Latvian legionnaires

Brothers’ Cemetery of Latvian Legionnaires of the Second World War is located on the side of Sigulda-More Road, where 117 soldiers killed during the battles of More from 25 September to 6 October, 1944, are buried. 

Reburial, landscaping and other improvements were made from 1988 till 1995. The monument, made by the sculptor A. Jansons, was unveiled on November 11, 1990 A remembrance ceremony in honour of fallen soldiers takes place every year on the last Saturday of September.

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.

Located in Cesvaine Ķinderi cemetery.

A granite memorial stone to Latvian legionnaires was unveiled in the cemetery of the Brothers in June 1997, and the individual burials of the fallen in the War of Independence can be found and seen.

An information stand-scheme with memorial and burial places has been installed near the cemetery:

1. Cemetery of the Latvian Legionnaires' Brothers 1943-1945
2. Jēkabs Markovs 08.02.1883-08.08.1917. 8th Valmiera Latvian Regiment Rifleman
3. Arvīds Alberts Strads, Commander of the Green Partisans, September 22, 1894 - April 5, 1919. Senior Lieutenant
4. Harry Lyons 18.03.1914-19.01.2003. Captain
5. Jānis Purēns 15.11.1887-18.11.1918. Knight of the Lāčplēsis War Order.

Located in Tukums region, Lestene, next to the church.

The construction of the Brothers' Cemetery in Lestene began in 1998. It is the second largest cemetery of soldiers in Latvia, where more than 1,300 Latvian legionnaires are buried together. Only after the restoration of the Republic of Latvia was it possible to bury Latvian soldiers who died in World War II from various places.

The Latvian Legion was a combat unit of the German army, formed mainly from illegally mobilized Latvians. The soldiers perceived their presence in the legion as a struggle for the restoration of Latvia's independence, despite the fact that it took place in the ranks of the German armed forces and that Germany had occupied Latvia. There was no other military force that could delay the return of the Soviet occupation. Latvian legionnaires fought against the Red Army, which had abolished Latvia's independence, destroyed its army and committed crimes against civilians. Between 110,000 and 115,000 soldiers fought in the ranks of the German army, and between 30,000 and 50,000 of them left their lives on the battlefield.

Today in Lestene you can see the Brethren's Cemetery, next to which is Lestene Church. It is an outstanding example of baroque sacred art. In the old church pub you can get acquainted with the exposition dedicated to the history of the Latvian Legion. The central image of the Brothers' Cemetery "Motherland - Mother - Latvia" was created by the sculptor Arta Dumpe. Nearby is Lestene Manor, which belonged to the Latvian Army General Mārtiņš Hartmanis before the Second World War.

Excursions to Lestene Church can be booked at the head of the parish of Lestene Evangelical Lutheran Church Inguna Kokina, phone +371 29993743.

Located in Tukums region, on the side of the A9 motorway, 500 m from the turn to Lesteni in the direction of Riga.

The memorial site was established in 1991 near the Rumbu houses, in the vicinity of which there was active warfare. This is a tribute to the defenders of the "Kurzeme Fortress" who fought against the Red Army in World War II. The battles were significant because they temporarily stopped the Red Army's complete occupation of Latvia. About 300,000 Latvians emigrated, avoiding crimes against the civilian population by the Soviet regime.

At the end of World War II, a peculiar situation had developed in the territory of Latvia. There were German army forces in Kurzeme, which the Red Army tried to eliminate or prevent their involvement in the fighting in East Prussia or around Berlin. "Kurzeme Fortress" - the most common term to describe the warfare in Kurzeme from 1944 to 1945. The "battles of Kurzeme" were the battles of the German army to repel the large-scale attacks of the Red Army. The Kurzeme fortress ceased to exist shortly after the German capitulation.

Today you can see a place of remembrance and rest, which has been popular among Latvian legionnaires since the restoration of Latvia's independence.

Located in Tukums region, on the side of the A9 motorway, about a kilometer behind Pienava in the direction of Liepaja.

The memorial is erected on the site of the Third Battle of Kurzeme or the Christmas battles in 1944. At the end of World War II, a peculiar situation had developed in the territory of Latvia. There were German army forces in Kurzeme, which the Red Army tried to eliminate or prevent their involvement in the fighting in East Prussia or around Berlin. "Kurzeme Fortress" - the most common term to describe the battles in Kurzeme from 1944 to 1945. The "battles of Kurzeme" were the military action of the German army to repel the large-scale attacks of the Red Army. Latvian legionnaires also took an active part in the fighting in Kurzeme.

Today you can see the memorial site. The open countryside without the oldest buildings is a witness to the war.

The museum is located in More, on the side of the V319 motorway. It is dedicated to the Battles of More between the Red Army and the Latvian Legion of the German Army in the autumn of 1944. The exhibit includes a mock-up of the battlefield, weapons, awards, soldiers’ uniforms and military equipment. The Battles of More Museum and Memorial Park was established by former soldiers of the Latvian Legion who participated in the Battles of More. The memorial park features trenches, dugouts and battlefields. The battles in the More area were only part of a large-scale operation of the Red Army Baltic Offensive involving a total of 900,000 soldiers and large numbers of military equipment units. A part of the German Army fortification system where Latvian legionnaires prevented the Red Army’s attempt to break out to Riga was located in the vicinity of More. This allowed the German Army to withdraw its forces from Estonia and avoid defeat. Red Army leaders expected the enemy’s resistance near More to be short-lived and stubbornly continued its unprepared and uncoordinated attacks, suffering heavy losses. Local advantages and the combat capabilities of the Latvian legionnaires played a significant role in the subsequent course of the war. More is home to the Latvian Legionnaires’ Brothers’ Cemetery and a Red Army Soldiers’ Cemetery.

The Red Army Military Cemetery is located on the side of the main road through More. It is the final resting place for approximately 2000 soldiers who were killed during the Battle of More. In 1974 the cemetery was landscaped and a monument by sculptor B. Grīsle was unveiled.

The museum exposition (the only museum dedicated to the Kurzeme fortress) tells richly and engagingly about the course of warfare in the Kurzeme fortress and the future fates of Latvian soldiers. On the other hand, in the open-air exhibition, you can walk around and see the restored wartime trenches, bunkers and heavy military equipment.

Working hours:

Monday - Tuesday - closed

Wednesday - Saturday - 10:00 - 17:00

Sunday - 10:00 - 15:00

It is advisable to contact in advance by phone 29442311.

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

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.

The Crocodile Monument is located in Dundaga, at the intersection of Talsu and Ernesta Dinzberga Streets. The two-tonne monument to Arvīds and other Kurzeme strongmen was erected in Dundaga in 1995. The sculptor is Oļegs Skarainis. An exhibition dedicated to Arvīds Blūmentāls is also located nearby in Dundaga Castle.

The "Crocodile", which sits on a pile of stones, tells the story of a Dundadz man's long journey after the Second World War and his sudden worldwide fame, becoming one of the prototypes of the modern world's adventurers. When Crocodile Dundee hit cinema screens in 1986, it quickly became a worldwide success. As people became interested in the characters depicted in the film, it became clear that such colourful characters could not be fictional! It soon became clear that the prototype for the main character was Australian - and that it was the Australian hunter Rodney Ansel, or the Latvian boy Arvīds Blūmentāls.

Arvīds Blūmentāls was born in 1925 in the home of Būdenu, Dundaga parish. During the Second World War he joined the 25th Abava Police Battalion - building positions in the north of Liepāja and taking part in anti-partisan operations in Ukraine. After the battalion was incorporated into the Latvian Legion, he took part in its battles and was wounded several times. During the fighting in the war, he ended up in Germany, where he escaped to American-controlled territory. After training at the Altferfrad Agricultural School, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1947 and took part in the first Indochina War, after which he moved to Australia in 1951 and began hunting in the rainforests of northern Queensland. He himself said he hunted between 10 000 and 40 000 crocodiles in his lifetime. When the Australian government banned the hunt, he moved to an opal mine in the town of Cumberpedie, got married and set up housekeeping in a mine cave, which he named 'Crocodile's Lair'. Arvydas Blumenthal died on 13 October 2006. During his lifetime, he was the subject of several documentaries, his home, the Crocodile's Nest, was the setting for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and he himself became a living legend.

The Soviet partisan unit was formed on 30 September 1944, when 19 soldiers of the German 283rd Police Battalion, under the leadership of Vladimir Semyonov, deserted with their weapons. The battalion was formed in 1943 from volunteers from the Latgale region and took part in the anti-partisan operations of the German occupation authorities in the territory of Latvia and Belarus.

The unit was called "Semyonov Unit" after its commander and only at the end of the war adopted the name of "Red Arrows", which was already spread by Soviet propaganda after WWII. By December 1944, the unit had 300-400 partisans. Most of them were escaped Red Army soldiers, former Legionnaires, including fighters left after the destruction of General Kurel's group. Although many Red Army reconnaissance groups were active in Kurzeme at this time, they avoided close cooperation because the activities of the commander of the partisan unit and its main core in the ranks of the German police were too suspicious. The Red Arrow's activities were relatively poorly organised and more focused on waiting for the end of the war. During its activities it carried out extensive terrorising of the local population.

Vladimir Semyonov, the first commander of the Red Arrow, drowned on the night of 10 December 1944 while knee deep tried to cross the swollen Abava River. His corpse was found only in the spring of 1945 and buried. He was reburied in Kuldīga in 1961.

The monument is located on the site of the "Red Arrow" and other guerrilla camps in the area (about 50-70 people), which on 7 March 1945 was surrounded and attempted to be destroyed by German troops.

It is located on the right side of the highway P79 Ārgli-Koknese, 3 km from Ārglii, opposite the Brothers' graves .

The white cross is a memorial to the victims of the Second World War, it was installed in Erglii on May 8, 1995, consecrated on July 30. On the cross there is a memorial sign with the inscription "To fallen soldiers of the Second World War".
In 1994, there was a grave marker with the inscription "We remember the fallen".

From "mouth-to-mouth" there is information about the burials of Latvian officers of the German army in LTK, which were carried out on leveled old Swedish burial grounds. No research work has been carried out, therefore there are no documentary confirmations.

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.

The Latvian War Museum is located in the Old Town not far from the Freedom Monument in a historic defence building called the ‘Powder Tower’. There are 11 exhibits in the museum. There are various weapons, documents, uniforms, awards, badges and other items detailing the everyday life of a soldier in war. The Latvian War Museum is one of the oldest museums in Latvia. Its origins can be found in World War I. Museum’s collection was made up mainly of personal items of soldiers or items found on battlefields. After Latvia gained its independence the main goal of the museum became to create an exposition on the military history of Latvia and the active role of the population in protecting their land. In 1937 the museum was expanded and was technically one of the most modern museums in Europe at that time. The Powder Tower was one of the fortification towers of Riga. Some evidence dates back to 1330 where it has been mentioned as the ‘Sand Tower’. The tower was destroyed in 1621 when Riga was besieged by the Swedish Army. But in 1650 a new tower for storing gunpowder and weapons was built. After the city’s fortifications were taken down, the Powder Tower remains as one of the most important pieces of evidence of the Riga defence system.

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"

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.