokmuiža, near the Ķerkliņu Lake. The church was built in 1641 by Heinrich von Dönhoff (Derkarth), the owner of the Ķerkliņi manor. The original wooden church was replaced by a stone building, under which tombs were built for the dead of the Dönhof and later Kleist families. The tombs were already destroyed during the 1905 riots, but in 1949 the coffins were moved from the tombs to the church. The church was an example of the Kurzeme Baroque style - its carvings were made by the Kuldīga - Liepāja woodcarvers. Although the owners of the manor and the church were at various times plagued by financial problems, the church underwent several reconstructions during its existence. It also suffered during the First World War, after which the parish rebuilt the stonework in 1929 and added an organ in 1934. Unfortunately, the church was damaged during the Second World War and much of it was lost, so it is to be commended that before the church was rebuilt in 1933, many unique pieces of Baroque sculpture were photographed, inventoried and even ended up in the archives of the Monuments Board. With the establishment of the landfill and the eviction of the inhabitants, the church was never restored. Today, the church walls and tower are visible.

Įsikūręs istoriniame Gulbenės centre, priešais Gulbenės evangelikų liuteronų bažnyčią.

Paminklas 1905 m. neramumų aukoms, Gulbenės bendruomenės nariams, žuvusiems Pirmajame pasauliniame kare ir Latvijos nepriklausomybės kare, bei Malienos tribunolo aukoms atminti. Paminklą suprojektavo E. Ābeltīns, o 1929 m. jis buvo atidengtas priešais Gulbenės evangelikų liuteronų bažnyčią. Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo ant paminklo buvo pastatyta penkiakampė žvaigždė, o ant jo pagrindo – bronzoje nutapytas gipsinis sovietų kareivio atvaizdas, o už paminklo įrengtos žuvusių sovietų kareivių kapinės. Kai 1969 m. Spārytės parke buvo atidarytos naujos Antrajame pasauliniame kare žuvusių sovietų kareivių kapinės, žuvusiųjų palaikai buvo perkelti į jas, tačiau paminklo vieta sulyginta su žeme. 1989 m. rudenį buvo iškasti paminklo pamatai ir išnešta kapsulė su tekstu, kuri juose buvo įmūryta 1928 m. Paminklas buvo restauruotas 1992 m. (skulptorius O. Feldbergs).

Nuo 1918 m. gruodžio 24 d. iki 1919 m. gegužės 31 d., kai 1-asis (4-asis) Valmieros pėstininkų pulkas išvadavo Gulbenę iš bolševikų, bažnyčioje veikė Malienos (Vecgulbenės) revoliucinis karo tribunolas ir Darbininkų klubas. Jo veikla pasižymėjo griežtais sprendimais ir dideliu mirties bausmių skaičiumi, dažnai už smulkius nusikaltimus – buvo ištirtos 349 bylos, kuriose kaltinami 606 asmenys.

Matoma memorialinė skulptūra.

Įsikūręs Parko gatvėje 1B, Lubanoje, Maduonos savivaldybėje.

Memorialas Antrajame pasauliniame kare žuvusiems Raudonosios armijos kariams

Iš pradžių Raudonosios armijos karių laidojimo vieta 1944 m. buvo nustatyta pačiame Lubanos centre – Oskaro Kalpakos, Tiltos ir Bažnyčios gatvių sankryžoje. Vėliau, 1961 m., kai eismas suintensyvėjo ne tik mieste, bet ir artimiausioje jo aplinkoje, laidojimai buvo perkelti, o žuvusiųjų palaikai perlaidoti prie Aiviekstės upės (dabartinė Stacijos ir Parko gatvių sankryža, Aiviekstės kryptimi). Šioje vietoje palaidota iš viso 450 Raudonosios armijos karių, o paminkle yra lentelės su šioje laidojimo vietoje palaidotų Raudonosios armijos karių vardais.

Įsikūręs tarp Brīvības ir Parka gatvių, šalia Barkavos kultūros namų, Barkavos valsčiuje, Madonos rajone.

Atminimo vieta Antrajame pasauliniame kare žuvusiems Darbininkų ir valstiečių raudonosios (sovietinės) armijos kariams. Palaidoti: 1980 m. – 659 (visi žinomi ir pažymėti); 1984 m. – 667 (661 žinomas ir pažymėtas) kariai.

Rusijos Federacijos ambasada, bendradarbiaudama su Maduonos savivaldybe, atliko ir atliks keletą sovietinės armijos karių broliškų kapų rekonstrukcijos darbų Maduonos savivaldybėje, įskaitant ir Barkavos parapiją.

Maduonos Brolių kapinės yra Parko kalvoje, netoli Pumpuru gatvės. Iš Pumpuru gatvės į kapines veda betoniniai laiptai, o iš Parko gatvės – takas.

Paminklas buvo atidengtas 1947 m.
Masiniame kape palaidoti keli tūkstančiai žuvusių sovietų kareivių. Ant piliakalnio stovėjęs obeliskas neišliko.
Rusijos Federacija surinko ir patikslino informaciją apie šiuose kapuose ilsisi karių vardus ir pavardes, o kapų rekonstrukcija buvo baigta 2021 m. Rekonstrukcijos metu žuvusių karių vardai buvo iš naujo išgraviruoti ant marmurinių plokščių, išdėstytų ant memorialinių sienų.

Palaidoti: 1959–1946 m.; 1980–1941 (visi žinomi ir pažymėti); 1984–1979 (3943 žinomi ir pažymėti) kareiviai, 1 partizanas, 2 sovietiniai aktyvistai. PSV: M. A. Ivasikas (1919–1944).

It is located on the edge of Riga Street, opposite the Krustpils Palace.

In Jēkabpils, on the right bank of the Daugava, the proposal for erecting a monument to the fallen soldiers of the Freedom Struggle for the monument "Fallen for the Fatherland 1918 - 1920" was made by the Krustpils branch of the Latvian Brothers' Graves Committee on June 12, 1923. For the creation of the monument, on November 12, 1923, the Krustpils Parish Board handed over the stone part of the Tsar Alexander II monument at the parish board building, where the monument was installed in honor of the abolition of serfdom, to the disposal of the Fraternal Graves Committee. The Ministry of the Interior of Latvia allowed the Krustpils branch of the Fraternal Graves Committee to collect donations. In total, 2,400 lats were donated, 1,200 were missing. It was hoped to get them from the bazaar and social evening organized on the opening day of the monument.

The project of the monument is entrusted to the architect Aleksanders Birznieks. The architect's plans were to create a monument from local material - dolomite studs. The volume of the monument was formed by two concentric, massive semi-circles of dolomite stud masonry, the outer one on the Daugava side was lower, cut into the shore and formed a terrace. In its center was a fire cross made of red bricks. In the center of the main half-circle, as an altar, granite plates with the text: "Fallen for the Fatherland 1918 - 1920" and depicting the rising sun above the waves of the Daugava, framed by Latvian symbols. The central part of the monument was formed by the mask of the fallen soldier, which was forged by the sculptor V. Trejs. The Acting Commander of the Latgale Artillery Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Jākobsons, allowed the use of the square on the right bank of the Daugava opposite the Krustpils Castle for the construction of the monument, on the condition that the square remains the property of the Latgale Artillery Regiment.

In 1925, the Krustpils branch of the Latvian Brethren Cemetery Committee concluded a contract with businessman V. Treija from Riga for the construction of a monument in Krustpils. On July 26, 1925, the foundation of the monument was laid. September 27, 1925 is a holy day for Crusaders. The opening of the monument is taking place with its consecration by the Lutheran pastor of Krustpils parish K. Skujiņš. The Minister of War R. Bangerskis, the commander of the Latgale Artillery Regiment, Colonel Kire, General K. Berķis, etc. participate in the construction of the monument.

20th century In the 1950s, the monument "Fallen for the Fatherland 1918 - 1920" was partially destroyed - the upper part was demolished - the mask of ancient Latvian soldiers, smeared inscriptions, destroyed fire cross sign. On the other hand, already at the beginning of the Third Awakening, the activists of the Krustpils branch of the Latvian People's Front (LTF) in the first regional conferences of the LTF wrote in the resolution the demand to restore the monument in Krustpils. Already on November 11, 1989, at the place where the monument was located, a commemoration was held in which the people of Jēkabpils remembered their Lāčplēši.

At the beginning of 1992, the restoration works of the monument were started. Granite pieces of the required size and shape are manufactured at the Cēsis utility company combine. The granite was processed according to the drawings by E. Nīmanis and V. Treikmanis. The technical supervision of the restoration of the monument is carried out by architect Māra Steķe. In Riga, the sculptor Inta Berga cast the bronze details of the monument. All works were financed from Jēkabpils city funding. The renovated monument was consecrated by Modris Plāte, the then-present rector of Jēkabpils and Krustpils Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Jānis Bratuškins, pastor of Jēkabpils Catholic Church, on November 18, 1992.

Opened in Krustpilis on September 27, 1925. The monument was designed by the architect Aleksandar Birzeniek. The inscription "Fallen even for the Fatherland 1918-1920" is carved into the monument. The monument was partially demolished by the Soviet occupation power in 1941, it was completely destroyed around 1950. The monument was renovated on November 18, 1992.

Remtės dvaro pilis (vok. Remten) – dvaras, esantis Remtėje. Remtės dvaro pastatai ir parkas yra nacionaliniai paminklai. Dvare įsikūrusi Remtės pradinė mokykla. Remtės dvaro rūmai buvo pastatyti 1800 m. Berlyno klasicizmo stiliumi tuometiniam dvaro savininkui grafui Karlui Medemui.

Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigoje Remtės dvare ir jo apylinkėse buvo dislokuota Vokietijos armijos grupės Latvijos legiono 19-oji divizija.

A storage room for antiques has been arranged in the house of the lords of the Virga manor. Here you can get an idea of who lived on the banks of the Vārtajas River and in Virga, as well as the Virga estate and the Nold family of barons, as well as the times of World War II and the Soviet kolkhoz in Virga. You can only look at the objects, but you can also listen to stories about topics that are interesting to visitors.

The Virga manor survived the Battle of the Kurzeme cauldron in 1944/1945 so well that a simple walk through the territory of the former manor allows you to perceive the breath of antiquity and the presence of the former inhabitants of the manor. A moment of rest at the "Karlias Zabaks" memorial of the Swedish king Charles XII or at a specially designed resting place near the Virga Tradition House will be useful not only for relaxation, but also as a reminder that Charles XII spent the winter of 1701 right here - in Virga.

In the former granary of the manor, now in the house of cultural and domestic traditions of local residents, you can rent a sauna and rooms for celebrations, including weddings.

It is located in Zeltiņi parish, Alūksne county.
The visit must be arranged in advance.

Ability to travel through time. The uniforms of different armies, the "red corner", household items tell about the recent Soviet and pre-Soviet life in Latvia. The school class is an eyewitness to the life of students of different times. For those who experienced those times, it is an opportunity to dwell on memories, for the new generation, to see the world in a different light. The Zeltinų Museum was founded in 2007 as a place to store Soviet heritage.
Here you can also get to know the history of the school founded by pastor Ernst Glik, the life stories of the local residents and information about the life of the resident Edgars Liepiņš.

An excursion to the missile base of the Soviet Army is offered.

Viewed expositions:

"Recent past" (uniforms of various armies, "red corner", household items);
"Countrymen's room" (pre-Soviet household),
My school in Zeltinių" (a school class - an eyewitness to the lives of students from different times).
"Northern star - Edgars Liepiņš", which was created thanks to the support of the fans of Latvia's King of Jokers No.1. Zeltiņi is the childhood land of Edgars Liepiņš.

Visit fee:

EUR 2.00; for students, seniors 1.00 EUR;

Please arrange the visit by phone: +371 25745577.

Working time

Monday-Tuesday - closed
Wednesday - 9:00-17:00
Thursday-Friday - closed
Saturday - 9:00-17:00
Sunday - closed

Privati karinė kolekcija Mundigcieme. Aivaras Ormanis ne vienerius metus kolekcionuoja istorinius objektus – karines uniformas, uniformas, kamufliažas, ryšio priemones, buities daiktus, apsaugos priemones iš skirtingų laikotarpių ir šalių, siekiančias Antrojo pasaulinio karo, sovietų kariuomenės ir nepriklausomos Latvijos atkūrimo laikų.

Kolekcija šiuo metu nėra gerai prižiūrima, o eksponatai saugomi buvusiame kolūkio tvarte.

Ezerės muitinė yra Ezerėje, netoli Saldaus-Mažeikių plento, Latvijos ir Lietuvos pasienyje. 1945 m. gegužės 8 d. šiame pastate buvo pasirašytas vadinamojoje „Kuršo kišenėje“ apsuptų Vokietijos armijos dalinių „Kurzeme“ (Kurlandas) kapituliacijos aktas. Manoma, kad Antrasis pasaulinis karas iš tikrųjų baigėsi Ezerėje. Muitinėje yra ekspozicija, kurioje aprašomi Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigos įvykiai, ir eksponatai, kuriuose išsamiai aprašoma Ezerės parapijos istorija nuo seniausių laikų iki šių dienų. 1945 m. gegužės 7 d. rytą Leningrado fronto vadas maršalas L. Govorovas išsiuntė armijų grupės „Kurzeme“ vadovybei ultimatumą sudėti ginklus. Kapituliacijos aktą susijusios šalys pasirašė gegužės 8 d., jame išsamiai aprašyta perdavimo tvarka, ginklų surinkimo punktai, pateiktini dokumentai ir informacija bei kitos praktinės priemonės.

Mikalojaus stačiatikių jūros katedra yra vizuali ir dvasinė Karostos dominuojanti ypatybė, ryškiai kontrastuojanti su šalia jos pastatytu daugiaaukščiu surenkamu būstu. Bažnyčia suprojektuota ir pastatyta XVII amžiaus Rusijos stačiatikių bažnyčių principu, su vienu centriniu ir keturiais šoniniais kupolais.

Reprezentatyvi katedra buvo numatyta jau tada, kai uosto kompleksą projektavo imperatorius Aleksandras III, tačiau iš pradžių prioritetas buvo teikiamas uosto infrastruktūrai. Uosto ligoninės teritorijoje nuo pat pradžių veikė laikina stačiatikių bažnyčia.

Mikalojaus jūrų katedra pradėta statyti 1900 m. pagal architekto Vasilijaus Kasjakovo projektą, kuris buvo labai panašus į kitus to meto Rusijos imperijos sakralinius pastatus. Katedra buvo pašventinta 1903 m. rugpjūčio 22 d., joje dalyvavo Rusijos imperatorius Nikolajus II ir jo šeima. Iki 1915 m. katedroje vyko visi iškilmingi Rusijos armijos ir karinio jūrų laivyno renginiai, įskaitant 2-osios Ramiojo vandenyno eskadrilės tarnybą 1904 m., kol ji išplaukė į Tolimuosius Rytus, kur buvo sunaikinta Cušimos mūšyje.

Po 1915 m., kai Liepoją užėmė vokiečių kariuomenė, katedra išlaikė savo sakralinį statusą ir iš dalies apstatymą, joje vykdavo retos pamaldos.

Latvijos kariuomenei įgulus Liepoją Karostos teritorijoje, katedra ir toliau veikė kaip stačiatikių bažnyčia iki 1934 m., kai buvo paversta Liepojos įgulos liuteronų bažnyčia. Bažnyčia buvo iš naujo dekoruota, pakeista kryžiais, joje pamaldas galėjo laikyti trys pagrindinės konfesijos – liuteronai, katalikai ir stačiatikiai. Katedroje buvo išsaugotas vienas stačiatikių altorius, o trečiojo dešimtmečio pabaigoje liuteronų pamaldoms įrengti VEF gaminami elektriniai vargonai.

Sovietų karinės bazės metu 1939-1941 metais katedra neteko sakralinio statuso, o Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais pastatu naudojosi ir įvairūs vokiečių daliniai.

Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo sovietų karinio jūrų laivyno bazės valdžia katedroje įkūrė matronų klubą ir pastatas buvo pritaikytas naujai funkcijai.

1991 m. rugsėjį, dar Rusijos Federacijai veikiant, katedra buvo atkurta istoriniu pavadinimu ir perduota stačiatikių bažnyčiai. Pirmoji pamalda buvo surengta 1991 m. gruodžio 19 d. Šventojo Nikolajaus garbei. 2016 metų rugsėjį buvo pašventinti restauruoti katedros varpai.

Sovietinių karių kapinės yra Skrundos–Embutės–Priekulės kelyje, aukštumoje tarp dviejų upių – Dzeldos pietuose ir Kojos šiaurėje. Jose palaidota daugiau nei 3000 žuvusiųjų.

Antrojo pasaulinio karo mūšiai

Raudonoji armija pradėjo puolimo operaciją nuo 1944 m. spalio 27 d., dabar žinomą kaip 1-asis Kurlando batalionas, kurios tikslas buvo sunaikinti vokiečių armijų grupę „Šiaurė“, vėliau pervadintą „Kurlandu“. Iki lapkričio 5 d. sovietų 61-oji armija ir dalys 6-osios gvardijos armijos bei 4-osios smūginės armijos pasiekė Zeldo upę, o kai kurie 5-osios gvardijos tankų armijos daliniai užėmė tiltų galvutes šiauriniame upės krante. Prieš kitą puolimą 1-ojo Baltijos fronto 2-oji gvardijos armija buvo perkelta į šį sektorių, kad pasiektų Skrundos-Liepojos geležinkelio liniją. Įvykdžius pradinę invaziją, puolimą Kuldygos link tęsė 5-oji gvardijos tankų armija.

Antrojo Kuršo mūšio pradžią atidėjo oro sąlygos ir jis prasidėjo tik lapkričio 19 d. Didžiausius pasiekimus Raudonoji armija pasiekė netoli dabartinių Brolių kapinių, o iki lapkričio 24 d. vakaro 1-asis ir 60-asis šaulių korpusai užėmė plakadarmą šiauriniame Koj upės krante. Tačiau Raudonosios armijos sėkmė tuo ir baigėsi. Vokiečių armijų grupė „Šiaurė“ numatė sovietų atakų kryptį ir čia sutelkė atitinkamas pajėgas, įskaitant dvi tankų divizijas.

1944 m. lapkričio 26 d. vakarą Raudonosios armijos atakos buvo sustabdytos ir iki Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigos nebuvo bandoma sunaikinti vokiečių pajėgų Kurše. Vėlesniuose mūšiuose buvo siekiama užkirsti kelią vokiečių armijos evakuacijai iš Kuršo.

After the airfield was established in this area in 1953 at the request of the USSR Ministry of Defence, the Zvārde Church, the Ķerkliņi Church and the Rīteļi Cemetery were actually located in the centre of the airfield - next to an artificial airfield with access roads and defence positions, which was used as a target by Soviet pilots. Planes flew here from airfields in Latvia and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. In less than 40 years, the church, the cemetery, the former manor house and dozens of surrounding buildings were reduced to ruins. Today, the site is cared for by the Saldus Martin Luther Church. The surrounding area is still contaminated with unexploded ordnance and it can be dangerous to walk off the roads.

Barbarism reached its peak in 1988, when the Rīteļi cemetery with its graves and monuments was bulldozed.

On 21 July 1990, in one of the first actions in which the Latvian population demanded that the USSR army leave the territory of Zvārde, a protest rally was held in Saldus, after which people went to the Rīteļi cemetery. The rally participants were allowed into the landfill site, and they cleaned up the cemetery a bit and dug white crosses.

The landfill continued to be used until 1992 and even as late as March 1992 a plane taking off from Lielvārde crashed in the landfill for unknown reasons. The Latvian Defence Forces started demining the site in May 1993, after the withdrawal of the Russian army.  In 2008, Zvārde residents installed a memorial stone "Forgive us for not saving you" in the Rīteļi cemetery.

The South Fort of Liepaja Fortress is located in the south-western part of Liepaja, between Klaipėda Street and the beach.

A fort was planned to protect the port of Emperor Alexander III from the south, two kilometres from the southern border of the city. The fort was to be located between Liepāja Lake and the sea, west of the outlet of the Thunder River, reinforcing the reinforced concrete fortifications with a moat. Although the fortifications were almost completely finished, the armaments had not been deployed. The constructed cellars were used as storage facilities both during the First World War and during the Second World War. In the 1920s and 1930s, various factories were located in the fortification area. Unlike the Middle Fort and Ravelin, the South Fort never took part in the war, because in all the wars the invaders besieged the eastern shore of Lake Liepāja and tried to invade Liepāja between Lakes Tosmare and Liepāja.

To the north of the South Fort is Liepāja's largest cemetery, the Central Cemetery. In the southern part of the cemetery there is a Red Army cemetery where Soviet soldiers who died in the vicinity of Liepāja are reburied, including the commander of the 67th Rifle Division, Major General Nikolai Dedaev, who led the defence of Liepāja in June 1941.

Mazbānīti is the name given to a train in North Kurzeme that transported passengers and cargo along 600 mm wide narrow-gauge railway tracks between 1916 and 1963. It is a legacy of military history from the First World War, which once played an important role in the cultural and economic prosperity of the whole of Northern Kurzeme, but especially of the Libyan fishing villages, providing connections between settlements, providing jobs.

The nature trail leads from Mazirbe to Sīkraga along the path of the former Stende - Ventspils narrow-gauge railway, or as the locals say - the path of Mazbānīš. The construction of the railway started in 1916 and it served until 1963. The narrow-gauge railway line connected the port city of Ventspils with the coastal fishing villages of Dundas and the major railway hub of Stande, thus contributing to the region's economic and cultural boom between the First and Second World Wars.

During the times of the Soviet Union, the coast was a "Closed Zone", therefore coastal villages were economically isolated and their population decreased, the presence of newly built secret army facilities also contributed to the fact that in the sixties of the last century, railway traffic was stopped.

The trail has a small loop of 15 km and a large loop of 19 km.

The GPX map is available here:

https://www.kurzemesregions.lv/projekti/turisms/unigreen/dabas-takas/mazbanisa-dabas-taka/

The rangefinders (dating from 1941) are located in the pines of the dune, only 10m from the other tower, built in 1954. The 1st and 2nd gun emplacements of the shore battery are located on the seafront and partially eroded, while the 4th gun emplacement is best seen in the dunes.  The reinforced concrete bunker of the personnel who manned the guns is now washed away by the waves and has a washed-out foundation, tilted and leaning seawards.

Liepaja Fortress Battery 2 was planned to be built further from the shoreline and protected by a high rampart. The armament of the battery was to be 16 11-inch (280 mm) mortars of the 1877 model. The mortars used steep trajectories and did not require direct aiming.

Following the 'base agreement' between the Republic of Latvia and the USSR, signed on 5 October 1939, a contingent of nearly 25 000 Red Army and Baltic Navy troops was to be stationed in Kurzeme. By March 1941, Baltic naval bases were established in Latvia in the defence sectors of Irbe Bay, Saaremaa and Liepāja, consisting of coastal defence batteries.

The Liepaja coastal defence sector included the 208th artillery division with two 130 mm B-13 gun batteries (No 23 and No 27) and one 180 mm rail gun battery. Construction of Battery 23 began in November 1939 and was completed on 17 May 1941, partly using the reinforced concrete fortifications of Battery No. 2 of Liepaja Fortress. Battery 23 consisted of four reinforced concrete gun positions on the seafront, a command post and an observation (range-finding) tower in the dune forest. The range-finding positions were located in reinforced concrete towers to ensure better visibility while maintaining concealment in the pine forest.

After the Second World War, Battery 23 was renamed Battery 636, armed with the same 130 mm B-13 guns, and a new range-keeping tower was built for fire control in 1954, adjacent to the 1941 tower. In 1963, all the Liepaja coastal defence guns were dismantled.

After the restoration of Latvia's independence, the area of Battery No 2 is in the use of the Ministry of Defence.
 

The rangefinder (dated 1954) is located in the pines of a dune 10m away from the 1941 rangefinder. The gun positions of the 1st and 2nd guns of the shore battery are located on the seafront and partially eroded, while the gun position of the 4th gun is best seen in the dunes.

Liepaja Fortress Battery 2 was planned to be built further from the shoreline and protected by a high rampart. The armament of the battery was to be 16 11-inch (280 mm) mortars of the 1877 model. The mortars used steep trajectories and did not require direct aiming.

Following the 'base agreement' between the Republic of Latvia and the USSR, signed on 5 October 1939, a contingent of nearly 25 000 Red Army and Baltic Navy troops was to be stationed in Kurzeme. By March 1941, Baltic naval bases were established in Latvia in the defence sectors of Irbe Bay, Saaremaa and Liepāja, consisting of coastal defence batteries.

The Liepaja coastal defence sector included the 208th artillery division with two 130 mm B-13 gun batteries (No 23 and No 27) and one 180 mm rail gun battery. Construction of Battery 23 began in November 1939 and was completed on 17 May 1941, partly using the reinforced concrete fortifications of Battery No. 2 of Liepaja Fortress. Battery 23 consisted of four reinforced concrete gun positions on the seafront, a command post and an observation (range-finding) tower in the dune forest. The range-finding positions were located in reinforced concrete towers to ensure better visibility while maintaining concealment in the pine forest.

After the Second World War, Battery 23 was renamed Battery 636, armed with the same 130 mm B-13 guns, and a new range-keeping tower was built for fire control in 1954, adjacent to the 1941 tower. In 1963, all the Liepaja coastal defence guns were dismantled.

After the restoration of Latvia's independence, the area of Battery No 2 is in the use of the Ministry of Defence.

The "Duncs Bunker" with the memorial plaque "Patriotic Hawks" is located in Otaņķu municipality, in the place where the first bunker of the partisan group of the national resistance organisation "Patriotic Hawks" was located.

In the winter of 1945/46, in the village of Ķīburi in Barta parish, three patriotic men, led by Alfred Tilib (a former legionary of the 19th SS Division), founded the national resistance movement "Tēvijas Hawks", which soon had about 200 members from different places: Liepāja, Aizpute, Nīca, Dunika, Grobiņa, Barta, Gavieze. This movement fought for the liberation of Latvia.

The size of the bunker in which the partisans were housed was 4 x 4 m and was made of thick, horizontally laid logs. It was entered from above through a trapdoor with a small pine tree growing out of it, under which was a ladder. The hatches were on two floors, each with a place for 7-8 men to sleep. Unfortunately, the bunker was found and blown up in 1947.

Today, a depression can be seen in the ground where the bunker was. The site is located in the forest and can be freely accessed by anyone at any time without prior reservation.

A picnic area with a shelter is available nearby.

The memorial plaque was unveiled on 9 September 2005. The granite stele was erected by the Latvian National Partisans' Association in cooperation with the Municipality of Nīca, the Barta Forestry and the Rudes Primary School.

The object has the status of a cultural and historical monument of the region

The Otanki local museum is located in the yard of the former Rude school.

The guide's narration about the bunker and its creators, their further fate. A model of the bunker created by the students of the former Rude school (according to the partisans' own narrative) and a spatial map of the forest area of those times with marked houses of supporters and contacts can be viewed. Bunker household exhibits collected.

Advance application by phone 26323014 or email lelde.jagmina@gmail.com.

Aizvīkai Manor Park is located in Aizvīki, Gramzda Parish, just a few kilometers from the Lithuanian border.

The places of bunkers and trenches from the 2nd World War are still clearly visible in Aivvikai Park. One of the types of weapons was the Katyusha rocket launch system. Several such Rocket Launching Systems were located in Aizvīki Park, even after the end of the 2nd World War, and these places (caponieri) are clearly visible in nature.

This unique forest park, shrouded in secrets and legends, was created at the end of the 19th century as the Aizvīkai Manor Park, when the baron of the manor von Korff covered the nearby hilly land with a pine and spruce forest. Later, walking paths were laid on the 40 ha area, trees of other species were also planted and a pheasant garden was established.

In addition to the picturesque forest landscapes, there are also fairy-tale and fairy-tale figures made of wood, as well as stone sculptures, which tell travelers about events from the history of Aizvīkai and mark the cultural and historical places in the park. A Green Class has also been created in the park.

In order to get to know the cultural and historical heritage of Aizvīkai Manor Park more fully, we recommend using the services of a guide.

Aizvīkai Manor Park is located in Aizvīki, Gramzda Parish, just a few kilometers from the Lithuanian border.

The places of bunkers and trenches from the 2nd World War are still clearly visible in Aivvikai Park. The Red Army bunker has been restored in the park.

One of the types of weapons during World War II was the "Katyusha" rocket launch system. Several such Rocket Launching Systems were located in Aizvīki Park, even now these places (caponieri) are clearly visible in nature.

In order to get to know the cultural and historical heritage of Aizvīkai Manor Park more fully, we recommend using the services of a guide.

A memorial sign has been installed for the division of Major Jānis Ozolas on the side of the Riga - Liepāja highway, in Džukste parish, about one kilometer from the Kurzeme backwaters of the memorial site.

During the Third Battle of Kurzeme on December 31, Ozola's III Division and Major Kristaps Insberg's II Division as the last line of defense repulsed the enemy's overwhelming attack, preventing the front from breaking. In this battle, Ozol displays personal heroism and commanding ability

Jānis Ozols (1904-1947) was an officer of the Latvian Army and the Latvian Legion, a recipient of the Army's list of honor buckle, as well as a national partisan and a victim of Soviet repression.

Misiņkalns nature park is located in the town of Aizpute. Misiņkalns is the highest place in the city of Aizpute. Its height reaches 95.4 m. The top offers a scenic view of the city. Misiņkalns nature park was started to be built in the 20th century. at first. The area of the park is currently about 28 ha.

In the territory of the park there are several places and memorials related to the events of the 20th century - the memorial stele of the soldiers who died in the Latvian Freedom Wars - the cavaliers of the Lāčpleš Order, the place of the Holocaust memorial, the place of remembrance of the repressed and the memorial plaque of the fallen red partisans.

In the park, you can get to know the plants and plantations of various rare species, as well as enjoy the untouched nature. Currently, the park is criss-crossed by renovated walking and cycling paths, and there is a motorcycle track on the territory of the park, where Latvian motocross competitions take place.

In order to get to know the cultural and historical heritage of Misiņkalns manor park more fully, we recommend using the services of a guide.

In 1890, Gertrude Lindberga founded a cardboard factory in Aizpute.

During World War 2, German military equipment and weapon repair workshops operated in the factory premises.

After the war, the Aizpute district industrial complex was established and its production was agricultural equipment. There were also weaving, fabric dyeing, and wool yarn processing workshops. Later, a furniture production workshop was also opened.
The key and building cladding factory "Aizpute" is renamed to the metal fittings factory "Kurzeme", or MFR "Kurzeme".
MFR "Kurzeme" transforms into a joint-stock company "Kurzeme slike 1" and started producing various types of non-standard metal products and successfully produces them even today.

We recommend getting to know the production plant on a tour with a guide.

FOR THE NATIONAL PARTISANS
I AM BACK AMONG YOU IN LAUNDRY
BECAUSE IT WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE IT WOULD GO
IN YOUR PARISH AND ON THE WAYS OF YOUR ANCESTORS
EXPECT ME BACK
The year numbers (1945 - 1953) and the names of 36 fallen partisans are engraved on the granite slab at the foot of the monument.

On February 23, 1946, a bloody battle took place in the parish of Tārgale near Vārnuvalkas between the group of Latvian national partisans led by commander Brīvnieks at their camp site and the fighter division of the Soviet occupation army. Six partisans died in the battle, and the local residents secretly buried them right there in the forest. Later, two more shot dead were buried there without trial and verdict. Locally, this corner of the forest was called the Dzelzkalns graves, which for many years only experts knew how to find - by the sign of the cross in the fir tree.
A monument to the memory of the national partisans has been installed in the cemetery. Names engraved in stone for partisans who worked in the Puze-Pilten partisan group. There is also a memorial stone for Lieutenant Robert Ruben next to it.
In the summer of 1989, the members of the Ugāle branch of the LNNK in the Dezkalni area of Zūru meža placed birch crosses on the national burial place of the Puzes-Piltenes group who fell on February 23, 1946, and searched for the relatives of the fallen in Latvia and abroad.
On April 27, 1991, with the participation of relatives of the fallen, representatives of national organizations from several countries, the graves were consecrated by theology professor Roberts Akmentiņš, and they were named the graves of the Iron Brothers.
On June 20, 1992, a monument dedicated by August Adler was opened in the cemetery. The monument was made by Kārlis Stepans according to the design planned by the LNNK Ugāle branch with minor modifications. The expenses were covered by a few people. The monument was installed and the foundations were created by guards of the Ventspils Guards Regiment, members of LNNK and LDV Ugāle branches. The text is engraved in the upper part of the monument:

Among the many objects of Liepāja Karosta, Liepāja coastal artillery battery No. 2 is still the most mysterious place in Liepaja. In battery no. 2, the ammunition depots of the troops of the various existing powers were always installed.

Liepaja Fortress Battery No. 2 was built further from the coastline and was protected by a high rampart. The batteries were armed with 16 11-inch (280 mm) mortars of the 1877 model. After the fortress was dismantled, ammunition warehouses were set up here. Due to the danger of explosions, the territory was closed to the public and guarded for 130 years, but now there is an exposition about the activities of the 1st Kurzeme Division Headquarters in the years 1919-1940s, as well as photo evidence of the 1st Liepāja Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Ventspils Infantry Regiment and the Kurzeme Artillery. regiment.

The monument to the soldiers of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Red Army is located at the ruins of the Kaulači half-manor farmhouse about 100 metres south-west of the road.

On 17 March 1945, the last Red Army offensive attempt in Courland began. The task of the 7th Estonian Rifle Division of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps was to reach the Riga-Liepaja railway line west of Blidene station and to secure the attack of the 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps in the direction of Gaiki. By the evening of 17 March, the 354th Rifle Regiment reached the railway south of Kaulači half-manor through the forest and continued its attacks north-westwards, reaching the Pikuliai houses. In the Kaulači semi-mansion and further to the north-east were the German Burg-Stellung positions, defended by individual units of the 329th Infantry Division. Throughout the day of 18 March, attacks by the 354th Rifle Regiment continued unsuccessfully.

On the evening of 18 March the 354th Rifle Regiment was relieved by the 27th Rifle Regiment. The advance unit of the 7th Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps, the 1st Motorised Battalion, with one tank company, was also to be used for the attack. By the evening of 19 March, in a concentrated attack, the Soviets had captured the Kaulači half-manor, seizing a section of the German-built defensive line on the dominant high ground.

Until the end of March 1945, attacks by the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps and the 3rd Mechanised Corps in the directions of Vikstraute and Remte continued, but without success.

During the fighting, the Kaulači half-manor housed various levels of headquarters and a memorial stone was unveiled on the site in May 1975.

The bunker of the national partisans of Peter Chever is located in Lauciene municipality, about 4 km from the Talsi-Upesgrīva road. A trail covered with wood chips leads to the bunker.  The renovated 31 square metre bunker is made of a concrete frame finished with half-logs of logs to create an authentic feel.

Captain Chever's group completed the bunker in the forest near Vangzene at the end of October 1949. It was planned to survive the winter of 1949-50. On 3 February 1950, the local forester betrayed the partisans and the bunker was attacked by a Cheka unit of more than 300 soldiers. At that time there were 19 people in the bunker - 17 men and two women. Six partisans fell in this unequal battle, but the others managed to break through two chains of Cheka siege by fighting their way through. By the end of the winter the partisans took refuge in surrounding houses with their supporters, but in the spring the group reunited until it was captured and destroyed in November 1950. After an attack by Cheka troops, the bunker was blown up and before it could be rebuilt, only a water-filled pit remained.

In Liepāja, the militia, the institution of the communist occupation regime, was located in Republikas Street 19, a building that had been in use since its construction in the 20th century. in the beginning, people from Liepāja called it the "Blue Miracle". On the other hand, the headquarters of the check was located at Toma Street 19. Shortly after the occupation, it acquired the name "Red Miracle" in society.

In the course of investigating the crimes of the communist regime so far, it has been established that no executions or extrajudicial shootings have taken place either directly in the Liepaja Cheka building, i.e. in the "Red Miracle", or in the prison. Due to the start of the war on the territory of Latvia, all the detainees who were in these places were transferred to prisons in Russia starting from June 23, 1941. This affected both detainees who were arrested for so-called "political" crimes and criminal criminals, regardless of whether the person was under investigation or had already received a sentence.

The transfer of the prisoners was determined by the order No. 2455/M of the People's Commissar of State Security of the USSR Vsevolod Merkulov of June 23, 1941, which was addressed to the chiefs of the NKGB of the Latvian SSR, the Estonian SSR and several regions of the Ukrainian SSR. The reason for the shooting was terrible and tragic – it was no longer possible to transfer the detainees to Russia, but they could not be left alive. As a result, extrajudicial shootings of residents took place in Liepāja during the war, similarly to the cases in Riga Central Prison, Valmiera Prison, Valka and Rēzekne militias, and on the Croix Hill near Ludza. The mentioned crime took place in the "Blue Miracle" - Liepāja militia building, Republikas Street 19.

Įsikūręs Tukumo rajone, A9 greitkelio pakraštyje, 500 m nuo posūkio į Lesteni Rygos kryptimi.

Memorialas buvo įkurtas 1991 m. netoli Rumbu namų, kurie buvo aktyvių karo veiksmų vieta. Tai duoklė „Kuršo tvirtovės“ gynėjams, kovojusiems su Raudonąja armija Antrajame pasauliniame kare. Mūšiai buvo reikšmingi, nes laikinai sustabdė Raudonosios armijos įvykdytą visišką Latvijos okupaciją. Maždaug 300 000 latvių emigravo, bėgdami nuo sovietų režimo įvykdytų nusikaltimų prieš civilius gyventojus.

Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigoje Latvijos teritorijoje susiklostė savotiška situacija. Kurše buvo dislokuotos Vokietijos armijos pajėgos, kurias Raudonoji armija bandė eliminuoti arba neleisti dalyvauti mūšiuose Rytų Prūsijoje ar aplink Berlyną. „Kuršo tvirtovė“ yra dažniausiai vartojamas terminas, apibūdinantis karo veiksmus Kurše nuo 1944 iki 1945 m. „Kuršo mūšis“ buvo Vokietijos armijos kova, siekiant atremti didžiulius Raudonosios armijos išpuolius. Kuršo tvirtovė nustojo egzistuoti netrukus po Vokietijos kapituliacijos.

Šiandien galite aplankyti memorialą ir poilsio vietą, kuri buvo populiari tarp Latvijos legionierių nuo pat Latvijos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo.

This monument is situated on the water’s edge on Cape Puise. In 1944, around 80,000 people fled westward from the advancing Red Army, many of them by sea. This monument, commemorating that mass flight, was designed by Aivar Simson. The idea originated from Heidi Ivask, who, held in her mother's arms, was one of many who waited for a boat on the beach in Puise. Construction of the monument was led by the Estonian Memento Union.

Founded in 2006 by Aivars Kluš. Located in "Kamenes", Kalsnava parish.

On August 10, 1944, the 341st Guards Rifle Regiment of the Soviet Army, including the 130th Latvian Rifle Corps, crossed the Aiviekste river.
On August 2 - 6, 1944, they attacked in the direction of Medņi - Antuži and reached the left bank of Aiviekste. On August 7 and 8, 1944, the 130th Latvian rifle units successfully participated in the attack of the Soviet 22nd Army on Krustpilij. After the capture of Krustpils, the subunits of the 130th Corps forced Aivieksti on August 10 and created a bridgehead on the right bank of the river. Next followed the battles near Vietalva, which lasted from August 17 to 24 and ended with the capture of Vietalva.

The amount of trophies is large - shells, shells, grenades, bayonets, ammunition boxes, cans, barrels, household items.

There are also exhibits from other battlefields and the First World War.

More information about the museum - https://visitmadona.lv/lv/apskates-saimniecibas?400

A memorial to those who fought against the Soviet occupation regime and the victims of communist repression in the Renģe Manor Park of Zebrene Parish was opened on September 1, 1995. A cross is depicted on a rough boulder and the words are engraved: “To the victims of the Zebrene red terror, to the national fighters who fell in World War II.” The creation of the memorial was financially supported by the organization “Daugavas Vanagi”.

The Īle National Partisan Brothers' Cemetery in the Virkus cemetery of Bērze parish was established on November 14, 1992, when 15 partisans who fell in the Battle of Īle on March 17, 1949, were buried here. This was possible after on July 18, 1992, the National Guard, together with the organization "Daugavas Vanagi" and the Latvian history research working group "Ziemeļblāzma", with the participation of representatives of other nationally-minded organizations, exhumed the remains of 15 Latvian and Lithuanian forest brothers buried in a blown-up partisan bunker in the Īle forest district of Zebrene parish.

The memorial stone to the national partisans who fell in the Battle of Īle was unveiled on May 29, 1993. It was designed by Alfons Kalniņš ("Edgars"), one of the surviving participants in the battle of March 17, 1949. The regular-shaped granite slab depicts a sword and a rising sun, and is engraved with the names of 15 fallen national partisans and the inscription:

“The sun rose from the sword. Here lie the Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans who fell in the battle of Īle on March 17, 1949.”

Gravestone for Bruno Druķis, a national partisan from Naudīte parish, who fell in a clash with the armed formations of the Soviet occupation authorities on June 30, 1941. A granite stele with the text: “To the partisan Bruno Druķis. Fell on June 30, 1940. This land is a sacred heritage for our people. And blessed is he who falls for him. Naudīte parish”. The ceramic medallion with the portrait of B. Druķis was smashed and destroyed after World War II.

After the start of the German-USSR war, about ten local guards gathered in the Ružēni forest on June 27, 1941 and formed a national partisan unit with Žanis Gelsons at the head. The next day, the partisans occupied the Naudīte parish executive committee and the local machine and horse rental station, taking possession of the tractors, agricultural equipment and horses there. On June 30, the Naudīte partisan unit tried to intercept a column of Red Army soldiers led by two officers on the road near Meļļi. During the clash, both Soviet officers and retired corporal Bruno Druķis of the Latvian Army Cavalry Regiment fell.

The memorial site for Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans near the former Ukru parish school was opened and consecrated on October 21, 2006. A white cross has been erected there, at the foot of which there is a granite stele with the names of two Latvian and two Lithuanian national partisans engraved and the text: “For You, Fatherland. To the national partisans of Ukru parish 1944-1954. In the fight against the communist occupation regime on October 26, 1948, Eidis-Eduards Ozols, Kristaps Siļķe, Alfonsas Bugnius, Kostas Norvaitis fell in Ukru parish”.

The memorial site was established by the Latvian National Partisan Association (LNPA) in cooperation with the Lithuanian Freedom Fighters Association (LLKS). Its opening was attended by the chairman of the Ukru Parish Council Ainārs Āriņš, the chairman of the LNPA Ojārs Stefans, the representative of the LLKS Jons Čepons and other attendees.

Gravestone for the national partisan of Jēkabnieki parish, Harijs Ginter, who fell on June 28, 1941. A plaque is installed on the grave with the text: “Harijs Ginter. Born 1912.30. VIII. Fell for his native land 1941.28.VI. Dear mother, What you cry, extinguish the scale, go to sleep,. In vain, in vain, wait for your son, in vain do you shed bitter tears”. The gravestone was restored in 2016 and 2024 at the initiative of Gunita Kulmane, the head of the Ūziņi library of Zaļenieki parish, and at her personal expense.

In the days following the outbreak of the German-USSR war on June 22, 1941, a national partisan unit was formed in Jēkabnieki parish to ensure order and end the Soviet occupation power, with the commander of the guard platoon V. Ritums at the head. Initially, the weak armament – a few pistols and rifles – was supplemented with trophy weapons from the Red Army soldiers captured near Kalnanši and in other places. A major clash with Soviet armed formations took place on June 28, 1941 in Gudēni, where the guard of Jēkabnieki parish and national partisan H. Gīnters was captured and tortured to death.

The memorial site to the participants of the July-August 1944 Jelgava defense battles against the second Soviet occupation at the intersection of Rūpniecības and Tērvetes streets was opened on May 8, 1995. In honor of this event, a service was held in Jelgava St. Anna Evangelical Lutheran Church and a flag-draped procession through Jelgava. An irregularly shaped granite stele stands at the memorial site, in which a cross is carved, which grows into the point of a sword. Next to it, to the left, a truncated parallelepiped-shaped granite block with the text “To the defenders of Jelgava 1944.28.VII-8.VIII” is placed in a gull-like manner.

The war in Jelgava began after Soviet troops captured Šiauliai in Lithuania on 27 July 1944 and continued their offensive northwards. In an effort to repel the Red Army, the newly appointed military commander of Jelgava, Lieutenant General Johann Flugbeil, declared it a “fortress city” and all available forces were to be used for its defense. Initially, the core of Jelgava’s defenders consisted only of soldiers from the 15th Latvian SS Weapons Division Training and Reserve Brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Herman Jurko and a few small German units. On the afternoon of 27 July, the Soviet 3rd Air Army began bombing Jelgava, attacking not only strategic military targets in the city and its outskirts – the railway station and roads – but also setting fire to some of the residential buildings. The city's buildings and civilians suffered from Katyusha rocket systems, artillery, and mortar fire fired at each other by both warring sides.

On July 28, units of the Soviet 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps launched an attack on the southern outskirts of the city, but were unsuccessful. On the morning of July 30, the attack was reinforced by the 279th and 347th Rifle Divisions of the 51st Army. Although Moscow Radio reported the capture of the city the next day, the USSR troops with reinforcements had managed to break into the city center, but not completely capture it. The right bank of the Lielupe River and the fortified bridgehead at the Driksa Bridge remained unoccupied by the Red Army. Fierce fighting also took place in Jelgava Castle, which came under Soviet control in early August. The Red Army moved cannons into the castle and fired from its windows at the positions of German and Latvian soldiers on the Kalnciema Road. Counterfire from German heavy artillery followed, which thoroughly destroyed the castle. On August 4, with reinforcements from Riga, the defenders of Jelgava temporarily managed to take control of the city. However, a massive Soviet offensive forced the German and Latvian soldiers to abandon Jelgava three days later.

A memorial site for the members of the youth resistance organization of Jelgava 1st Secondary School repressed by the communist regime in 1941 was established in 2007 at the initiative of the social and political activist and historian Andris Tomašūns. An oak tree was planted at the memorial site near Jelgava 1st Gymnasium (now Jelgava Technology Secondary School) and a boulder was placed with the following text engraved on it: “Memorial oak tree for Jelgava gymnasium students, members of the national resistance movement – who died in Siberia in 1940-1948. T. Bergs, V. Einfelds, A. Gaišs, I. Leimanis, J. Liepiņš, J. Jegermanis, I. Kārkliņš, O. Ošenieks, F. Skurstenis, A. Saldenais, A. Valkīrs, J. Valūns. 2000. O. Valkīrs, V. Treimanis and the 1st Gymnasium”.

The Jelgava student resistance organization “Free Latvia” was secretly founded on September 30, 1940, by six 11th grade students of Jelgava 1st Secondary School in the apartment of Fričas Skurstenis at 11-4 Slimnīcas Street. The organization was led by Juris Valūns and its members numbered about 20 people. They gathered in illegal meetings where they discussed the organization’s structure and activities. The young people printed the anti-Soviet slogan “Get ready!”, 100 copies of which were pasted around the city on October 14. From October 25, 1940 to November 6, Soviet security authorities arrested thirteen students of Jelgava 1st Secondary School, who were imprisoned in Jelgava prison and interrogated for a long time. 1941. In 1942, the detainees were taken to the USSR, where on February 7, 1942, the Special Meeting of the USSR People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs sentenced them to 10 years in prison. Only Voldemārs Treimanis survived and returned to Latvia, while the other members of the resistance organization of Jelgava 1st Secondary School died in the Gulag camps in 1942-1943.

A memorial plaque to the members of the youth resistance organization of Jelgava 1st Secondary School (previously Hercogs Pēteris Gymnasium) repressed by the communist regime was installed by the Jelgava branch of the Latvian Politically Repressed Association on October 24, 1996. Initially, the plaque was located inside the Ģ. Elias Jelgava History and Art Museum, but after the renovation of the building's facade and premises in 2007-2008. it was moved to the outer wall of the museum to the right of the main entrance, alongside memorial plaques dedicated to other historical figures. The text engraved on the plaque reads: “On 26 October 1940, students of the Hercogs Jēkabs Gymnasium arrested and deported to Siberia – members of the anti-Soviet movement “Free Latvia” T. Bergs, V. Einfelds, A. Engurs, A. Gaišs, J. Jegermanis, I. Kārkliņš, I. Leimanis, J. Liepiņš, O. Ošenieks, A. Saldenais, F. Skurstenis, V. Treimanis, A. Valkīrs, J. Valūns.”

The Jelgava student resistance organization “Free Latvia” was secretly founded on September 30, 1940, by six 11th grade students of Jelgava 1st Secondary School in the apartment of Fričas Skurstenis at 11-4 Slimnīcas Street. The organization was led by Juris Valūns and its members numbered about 20 people. They gathered in illegal meetings where they discussed the organization’s structure and activities. The young people printed the anti-Soviet slogan “Get ready!”, 100 copies of which were pasted around the city on October 14. From October 25, 1940 to November 6, Soviet security authorities arrested thirteen students of Jelgava 1st Secondary School, who were imprisoned in Jelgava prison and interrogated for a long time. 1941. In 1942, the detainees were taken to the USSR, where on February 7, 1942, the Special Meeting of the USSR People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs sentenced them to 10 years in prison. Only Voldemārs Treimanis survived and returned to Latvia, while the other members of the resistance organization of Jelgava 1st Secondary School died in the Gulag camps in 1942-1943.

In the tower of the St. Trinity Church in Jelgava, which was destroyed in the Soviet-German war in July-August 1944, on October 12, 1952, Egons Užkurelis, who was only 14 years old at the time, together with his friend Jānis Ģēģeris, who was a year older, hung a homemade Latvian national flag. This date was chosen because it was a Sunday when the Jelgava championship motorcycle racing took place in Pārlielupe, where many people gathered and from there the church tower could be clearly seen. The flag was made from a bed sheet, painted with watercolors. The way it was made later allowed the Chekists to guess that the flag-raisers should be sought among the students.

E. Užkurelis and J. Ģēģeri were arrested on October 23, 1952, followed by interrogation in Jelgava and at the Ministry of State Security of the Latvian SSR in Riga at the Corner House. The Criminal Court of the Riga Regional Court accused E. Užkurelis and J. Ģēģeri of anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation and participation in a counter-revolutionary organization. On January 10, 1953, E. Užkurelis was sentenced to five years in prison, and J. Ģēģeris to 15 years. E. Užkurelis was detained in Riga Central Prison for seven months until April 12, 1953, when he was released on the basis of an amnesty.

The building of the current Pauls Bendrup Elementary School (former School for the Deaf and Dumb) at Filozofu Street 50, after the destruction of Jelgava during the Soviet-German war in July-August 1944 and the city coming under the second Soviet occupation, housed Jelgava 2nd (women's) Secondary School. In the fall of 1945, several members of the youth resistance organization "Three-Star Column" studied there.

In November 1945, Soviet security authorities arrested 20 members of this organization, mostly only 16-17 years old, including 13 boys and seven girls, as well as two more of their supporters. The Jelgava youth were accused of organizing illegal meetings and anti-Soviet agitation, collecting weapons and ammunition, supplying food to prisoners in the Sugar Factory filtration camp, providing support to national partisans in Lithuania, as well as other crimes against the USSR occupation regime.

The Baltic Military District Tribunal convicted 19 members of the Three-Star Column organization on May 23, 1946, sentencing them to 10 years in Gulag camps and 5 years of restriction of rights. After nine years in prison in Perm, Berezniki, Norilsk, and Karaganda, their return to their homeland became possible a year after Stalin's death in 1954.

The memorial site at the Butki cemetery was established after the Bauska branch of the Environmental Protection Club cleaned up the graves of approximately 30 Latvian soldiers who fell in the battles for the defense of Bauska in 1944, buried in two columns, in the autumn of 1988, and decided to erect a monument. A collection of donations followed for the construction of the monument. The monument made of red granite, dedicated to the soldiers of the Bauska Volunteer Battalion buried here, was unveiled on November 25, 1989, but already on the night of December 4/5, 1990, it was blown up by the USSR occupation army. In 1992, a massive wooden cross was erected in place of the monument. On October 13, 2002, a new granite monument, similar to the previously destroyed monument, was unveiled with the text carved into it: “For the Freedom of Latvia Those Who Fell in 1944.”

The memorial site for the Bauska Volunteer Battalion in Jumpravmuiža Park was established in 1990 at the initiative of Imants Zaltiņš, a former soldier of this battalion. It is located at the place where Latvian soldiers prevented the first Red Army units from crossing the Lielupe River at the end of July 1944. A white marble plaque is attached to a roughly worked boulder with a gold-colored text engraved on it: “On 28.7.1944, the command post of the Bauska Volunteer Battalion was located here.” Initially, a bronze plaque with an engraving was located in place of the marble plaque, but in the 1990s it was stolen by non-ferrous metal thieves.

At the end of July 1944, as the Soviet troops approached Bauska, there were no significant German forces in the city, which had recently been deep in the rear. The immediate fall of Bauska was prevented by the decisive action of Major Jānis Uļuks, the head of the Bauska district and commander of the guard regiment, who at the end of July formed the Bauska Volunteer Battalion, which consisted of guards of the 13th Bauska Guard Regiment, police officers, as well as volunteers. The battalion took up defensive positions on the banks of the Lielupe River in Jumpravmuiža opposite Ziedoņi islet and on the very first day had to engage in battle with the attacking Red Army. During the battles, a group of Lithuanian police officers who had retreated from Lithuania to Latvia also joined the battalion. Many Lithuanians fell because they fought bravely and without sparing themselves. The first to fall was a Lithuanian police captain, who was buried right there in Jumpravmuiža Park next to the graves of German soldiers from World War I.

The monument to the defenders of Bauska in 1944 was unveiled on September 14, 2012, at the initiative of former Bauska Volunteer Battalion soldier Imants Zeltiņš and with his and the local government's financial support. The red granite stele, which is mounted on a three-tiered concrete base, is engraved with the text: “To the defenders of Bauska against the second Soviet occupation 1944.28.07.-14.09.” and “Latvia must be a Latvian state. Kārlis Ulmanis.” The unveiling of the monument was followed by protests from the Russian and Belarusian Foreign Ministries and local Russian mass media, but in the spring of 2024 the monument was even attacked by vandals. Despite this, a memorial event dedicated to the defenders of Bauska is held at this location every year on September 14 at 2:00 p.m.

At the end of July 1944, as the Soviet troops approached Bauska, there were no significant German forces in the city, which had recently been deep in the rear. The immediate fall of Bauska was prevented by the decisive action of Major Jānis Uļuks, the head of the Bauska district and commander of the guard regiment, who at the end of July formed the Bauska Volunteer Battalion, which consisted of guards of the 13th Bauska Guard Regiment, police officers, as well as volunteers. The battalion took up defensive positions on the banks of the Lielupe River in Jumpravmuiža opposite the Ziedoņi islet and on the first day it had to engage in battle with the attacking Red Army. Initially, the battalion was very poorly armed, and most of its automatic weapons had to be obtained as trophies. A few days later, the 23rd, 319th-F. and 322nd-F. Latvian police battalions also joined the war effort. Until mid-August, the 15th Latvian SS Reserve and Supplement Brigade Battalion, formed from training and medical companies, also participated in the defense of Bauska against the second Soviet occupation. In total, 3,000-4,000 Latvian soldiers participated in the battles for Bauska, who at the end of the battles had to face a tenfold superiority. Soviet troops managed to take Bauska only on September 14, after a month and a half of resistance by Latvian and German soldiers.

The memorial ensemble in the Bauska Castle Garden was opened on the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Latvia – on November 18, 2008. The memorial site was created according to the idea of the Bauska region’s politically repressed club “Rēta”. The two-part grey granite monument was made according to the design of architect Inta Vanaga with the funds of the Bauska city municipality and donors. The text is engraved on it: “To the fighters against the Soviet occupation regime, those arrested, deported and tortured 1940-1990”. Every year on March 25 and June 14, memorial events dedicated to the victims of the deportations of 1941 and 1949 are held at this place

In the garden of the Bauska Holy Spirit Evangelical Lutheran Church, the defenders of Bauska – Latvian soldiers – were buried during the battles of 1944. During the years of the USSR occupation, playgrounds for a kindergarten were set up here. On November 9, 1996, a memorial stone created by sculptor Mārtiņš Zaurs was unveiled in the church garden. The text carved into the roughly worked reddish boulder under the Latvian Legion sleeve patch – a red-white-red representation of the shield – “Long live Latvia to you! To the defenders of Bauska in 1944.” The memorial stone was erected at the initiative of the Latvian National Soldiers’ Association and the Bauska branch of the organization “Daugavas Vanagi”. Financial support was also provided by the Bauska city and district municipalities. Next to the stone is a white-painted wooden cross, under which is attached a red-white-red painted replica of the legionnaires' shield, and even lower is a pink granite plaque with the text: "Here lie the legionnaires, the heroic defenders of Bauska, 1944.28.VII – 1944.14.IX"

House and memorial plaque for victims of Cheka repressions at the building in Bauska at Plūdoņa Street 54, where the Bauska district, later - district Cheka was located during the Soviet occupation after World War II. Here, national partisans and their supporters were imprisoned and interrogated in the basements, and the killed partisans were thrown into the courtyard for identification and intimidation of local residents. The memorial plaque was unveiled after 2000, it depicts stylized barbed wire, prison bars and the text: “The soles of boots clatter, a hundred people groan... Every day is a memory that the heart does not forget. During the Soviet occupation, this building housed the Bauska district department of the repression institution (NKVD, “Cheka”), where people were deprived of their homeland, home, family, freedom and life”. During the occupation, there was a memorial plaque near this house to three fallen representatives of the occupation authorities who had lost their lives in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat a national partisan – Jānis Gudžas.

The memorial site for Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans was opened on September 11, 2011. It features a white-painted metal cross, at the foot of which is a granite stele with the names of fourteen national partisans and the text: “For You, Fatherland. Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans. Fallen in the fight against the communist occupation in Ceraukste, Panemune, Īslīce and Pabirži parishes (Lithuania) in 1945–1954. Jānis Gudža, Teodors Auniņš, Pēteris Varens, Žanis Strautiņš, Miķelis Dombrovskis, Vilis Krūmiņš, Olģerts Trans, Laimonis Auniņš, Jānis Ulinskis, Jānis Anilonis, Povilas Glinda, Petras Gibrjūnas, Petras Volosklāvičius, Alberts “Voldmerārs” “Director”. Your graves are unknown.”

The memorial site was established by the Latvian National Partisan Association with the support of the Bauska regional government, and the cross was made by precision mechanic Harijs Frīdemans from Dobele with his own money.

The memorial site for Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans was opened on May 25, 2007. It features a white-painted cross, at the foot of which is a granite stele with the names of ten national partisans carved into it and the text: “For You, Fatherland! To the national partisans of Panemuine. Those who fell in the fight against the communist occupation regime from 1944 to 1952. Jānis Dručka, Andrejs Bojasts, Arvīds Melducis, Augusts Juškēvičs, Willi Fischer, Stanislovas Naudžius – “Mykolas”, Juozas Krikščiūnas – “Karlis”, Juozas Balčiūnas – “Klemute”, Augustas Pareizis – “Kazys”, “Juozupas”, Jonas Sirbike – “Janis””. The memorial site was designed by the Latvian National Partisan Association, based on the project of architect Gunārs Blūzma.

The monument is located near the Skaistkalne Catholic Church and the former monastery building of the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor – a place where national partisans and their supporters hid with the support of the monks after World War II. The memorial stele, unveiled in 2011 and consecrated by the Pauline Father Jānis Vīlaks, reads: “Monks of the Capuchin Order – supporters of the national resistance movement Kārlis Gumpenbergs OMC (1904-1980), Miķelis Jermacāns OMC (1911-1986), Kārlis Kiselevskis OMC (1906-1979), Miķelis Kļaviņš OMC (1906-1986), Jānis Pavlovskis OMC (1914-2001). They provided shelter and support to national partisans and illegal immigrants in Riga, Skaistkalne and Viļaka in 1945-1947.”

The consecration of the memorial stone dedicated to the Capuchin Fathers took place on October 8, 2011. The stone was consecrated by the Pauline Father of the Skaistkalne Catholic Church, priest Jānis Vīlaks. The event was attended by the Chairman of the Latvian National Partisan Association Ojārs Stefans, the Head of the Skaistkalne Parish Administration Ineta Skustā and other local residents.

The memorial site for national partisans near the Kurmene parish hall was opened on May 4, 2023, at the site of a monument praising the occupation troops of the USSR, which was dismantled in accordance with the law “On the Prohibition of Exhibiting Objects Glorifying the Soviet and Nazi Regimes and Their Dismantling in the Territory of the Republic of Latvia” adopted by the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia in June 2022. A white-painted wooden cross has been installed at the memorial site, at the foot of which is a black granite stele with the text carved into it: “To the national partisans of Kurmene and surrounding parishes 1944-1953. They will break us, but they will not bend us.”

To the right of the memorial sign, a stand with information about the Kurmene national partisans prepared by Bauska Museum historian Raits Ābelnieks has been installed. The memorial site was established at the initiative of local residents and with the support of the Kurmene parish branch of the Bauska Region Elderly People's Association and the Bauska Region Council.

The gravestone in the Valle cemetery was erected here on July 4, 1941, for the national partisan Edmunds Vigmanis, who was buried here on July 30, 1941, and who fell on June 30 in a clash with Soviet armed formations. The plaque features a ceramic medallion with a photo of E. Vigmanis in a guard uniform and the following inscription: “Vigmanis Edmunds. Born on April 6, 1907. Fell in partisan battles in Valle on June 30, 1941. The countrymen who pass by me are burning with love for the Fatherland. For the beloved Fatherland, I pledge my life.”

After the start of the German-USSR war and the escape of the employees of the Taurkalne parish executive committee, on June 30, local residents gathered at the Taurkalne parish hall in Valle, hoisted the Latvian flag on the flagpole, and formed a 25-man national partisan unit, but only partially armed with rifles and shotguns, led by guard Osvalds Ivanovskis. On the same day, a clash with about twenty Red Army soldiers took place near Jaunbruntālie, during which additional trophy weapons were obtained and five were killed, eight were wounded, and the remaining Red Army soldiers were dispersed. The national partisan, the owner of Jaunbuki, Edmunds Vigmanis, fell in the battle, while O. Ivanovskis and the owner of Bārzdiņi, Jānis Krūmiņš, were wounded.

Several members of the academic unit “Austrums” and the Central Council of Latvia, secretly established in Riga on August 13, 1943, worked at the Agricultural Academy in Jelgava (Mītava) (today - the Latvian University of Biosciences and Technologies) in 1943-1944 - professors Rūdolfs Markuss, Andrejs Teikmanis, Alfrēds Tauriņš and other teaching staff. On March 10, 1944, Vilis Eihe, an assistant professor at the Agricultural Academy, together with his wife Aleksandrs and assistant Hermanis Zeltiņš, printed the LCP’s illegal newspaper “Jaunā Latvija” in Jelgava using a duplicating machine. It provided news about Latvia’s international situation and set out further guidelines for Latvian political life. Among the 188 Latvian socio-political workers who, in the LCP memorandum of March 17, 1944, expressed the need to restore an independent and democratic Republic of Latvia based on the 1922 Constitution, were the academic staff of the Agricultural Academy in Jelgava - professors Jānis Vārsbergs, Pāvils Kvelde, A. Teikmanis and R. Markuss.

A memorial plaque to the members of the youth resistance organization at the Bauska city elementary school at Rīgas Street 32, where the Bauska secondary school was located after World War II. The inscription on the plaque, unveiled in 2000, reads: "... And we carried only our hearts high. A group of youth national resistance studied in this school, which dedicated their youth to the fight against the communist occupation power (1948-1950)."

In the autumn of 1948, a national resistance group of patriotic youth was formed in Bauska, which, in the proclamations and slogans posted in the city, called for a fight against the occupiers and the restoration of Latvia's independence, as well as warned of the deportations expected by the communist regime on March 25, 1949. Several young people from Bauska studied in Riga after graduating from high school, but continued to work in this underground organization. Several young people had purchased weapons and explosives and staged an assassination attempt on the chairman of the collective farm in Codes parish. It was planned to attack other officials of the Soviet occupation authorities, as well as blow up the festive stands in Bauska, Baldone and Eleya. This did not happen, because arrests began in mid-1950. 12 young people were arrested in Bauska and Riga, several of them were arrested on the day of high school graduation – June 22. In February 1951, the Baltic War District Tribunal sentenced the organization's leaders Gunārs Zemtautis and Arvīds Klēugas to death, and six high school students and four students to 25 years in forced labor camps.

G. Eliaso Jelgavos istorijos ir meno muziejus įsikūręs pastate, vadinamame Academia Petrina (Petro akademija). Jis buvo pastatytas 1775 m. kaip pirmasis universitetas Latvijoje ir yra vienas iš nedaugelio Jelgavoje Jelgavoje išlikusių ir po Antrojo pasaulinio karo restauruotų visuomeninių pastatų. 1944-ųjų vasarą Jelgava prarado beveik viską – didelę dalį gyventojų ir istorinių pastatų, kurių dauguma po Antrojo pa saulinio karo taip ir nebuvo atstatyti. Dabartinio muziejaus pirmtakas – Kuržemės provincijos muziejus, įkurtas 1818 m. Tai buvo antras pagal senumą muziejus Latvijoje ir pirmasis už Rygos ribų. Nuo 1952 m. pastate veikia Academia Petri na muziejus. Šiandien muziejuje veikia nuolatinės parodos apie iškilų Latvijos menininką Ģedertą Eliasą (1887–1975), priešistorę ir viduramžius Žiemgaloje bei Jelgavos miestą įvairiais laikotarpiais – Kuržemės ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštys tės (1561–1795 m.), Kuržemės gubernijos (1795–1918 m.) ir nepriklausomos Latvijos valstybės (1918–1940 m.) Muziejaus ekspozicija „Gyvenimas tęsiasi valdant sveti miems“ pasakoja apie gyvenimą Latvijoje vokiečių ir so vietų okupacijų metais. Virtualioje muziejaus parodoje „Karai ir kareivis Jelgavos amžiais“ galima susipažinti su įvairiais Jelgavą palietusiais karais, įskaitant ir Pirmojo bei Antrojo pasaulinių karų isto rinius įvykius.

Paminklas Jelgavos išvaduotojams „Lačplėsis“ stovi Jelga voje, Stoties parke, priešais geležinkelio stoties pastatą. Jis buvo atidengtas 1932 m. birželio 22 d., dalyvaujant tuome tiniam Latvijos prezidentui A. Kviesiui. Paminklas skirtas 1919 m. lapkričio 21 d. įvykusiam Jelgavos išvadavimui, Latvijos nepriklausomybės karų metu, atminti. Per pirmąją sovietų okupaciją 1940 m. paminklas išliko ne paliestas. Tačiau 1941 m., kai sovietus pakeitė vokiečių oku pacinė valdžia, paminklo dviprasmiška simbolika nepatiko į Jelgavą sugrįžusiam vokiečių okupacinės administracijos vadovui fon Medemui – jo protėviai buvo pirmieji Jelgavos pilies statytojai. 1942 m. spalio 31 d. vokiečių okupacinė val džia įsakė paminklo autoriui Karliui Jansonui pašalinti vokiečių riterio atvaizdą. 1950 m. sovietų okupacinė valdžia įsakė paminklą sunaikinti. Lačplėsio skulptūra buvo nuversta nuo postamento su trak toriumi, sudaužyta, o jos likučius mėginta sutrupinti akmenų trupintuvu. Tačiau Lačplėsis pasirodė esąs toks kietas, kad tru pintuvas sugedo. Nesunaikinta paminklo vidurinė dalis buvo slapta užkasta vaikų darželio teritorijoje. 1988 m. ši paminklo dalis buvo surasta ir perkelta priešais G. Eliaso Jelgavos istorijos ir meno muziejų. Restauruotas pa minklas buvo iškilmingai atidengtas 1992 m. lapkričio 21 d. Jį atkūrė skulptorius Andrejus Jansonsas – paminklo autoriaus Karlo Jansono sūnus.

Jelgavos Švč. Trejybės bažnyčios bokštas yra Jelgavos miesto centre. Bokštas stovi daugiau nei keturis šimtmečius ir yra tapęs ne tik miesto raidos, bet ir skaudžių įvykių liudininku. Bažny čios statyba pradėta 1574 m., vykdant Kuržemės ir Žiem galos hercogo Gothardo Ketlerio potvarkį. Jos bokštas buvo užbaigtas 1688 m., vadovaujant meistrui Martinui Knochui, ir tapo vienu labiausiai matomu miesto statinių. Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais Jelgava buvo smarkiai nu niokota, o bažnyčia sudegė 1944 m., po SSRS aviacijos antskrydžio. Po karo sovietų valdžia susprogdino altoriaus dalį, o sienos buvo nugriautos. Išliko tik bokštas kaip stra teginės reikšmės objektas, kadangi jis buvo aukščiausias mieste. Per karą ir pokariu bokštas buvo naudojamas ka rinėms reikmėms – iš jo buvo stebimos priešo pozicijos ir kontroliuojama aplinkinė teritorija. Pokario metais bokštas atliko strateginę funkciją, vykdant pasipriešinimo veiklą. Jis tapo slapta susitikimų vieta ir in formacijos, svarbios kovai su sovietiniu režimu, perdavimo vieta. Šiandien bokštas, išlaikęs savo istorinę reikšmę, atgi mė kaip kultūros ir švietimo centras.

Located south of the village of Nākotne. The Nākotne Park houses the Soviet-made Antonov AN-2. It was primarily designed as a multi-purpose civil aircraft, but was also used for military purposes. It first flew in 1947 and was a very versatile aircraft with excellent short take-off and landing capabilities, making it suitable for a variety of roles, including military ones.

Military use of the aircraft included:

• Transportation of troops and soldiers to hard-to-reach places;
• Parachutist training and transportation;
• Providing logistics and supplies, such as delivering food, ammunition, and medical equipment to combat zones;
• Maintaining communications between different military units;
• Patrol flights and reconnaissance.

Due to its simple design and reliability, the AN-2 was suitable for operation in field conditions that did not require a well-developed infrastructure. The aircraft's endurance and ability to fly at low altitudes made it very useful in a variety of climatic conditions, including conflicts involving the Soviet Union or its allies.

The aircraft was used in many countries, including Eastern Europe and Asia, where it served not only civil but also military forces.

AN-2 technical data:

• AN-2 technical data:
• Crew: 2
• Passenger capacity: up to 12
• Maximum speed: 225 km/h
• Cruising speed: 180 km/h
• Maximum take-off weight: 5250 kg
• Maximum flight distance: 1200 km
• Maximum flight duration: 7 h
• Fuel capacity: 1200 l
• Load capacity: 1500 kg
• Length: 12.4 m
• Wingspan: 18.2 m
• Height: 4.1 m

The future park also features the GAZ-63, a light truck with all-wheel drive, produced from 1948 to 1968. Its purpose was to provide reliable transportation in difficult on- and off-road conditions. The GAZ-63 was one of the first Soviet cars with permanent all-wheel drive. This design provided excellent performance in mud, snow, and other difficult conditions, which was essential for military and civilian needs. The car was produced in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), which was one of the most important centers of the automotive industry in the Soviet Union. The GAZ-63 was equipped with a 6-cylinder gasoline engine that produced about 70 horsepower. This engine was economical for its time and reliable in various operating conditions. The GAZ-63 was widely used both in the Soviet army and in the civilian sector - in forestry, agriculture, and road construction. Its simple design allowed it to be quickly repaired and maintained even in remote regions.

A glider produced during the Soviet era is on display.

The Park of the Future also houses the "Time Machine" antiques repository and workshop, where various artifacts can be viewed, including a special pilot's suit designed for flights involving overloads, and other items related to the Soviet era.

At the end of the tour, you can taste the products produced at the "Park of the Future" at "Nordcrunch".

The communications bunker is located in Riga, Vecmīlgrāvis, is a historical object built during the Soviet era, which originally served as the reserve control point of the then Oktyabr district and at the same time - the civil defense headquarters of the Riga Ship Repair Plant. It was created to ensure the management of the Northern district in emergency situations, such as in the event of a nuclear war or natural disaster.

The bunker had everything necessary for autonomous operation: communication nodes for communication with other important objects, independent power supply and water supply, as well as premises for the protection of people. After the end of the Soviet era, the bunker was neglected and looted, but in recent years it has been carefully restored by local enthusiasts and transformed into the Civil Defense Museum "Communications Bunker".

The museum's exhibition features authentic work spaces, communication equipment, protective gear, historical documents and maps, allowing visitors to explore the civil defense system of the Cold War and feel the atmosphere of that time. It is a unique journey through time that will captivate both history enthusiasts and those looking for something unusual.

The museum regularly organizes tour days, during which visitors can learn about the history of the bunker and its significance. To visit the museum, it is recommended to register for a tour in advance or follow upcoming events on the museum's official pages on social networks.

The memorial site in Kambari is located in a place that is not easy to find. When driving along the Riga-Liepāja highway, between Annenieki and Kaķenieki, you should turn left onto a dirt road and drive about 2 kilometers.

The battles at Kambari and Ileni have gone down in history with a huge number of fallen on both sides of the army. The monument was erected at the Kambari homestead, where in January 1945 one of the most senseless battles took place, when at least 3,000 soldiers fell.

The front line of the Courland fortress advanced through Annenieki in the winter of 1944/1945. Here the 319th Regiment of the 308th Latvian Rifle Division of the Red Army fought against the units of the 19th Division of the Latvian SS Volunteer Legion. Here Latvians fought against Latvians.

Photographer, publicist and writer Gunārs Birkmanis recorded the memories of his schoolmate Alfons Kalniņš in his book “Reflections of a Century”: In 1946, we went to the Īleni and Kambari fields to look for weapons. There, two large fields were full of the remains of fallen Red Army soldiers. A thousand, I think, or more skeletons in gray Russian army overcoats. They had nothing: no weapons, no belongings, no documents that would indicate their belonging. We knew that they were Latvians mobilized by the Russians.

During the Soviet years, a memorial was erected at this place, interpreting what happened there in the Soviet spirit. The monument – the figures of a standing girl and a young man – was brought from one of the many nearby Brothers' Cemeteries, when soldiers were reburied there. The old inscription in Latvian and Russian is still on the plaque: "Here were battles of 1944. gada XII and 1945. gada I for the liberation of the region from the German occupiers". A small memorial stone "Missing soldier 1944-1945" has recently been placed nearby.

At the end of the 19th century, fortifications began to be built on Mangaļsala, and with them this paved road was also created, because it was practically impossible for heavy trucks to move on the dry and fine sand of Mangaļsala. Previously, the paved road led from the Vecdaugava dam (this is the place where you enter Mangaļsala from the Vecāķi side) to the army dock on the bank of the Daugava. Unfortunately, a large part of the pavement was appropriated by unscrupulous people over time, so this road is no longer safe for driving with passenger cars in several sections. Part of the paved part was once covered with asphalt.

Around 1958, a special railway branch was built on Mangaļsala from the Vecāķi station for the needs of the Soviet army. It was the most convenient way to bring fuel, ammunition, firearms and building materials to the military base located here. Even earlier, starting from the 20th century and up to the Soviet years, a narrow-gauge railway ran through the entire Mangaļsala, transporting ammunition to the gun emplacements. Later, a more serious railway branch was built, crossing the Vecdaugava over one of the two – the least known – dams on Mangaļsala. For example, it is no longer possible to access this dam from the Vecāķi side, because the view is blocked by private property. The concrete hillock visible in nature was a platform. When Soviet troops left Latvia in the early 1990s, 600 wagons with approximately 30 tons of ammunition were transported along this railway. It is said that at that time it was done in such a hurry and so carelessly that "the whole of Riga could have been seen in the air". Or at least a certain Riga neighborhood. Shortly afterwards, the railway was dismantled.

In the 1950s, such a bunker was built and covered with earth so that a potential enemy could not find it so easily. There are four such buildings in Mangalsala in total, all of which were built between 1953 and 1955. During the Soviet era, ammunition was stored here - underwater mines, torpedoes, etc. Currently, this is the cleanest of the closed-type ammunition depots from the Soviet era, but if you go further, you can also see the largest one.

Attention! To protect hibernating bats (all species are protected), do not move underground and inside bunkers from October to April.

During the Soviet era, so much ammunition and military equipment was brought to Mangaļsala that there was not enough space in the warehouses, so a large part of it had to be stored in the open air. Only such things that could be damaged by moisture were placed in the premises. This action also shows the careless attitude of the Soviet army towards any kind of inventory: a sandbank was built around it, of which a small hillock still remains, but the bank itself protected the ammunition from fires and explosions. If a rocket were to explode in the vicinity here, the blast wave would hit the bank and would not reach further, or would reach a much smaller extent. Nearby is a reinforced concrete pole - a lightning rod! Such poles allowed to protect ammunition from lightning strikes. Similar poles can be observed in other places. Former water wells are also visible, so that if necessary, something could be extinguished. In general, information about the Mangalsala ammunition depots was very secret - even on old Soviet military maps these places are marked as pioneer camps. Approximately 50 meters behind the embankment is another concrete bunker.

This building was built between 1876 and 1885, when Tsar Alexander II and after him Tsar Alexander III ruled here. It is worth paying attention to the facade of the building with cornices and window openings, etc. decorative forms. This building was used as a warehouse where cannon shells were stored. Approximately 300 meters from here there is another such warehouse, which even has beautiful, curved window grilles. Similar red brick military buildings can still be found here and there in Latvia - for example, in Liepāja Karosta. All the red brick buildings on the territory of Mangaļsala were built at about the same time. At that time, the political situation in Europe was complicated, and the Russian Empire began to militarily strengthen its Western border. The building has a double outer wall and air circulates between the walls, which not only creates additional ventilation, ensuring the necessary temperature and humidity level in the building, but is also able to cushion the explosion. In the event of a large explosion, the outer wall collapses, but the inner one remains intact, protecting what is inside the building. On top of the bunkers on the other side of Mangaļsalas Street, there were mortar positions. During the time of free Latvia – in 1926 – anti-aircraft guns, or cannons that move on wheels, were placed instead of mortars! Not far from here is one of the thickest pine trees in Riga. Moreover, it is not only thick and large, but also wounded – bullet marks can be found on the pine trunk. In what battles the pine suffered – it is unknown!

Attention! To protect hibernating bats (all species are protected), do not move underground and inside bunkers from October to April.

This bunker was built in 1955 - during the Soviet occupation. The path around this building was once a bypass road, surrounded by a double barbed wire fence. Guards walked behind it and watched to see if any unauthorized person approached the facility. This building is mentioned in some sources as an ammunition depot, and in others - a chemical storage facility. It is said that there were even nuclear missiles here, but no traces of radiation have been found here. It is completely dark inside, but then - light is visible. It used to be a ventilation system. This is the only building on Mangalsala that had ventilation. Cargo was brought here by wagons along the railway. The acoustics are very good - once a youth choir even had a rehearsal here! However, here and there, graffiti art works are placed on the walls of the building.

Attention! To protect hibernating bats (all species are protected), do not move underground and inside bunkers from October to April.

The peculiar horseshoe-shaped concrete structure was once the location of a searchlight. Meanwhile, a hundred meters further towards Vecāķi, a searchlight helmsman sat in a small concrete bunker and watched for any unauthorized person approaching from the coastal side. There were practically no trees here, so the entire area was clearly visible. If an attacker started shooting at the light source, the helmsman would be completely protected – submerged in the cover of darkness and concrete. This searchlight point was built by the Latvian army in 1928, continuing to adapt the already militarized Mangaļsala to its needs. Later, during the Soviet occupation, the searchlight could also be used to watch for anyone intending to go in the opposite direction and flee to the “wild west”. Leaving the country without permission was prohibited. In addition to security, the coastal sand was also plowed up so that the tracks of illegal immigrants or pedestrians could be seen.

This is the largest military structure on Mangalsala, which began to be built between 1912 and 1916. The walls of the bunker were several meters thick, and it was protected from the sea by a sandbank. During the First World War, the German fleet did not come to Riga, only thanks to the cannons stationed here. In 1917, the Russians withdrew from Riga on their own and blew up part of the bunker when they left. During the Latvian Independence period – in the 1930s – and later during the Soviet years, this battery was renovated and expanded – the cannon platforms were rebuilt and new cannons were installed. In 1941 – during the Second World War, the Russians blew up this battery again, fearing that German troops might enter Latvia. The first cannons fired approximately 12 to 15 kilometers, but the newer ones could hit the target at a distance of up to 40 kilometers. There is an inscription: “Built by sailors” - built by sailors in 1946. In the basement of the bunker there were ammunition cellars, where the shells needed for the guns were stored. There were special hatches in the walls through which shells could be fed for faster loading of the guns in combat conditions. Now here is the longest military tunnel on Mangalsala - a corridor about 100 meters long. In the spring, part of the bunker tends to flood! In the 1960s, aviation technology developed, missiles and air defense systems were invented, and this battery with all its guns - once so scary and powerful - became unnecessary to anyone.

Attention! To protect hibernating bats (all species are protected), do not move underground and inside bunkers from October to April.

The fortifications of the Daugava River mouth are the oldest structures on Mangaļsala. Here you can see the entire 400-year history of the island's military heritage, as well as examples of military architecture from several periods - the Swedish era, the Tsarist era, the era of free Latvia and the Second World War. The first gun positions on ancient maps in this area appear as early as the 17th century with the construction of the Daugavgrīva fortress, but later the fortifications were gradually expanded and renovated. During the Swedish era, dolomite was transported here by barges along the Daugava from the Koknese quarries for the construction of tunnels and gun positions. In the mid-19th century, piers began to be built in the Daugava. About twenty or thirty years later, red brick bunkers began to be built here. Two of the reinforced concrete gun positions were built already during the period of the Independent State of Latvia - in 1934, as evidenced by the engraving made with a finger or a branch in the concrete. Moving east, you can see anti-aircraft gun positions built by German troops during World War II. This is the only place on Mangalsala where real hostilities took place – during the Crimean War in the mid-19th century, the British fleet attacked Riga, but thanks to the fortifications of the Daugava estuary, the attack was not very successful. Half a century later – on July 2, 1919 – during the Latvian War of Independence, Estonian gunboats from the coast successfully fired on the positions of the German Iron Division on Mangalsala. During World War I, the fortifications of Daugavgrīva were so formidable that Riga was the only city on the Baltic coast that the German fleet avoided launching hostilities against. So, these Daugavgrīva fortifications have protected the port gates for centuries, preventing the enemy from entering Riga.

Attention! To protect hibernating bats (all species are protected), do not move underground and inside bunkers from October to April.

According to eyewitness accounts, the Soviet army stored ammunition on Mangalsala very carelessly, which could have been the cause of man-made disasters. Ammunition had been stored in this area since the time of Tsarist Russia – in both closed and open-type storage facilities. During the Soviet era, ammunition and naval mine warehouses of the USSR Baltic Fleet were located here. There was supposedly a torpedo workshop in Daugavgrīva.

“In Mangaļi, Riga District, where our mine and torpedo warehouse was located, 400 thousand tons of explosives were stored. (…) In addition, the warehouse stored hundreds of torpedoes, sea mines, fuse-detonated explosive charges and all sorts of other explosive junk. There was also a charge deactivation workshop. And a whole pile of small arms – from SKS carbines to “Parabellum” pistols,” writes former officer – Captain 2nd Rank Andrejs Riskins.

Nowadays, the "torpedoes" seen in the forest are training torpedo hulls cast in concrete.

The ship "Alar", also known as "Ernst Jaakson", is one of the most remarkable historical ships in Estonia. The 35-meter-long and 8-meter-wide three-masted motor sailboat was built from 1937 to 1939 in the village of Õngu on the island of Hiiumaa, under the leadership of local residents and master craftsman Peeter Himmi. It is the largest wooden ship of its type that has survived in Estonia.

The ship's first captain was Arnold Tõri, whose father was one of the ship's owners. Initially, "Alar" was used to transport timber, but in 1940 it began transporting building materials to Soviet army bases. During World War II, the ship remained in Estonian waters. At the end of the war, the owners and crew planned an escape to Sweden, but the plan was discovered and they were arrested. The ship's command was imprisoned in Tallinn, but the Germans took over the ship and renamed it "Kurland", taking it to Germany.

After the war, Arnold Thiri, who had moved to the United States, found the ship in Hamburg, brought it to England, where it was rebuilt and renamed "Arne". The ship later sailed under the Swedish flag until 1968, when it was bought back and taken to Denmark for restoration.

In 1998, after almost 60 years, the ship was brought back to Hiiumaa Island and moored at Sõru Harbour, the only wooden boat and ship restoration center in Estonia. In the same year, the ship was renamed "Ernst Jaakson", in honor of the long-time Estonian diplomat who represented the country's continuity in the United States during the time when Estonia was part of the USSR.

Currently, "Alar" is located in the port of Sõru, in the village of Pärna, on the island of Hiiumaa and is freely accessible at any time.

The Pakri Islands – Vaike Pakri (Little Pakri) and Suur Pakri (Greater Pakri) – are located in the southern part of the Gulf of Finland, off the town of Paldiski on the northwestern coast of Estonia. These relatively small islands are an example of the historical layering of the military heritage of the Baltic region, especially in the second half of the 20th century, when they were fully militarized as a Soviet aviation training ground.

Historical context and militarization

After the occupation of Estonia in 1940 and the end of World War II, the Pakri Islands came under direct military control of the Soviet Union. They were completely cleared of civilian population – the Swedish and Estonian owners who inhabited the islands were forcibly relocated to the mainland or expelled. This was a typical example of the militarization of the Baltic Sea coast during the consolidation of Soviet power.

The Soviet army created an aviation target range on these islands. Aviation bombers and attack aircraft trained here - aircraft from the continent (especially from the Paldiski base) carried out training bombing, destroying targets located on the islands. Special concrete and metal target imitations were built, as well as observation and command posts. The relief and geographical isolation of the islands made them an “ideal” training range, where the destruction caused by explosions and bombing did not threaten the civilian population and infrastructure on the continent.

Material evidence of military heritage

Today, the Pakri Islands are practically an open-air museum where you can study the military infrastructure of the Cold War. The islands are home to concrete target imitations, bomb craters, fragmented structures, ruins of bunkers and observation posts. Unexploded ordnance is also found in several places - despite periodic mine clearance operations, completely safe movement is not guaranteed. This makes these islands not only an interesting, but also a dangerous place of military heritage.

The islands also illustrate the Soviet military's engineering approach: the construction of the training ground was functional, standardized, and highly durable, with minimal concern for the local environment or cultural heritage. At the same time, it was this massive, often excessive construction that made the Soviet military legacy so enduring – even decades after the training ground was closed, its traces are clearly visible.

Eviction of people and transformation of the cultural landscape

The militarization of the Pakri Islands also meant a complete transformation of the cultural landscape. The local population, who had lived there for centuries (with strong Swedish settler traditions), lost their native environment. The islands became a closed military zone, where civilian life was erased from the map – a typical example of Soviet strategic space.

The time of independence and the tragic incident

As Estonia regained its independence, the Soviet army began to abandon Paldiski and Pakri islands. However, the military legacy did not disappear overnight. In the 1990s, attempts were made to take control of these dangerous and abandoned territories. One of the most tragic episodes occurred in March 1997: a unit of the Estonian police and border guard special forces tried to reach Suur Pakri island by walking along a shallow seabed. Strong winds and icy water made the conditions fatal – several trained men drowned.

Legacy and future

Today, the Pakri Islands are a protected nature reserve. The peculiar irony is that the long military isolation actually helped preserve biodiversity – the departure of humans allowed nature to reclaim the area. However, the risks of contamination from the Soviet landfill and unexploded ordnance remain a real problem.

The Pakri Islands are a vivid example of the problematics of post-military heritage in the Baltics: here, traces of strategic history, forced displacement and loss of identity, ecological degradation and, at the same time, unexpected natural regeneration meet. They are also material evidence of the geopolitical space of the Cold War – of how small islands could become instruments of global military interests and how this past continues to influence our view of landscape and history.

Given the potential danger, it is recommended to visit the Pakri Islands accompanied by a local guide.