National resistance movement
II WW2, IV Sovietų okupacija, III Nacionaliniai partizanai
The actions taken by the people of the Republic of Latvia to restore the state of Latvia proclaimed on 18 November 1918.
The national resistance movement manifested itself as an armed struggle against one or both occupation regimes, including support for the armed struggle by providing material and other types of assistance, as well as spreading propaganda of the idea of independence of the Republic of Latvia and open opposition to the order and ideology of the occupation regimes.
Susijusi laiko juosta
Susijusios vietos
Museum of the National Resistance Movement in Renda
The museum is located a few kilometres from the centre of Renda parish. The exhibit tells about the 50-year-long resistance movement in Latvia: resistance to the first Soviet occupation, resistance to the Nazi German occupation, and the armed and non-violent resistance to the Soviet occupation. The exhibit is located in two buildings. The first building houses evidence of the first Soviet occupation and German occupation. The exhibit showcases a restored barn building where the focus lies on the National Partisan War. Between the two buildings there is a bunker with an authentic layout and trenches used by soldiers. Located near the museum in Renda, excavations, blindages and an obstacle course serve as a training ground for youth guards and anyone interested. Visits must be booked in advance.
One of the largest battles of the national partisans, called the Āpūznieki Battle, took place in January 1946 not far from here. The battle saw the Kabile National Partisan Group overpower much larger forces of the occupying power. Featuring information stands, the battle site is now home to a rest area.
Bunker of national partisans – Forest Brothers
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.
Battles and memorials of national and Soviet partisans in the Griva forest massif
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.
Monument to the commander of the North-Eastern national partisans Pēteris Sup - "Cinītis"
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!"
Memorial site of national partisans in Sērmūkši
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.
Memorial stone to the national partisans of Alsviķi parish "Snake Square"
Located in "Čūskubirzs", Alsviķi parish, Alūksne district.
The memorial stone was unveiled on August 21, 2018. Akmeņkalis Ainārs Zelčs.
A bunker site has been preserved here in the forest massif, where in June 1947 the head of the communications department of the Latvian National Partisan Association Antons Circāns came to meet with the partisan representatives led by Bruno Bucalder to organize and maintain contacts between certain groups of national partisans. Anton Circan's goal was not achieved, because on July 7, 1947, near Drusti, he died.
Īle National Partisans’ Bunker
The bunker is located in Zebrene municipality, less than 1km from the P104 Biksti - Auce road.
The largest bunker in the Baltic States was built in 1948 in the forests of Īle by the partisans of the united Latvian-Lithuanian group to continue their fight against the Soviets. The 27-strong group was led by the young commander Kārlis Krauja (real name Visvaldis Brizga).
On 17 March 1949, the 24 partisans, who were in a bunker at the time, fought their last battle against the 760-strong force of the Ministry of State Security, or Cheka. 15 guerrillas were killed, nine were captured and deported to Siberia with their supporters.
In 1992, the Home Guards, together with the Daugava Hawks and representatives of patriotic organisations, dug up the bunker, collected the bones of the fallen fighters and buried them in the Virki Cemetery in Dobele. A White Cross, a memorial stone and a granite stele were erected at the bunker.
In the mid-1990s, the outline of the bunker was already traced and reinforced with internal walls, but it was not until the 60th anniversary of the battle that the bunker was rebuilt exactly as it was before it was blown up. Many supporters and volunteers helped to make it happen.
Inside the bunker you can see a stove, a table and narrow benches on which the partisans slept. There are information boards, memorial stones with the names of the partisans and their supporters.
There is a resting place and a toilet.
Memorial plaque to Veclaicene national partisans instead of a bunker
Located in Veclaicene parish, Alūksne region.
Opened on October 4, 2019. Akmeņkalis Ainārs Zelčs.
On March 13, 1953, in the forests of Veclaicene, not far from the Koruļi house, the Chekists opened a carefully disguised bunker and arrested Bernhard Ābelkok and Elmārs Tortūze.
Weapons were found in the bunker: 2 German rifles and 95 rounds, 2 Parabellum pistols and 152 rounds.
On November 11, 1949, Czech agents K. Dokti-Doktenieki were shot and his group broke up. After the attack, B. Ābelkoks and E. Tortūzis hid for some time in a bunker near the Maskaļi house, but from the spring of 1951, with the support of Ilona Ābolkalns, they built a bunker in Koruļi, where they lived until their arrest.
Broņislava Martuževa poetry barn
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.
Memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Latvian Legion and national partisans
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.
Memorial to the bunker of the national partisan group "Jumba"
Located in Ziemera Parish, State Forest Quarter 66.
The memorial site was unveiled on July 10, 2020.
In the second stage of the Latvian national partisan movement, in the middle of 1948, a group of 4 people - Viks Pētersi, Stebers Rolands, Bukāns Ilgmārs and Kangsepa Elvīra separated from J. Bitāna-Liepačs unit in Mālupe-Beja parishes and . The location of the partisans was near the Estonian border, near the Riga-Pskov highway, on a hill in a thoroughly built bunker.
On March 2, 1950, when the Chekists opened the bunker, the partisans hid in a barn made of boulders on the Estonian side of Napke's house. After a long and intense shooting on March 3, 1950, the Chekists managed to set fire to the barn. Ilgmārs Bukāns, Rolands Stebers and Elvira Kangsepa burned down together with their newborn daughter. Peter Wick jumped out of the barn window and hid in the attic of the house, where he was also found and shot. The farm was burned. The bodies of all the fallen partisans were taken to Alūksne. A memorial was erected at the site of the fighters' deaths in the early 1990s. Elvira Kangsep's daughter, born in a burning barn, was given the name Liesma.
National Partisans Memorial Site on Striķu Street, Saldus
The memorial is located at the intersection of Striķu and Lauku Street.
The tragically bloody event that took place at this place took place during peacetime on 24 February 1950 in Saldus, on Striķu (then 5. augusta) Street, near the 33rd and 35th houses. In the 33rd house of this street, after the destruction of the Zemgale group of forest brigades with its headquarters bunker in the forests of Īle in March 1949, three forest brigades were still alive and uncaptured, including the group commander himself, Kārlis Krauja (real name Visvaldis Brizga), and his associate Vilis Krusts. They had hoped to spend the winter of 1950 at the Bergmanis' home in Saldus, but they were rounded up and tracked down. The two houses were besieged by about 30 Chekists and a fierce battle took place early in the morning. The Chekists were fired on from both houses, but, losing to overwhelming odds, the two partisans tried to escape to the nearby Veide forest. However, the Chekists shot partisan Krusta already on the stairs of the house, and Krauja - about 80 metres further towards the forest.
Both houses were set on fire, the occupants having been asked to come out beforehand and promised that their lives would be spared. There are reports that people did come out, but they were shot on the spot anyway. Among the people shot or suffocating in the smoke were the father and son Kursinski from House 35, who had supported the partisans, but also Leontine Ezerkalni, a resident of the Kursinski house, who had no knowledge of her landlord's connections with the forest brigades, was shot.
Trail and partisan memorial in Stompaki bog
The Stompaki Bog Area is a specially protected nature and NATURA 2000 territory located between the cities of Balvi and Viļaka. The eastern part of the bog features a marked 1.5-kilometre trail that crosses the forest and also a small part of the high bog (wooden footbridges), leading to five islands within the bog where the national partisans had built residential bunkers. Information stands along the edges of the trail tell about the local natural values and historical events. There is a rest area by the trail. Directions from the P35 road will help visitors find the trail. In early March 1945, one of the largest national partisan settlements in the Baltic States was established at the Stompaki Camp. About 350 to 360 people lived here, including 40 to 50 women. Starting from January 1945, national partisans carried out regular attacks on the military personnel of the occupation regime and their supporters. The camp had a bakery, a church bunker and 25 residential bunkers, immersed halfway into the ground, for accommodating 8 to 30 people. The bunker sites are still visible today. The Battle of Stompaki, the largest battle in the history of Latvian national partisan battles, took place here on 2-3 March 1945. The anti-partisan forces consisted of a total of about 483 soldiers, including subunits of the 2nd and 3rd Rifle Battalions of the 143rd Rifle Regiment of the NKVD 5th Rifle Division, the rifle platoon (armed with submachine guns), mortar company, reconnaissance and sapper platoons, as well as the so-called ‘istrebitel’ (destruction) fighters.
Veseta partisan dugout and memorial site "White Cross"
A 3 m high white plaque with the names of the Latvian national partisans shot on July 2, 1946 can be seen. A nearby dugout has been restored. To make it easier to find this place, there is a sign on the side of Vietalva with the inscription "White Cross".
During the Second World War, there was an active war in the vicinity of Vietalva, and the events after the end of the war were also related to it. In the post-war years, the so-called “Pārupa Group” operated here, led by Rihards Pārups (1914 - 1946).
In 1946, 10 partisans were shot dead in the area due to treason.
A memorial stone to the Pārups group has also been erected in Jēkabpils near the Krustpils Lutheran Church.
The project was implemented by former activists of the Uldis Eiduks youth guard group.
From the side of Pļaviņas, the memorial can be reached by walking on wooden footbridges and in spring and autumn the accessibility of the object can be difficult.
Video story about the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Rihards Pārups
Monument to members of the resistance movement in Stompakis
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.
Exposition “Abrene Rooms”
The exhibit ‘Abrene Rooms’ is located near the city centre of Viļaka. It covers the period from 1920 to 1960 when Viļaka was part of Jaunlatgale, Abrene district, and became the centre of Viļaka district and Abrene municipality. The exhibit is located in the building with the most interesting and diverse history in Viļaka. Initially located on the old Marienhausen Market Square, it later housed apartments, offices and various shops and, during World War II, the Latvian Self-Defence headquarters, the Gestapo and also the Cheka. The exhibit features items from the national partisan camp in the Stompaki Bog, which are related to the national partisan movement in the Latgale region, as well as documents and photos associated with the War of Independence. With a guided tour booked in advance, the owner, Dzintars Dvinskis, will present the testimonies available in the exhibit.
In 2023, an exhibition for military heritage in Northern Latgale was created.
Memorial place "Bitan bunkers"
Located in Mālupe Parish, Alūksne District.
The memorial stone was unveiled on October 13, 2017. Akmeņkalis Ainārs Zelčs.
On August 24, 1945, in the Dubna forests of Latgale, the Latvian National Partisan Association (LNPA) was established with the aim of restoring the Republic of Latvia in 1918. Regional headquarters were set up to better coordinate the activities of the guerrilla groups. National partisan groups operating in Beja, Mālupe and Mārkalne parishes united in the Priedolaine sector. The regional headquarters was headed by Jānis Liepacis. Propaganda divisions were established at each regional headquarters. One of them, the commander of which was Jānis Bitāns, was formed in the forest massif of Mālupe parish. Here, in the bunker, from 1946 to 1948, five press publications of the Latvian National Partisan Association “Mazais Latvis”, “Liesma”, “Auseklis”, “Māras Zeme” and “Tautas Sargs” were printed. The youth resistance movement “Dzimtenes Sili” of Alūksne Gymnasium was involved in the preparation and dissemination of information.
Memorial stone in Ilzen near the houses of "Sarvu" and "Melļ"
Located in Ilzene Parish, Alūksne District.
The memorial stone was unveiled on September 28, 2018. Akmeņkalis Ainārs Zelčs.
From the autumn of 1944, the inhabitants of these Ilzene parish houses supported the national partisans led by Voldemar Anderson ("Old"), whose bunker was located in a thicket near the forest. On November 23, 1945, the bunker was surrounded by NKVD soldiers. Nine fighters were killed in the battle. After it, 2 machine guns, 14 submachine guns, 11 rifles, 10 pistols, 3,500 rounds, 45 grenades, 4 binoculars were found. The destruction of Voldemar Anderson's group was planned in the case of the Czech agency "Chain" ("Цепь").
The group consisted of Voldemārs Pāvels Andersons (“Old”), Gaston Dzelzkalējs, Voldemārs Tonnis, Centis Eizāns, Osvalds Kalējs, Jānis Koemets, Stāvais (“Polis”), Voldemārs Rappa, Eduards Rappa, Elmārs Rappa (survived).
Pēteris Čevers national partisan bunker
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.
Zlēku Tragedy Memorial Site
The memorial is located near the Zlēki Manor ensemble, in the western part of Karātavkalns. Around twenty boulders with the names of the people killed form a circle, and in the centre is a black marble obelisk about three metres high.
Some of those killed have been reburied at the Zlēki memorial.
In December 1944, in the vicinity of Zlēki, the German Nazi army carried out a large-scale operation against the civilian population.In the combat action log of Army Group Nord, an entry was made at 17.30 on 9 December 1944 that 161 people belonging to the "Rubens Brigade and units of the Red Arrow" had been killed on the enemy side during the action. In Soviet times, this figure was apparently taken as the total number of victims of the Zlēki tragedy, referring to civilians killed.
The course of the action is partly documented in the report of the head of the counter-intelligence section of the German 16th Army of 31 December 1944. It explains that from 5 to 9 December, under the leadership of the highest SS and police leader in Ostland, SS Oberruppenführer and Police General Friedrich Jekeln, a large-scale operation took place at Eichensumpf ("Oak Swamp") against the "Red Arrows" and the remnants of General Kurel's group at Abava.
Memorial stone of Alfred Riekstiņš
Memorial stone to Latvian Legion lieutenant and national partisan Alfred Riekstiņš, who died near the "Dreimaņi" house on September 11, 1952
On September 11, 1952, Alfred Riekstiņš, a lieutenant of the 19th SS Grenadier Division (Latvian No. 2) of the Latvian Legion and a Knight of the Iron Cross, died in the yard of the "Dreimaņi" house. On May 9, 1945, Alfred Riekstiņš from Pāvilosta arrived in Sweden with one of the last boats. On August 30, 1952, Alfrēds Riekstiņš, together with two former Latvian soldiers, landed in Kurzeme on behalf of the US intelligence services. The security services of the USSR knew about the operation and surrounded the intelligence officers in the shed of the "Dreimaņi" house, where Alfred Riekstiņš committed suicide by biting a poison ampoule.
The graves of the brothers of the national partisans near the "Dzelzkalni" houses
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:
Stende railway station in narrow gauge railway network and the memorial stone for deportations
The railway line Ventspils - Mazirbe, as well as the Stende - Dundaga extension to Mazirbe with a branch to Pitrags, were intended only for strategic military needs. During the construction of these lines, and afterwards, all civilians were evacuated from the region. The main task of the military railways in the Irbe Strait area was to provide the German army's coastal defence positions with guns and ammunition.
These military-only military railways also connected the three most important lighthouses, located in Oviši, Mikeltornis and Šlītere.
Nevertheless, passenger transport was also provided as early as the years of World War I.
A memorial stone (1989) to the deported Latvians of 1941 and 1949 is located at the Stende railway station.
On 30 October 1919, Stende railway station was occupied by Bermont troops. On 17 November, soldiers of the Latvian army led by K. Šnēbergs attacked the station, driving away a wagon with weapons, war materials and grain. 6 soldiers were awarded the Order of the Order for these battles: K. Bumovskis (1891-1976), P. Strautiņš (1883-1969), R. Plotnieks (1891-1965), E. Jansons (1894-1977).
The building in Ventspils, where LCP liaison Valentine Jaunzeme (Lasmane) lived in 1944
House at Lauku Street 4, Ventspils, where the teacher teacher Valentīne Lasmane (b. Jaunzeme) (1916–2018) lived and worked, who in 1944-1945 worked as LCP liaison and member of Ventspils communication group. Lived in Sweden after World War II. She compiled the testimonies of 130 boat refugees in the publication "Across the Sea 1944/1945." (Stockholm, 1990), but V. Lasmane's own life story can be read in the book "The night is not just for sleeping" (Riga, 2020). In 2000, she was awarded the Order of Three Stars. Died at the age of 102 in 2018 in the Stockholm suburb of Tebia.
Rubenis' battalion museum
Rubenis’ Battalion Museum is located in Ugāle. It is dedicated to the Battalion of R. Rubenis, who served and fought under General J. Kurelis in Kurzeme in 1944, the activities of the Kurelians and the national resistance movement. Museum has an exhibit on the activities of the Latvian Central Council (LCC) and its Ventspils group, as well as the LCC Memorandum with 188 signatures and photographs of signatories that is included in the Latvian National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The LCC was a joint centre of Latvia's highest political leadership with an underground government that operated during the occupation of Latvia from 1943 to 1994. It was formed with the aim of coordinating the activities of various Latvian resistance movements in order to restore Latvia's national independence. The museum also offers a trip to places significant to the history of the battalion (settlement with a reconstructed bunker in the Usma parish, battlefields in Renda and Zlēkas parishes, etc.).
The building in Ventspils, where in 1944-1945 In 2010, LCP representative and refugee boat traffic organizer Dr. lived in Kurzeme. Valdemars Ginters
House at 4 Katrīnes Street, Ventspils, where archaeologist Valdemārs Ęinters worked.
From October 1944 to May 8, 1945, the representative of the LCP in Kurzeme was archaeologist Valdemārs Ęinters (nicknames "Doctor", "Gardener") (1899–1979). Participant of the Latvian War of Independence, director of the State Historical Museum and docent of the University of Latvia. Awarded the Order of the Lāčplēš War and the Order of the Three Stars. One of the signatories of the LCP memorandum of March 17, 1944. Lived in Sweden after World War II. From 1949 to 1979, chairman of the board of the Latvian National Fund.
Prison in the castle of the Livonian Order during World War II
1944-1945 in the prison set up in Livonia Oden Castle. In 2010, several members of the LCP Ventspils communication group and the movers of refugee boats were detained.
The road to "Grīnieku" houses in Vārve parish
The road to the "Grīnieku" house in Vārve parish, where in 1944 there was one of the main settlements of boat refugees on the coast of Kurzeme.
Refugee temporary accommodation "Vārve huts"
Vārves "huts", a place in Ventspils county, which served as a temporary accommodation for Latvian refugees who were waiting for boats from Gotland to arrive in 1944.
Memorial sign for refugees "Sail of Hope" in Jūrkalne
The "Sail of Hope" commemorative sign for the World War II refugees who crossed the Baltic Sea by boat to the island of Gotland in Sweden in 1944 and 1945. The memorial is located in Osvalki on the dunes between the sea and Ventspils-Liepaja highway, near the public transport stop "Kaijas". It was created by sculptor Ģirts Burvis, who realised it as a sail of hope symbolising the memory of Latvian refugees.
Between autumn 1944 and spring 1945, fearing the renewed Soviet occupation but unwilling to evacuate to a devastated and threatened Germany, some Latvian citizens tried to reach the nearest neutral country, Sweden, by sea. Some of the boats were organised by the Latvian Central Council with the help of the Western Allied countries, which resulted in one of the largest refugee concentration points in Jūrkalnes parish. Besides the boats organised by the Latvian Central Council, other boats were also taken across the sea. It is estimated that about 5000 persons managed to cross the sea. The number of deaths is unknown, as no records were kept of refugees leaving the Kurzeme coast.
The voyages were dangerous because the refugees were threatened by German patrols on the coast and at sea, sea mines, Soviet aircraft and warships, as well as storms, as the crossings often took place in unsuitable and overloaded cutters and boats without sufficient fuel and food supplies, sea charts and navigational instruments. Departures from Latvia were carried out in secret. The destination of the boats was the island of Gotland, and the journeys most often started on the west coast of Courland (from Jūrkalne to Gotland is 90 nautical miles or about 170 kilometres as the crow flies).
"Bambaļi" houses - one of the main places of accommodation for boat refugees
The restored "Bambaļi" houses in Ošvalki, Jūrkalne parish, were one of the main places of settlement for boat refugees on the coast of Kurzeme.
"Laukgaļi" house, writer Kārlis Skalbe's place of residence
"Laukgaļi" in Jūrkalne parish, the writer Kārlis Skalbe's place of residence in October-November 1944, while waiting for the refugee boat to Sweden.
Lithuanian soldiers' graves in Zaļkalns Forest
The memorial is located near the Pāvilosta beach lookout tower in the dunes. There are signs pointing to the memorial.
At the end of the Second World War, three Lithuanian police battalions, the 5th, 13th and 256th, were also deployed in Latvia, and after guard duty and fighting against Soviet partisans and the Red Army on the Eastern Front, from autumn 1944 they were involved in guarding the Baltic Sea coast in Kurzeme.
In October 1944, all three battalions, consisting of 32 officers and about 900 instructors and soldiers, were subordinated to the German 18th Army's 583rd Rear Guard Unit (Koruck 583). The unit was tasked with guarding the Kurzeme coast from Liepāja to Ventspils. All three Lithuanian battalions were deployed in the vicinity of Pavilosta. In December 1944, the 13th Battalion was transferred to the German 1st Army Corps at the Liepaja Lake.
One of the tasks of the Lithuanian coastguard, besides being ready to fight enemy landings and to report enemy ships, was to prevent Latvian refugee boats from sailing to the island of Gotland, 160 kilometres away, but the Lithuanian coastguard men did not prevent the refugee boats from leaving. However, news of the Lithuanian coastguard helping the Latvian refugees and the Lithuanians themselves preparing to cross the sea to Sweden also reached the Germans.
On 10 January 1945, the soldiers of the 1st Company of the 5th Lithuanian Police Battalion were rounded up. More than a week of interrogation and trial followed, which, as a warning to the others, decided to execute seven of the Lithuanian soldiers and to imprison 11 of their comrades in concentration camps in Germany. The execution of the seven Lithuanian soldiers (Sergeant Macijauski, the company commander; Juozas Sendrjuas, a soldier; Vladas Salickas, a soldier; Ionas Bašinskis, Krasauskas and two unknown others) took place on 21 January 1945 in the Zaļkalns Pines in Pavilosta.
In January 1945, the 5th Battalion was disbanded and the combat-ready soldiers were divided into the two remaining battalions, while the rest were formed into a separate sapper company. At the time of the surrender of Army Group Kurzeme in May 1945, two battalions (13th and 256th) were still in Kurzeme as a sapper company with a total of 900 soldiers who were taken prisoner by the Soviets.
Memorial place for the members of P. Prauliņas national partisan group in Vidsala
The group of national partisans of Pētera Prauliņa (1911-1949) of Biržu parish was part of the group led by Mārtiņas Pokļevińskas (1902-1951). The group carried out several partisan actions in which they punished Soviet collaborators and requisitioned food and property of the economic institutions of the occupying power. The partisans of P. Prauliņa's group did not observe sufficient conspiracy, many persons visited their settlement, which created an opportunity for betrayal. Lack of military experience was one of the weaknesses of the guerrilla armed movement.
P. Prauliņa's partisan group was destroyed on May 16, 1949 in the Kalna forest of Biržu parish during the operation of the Ministry of State Security of the LPSR, in which military units also participated. The Forest Brothers had created a bunker with circle defenses, well camouflaged and located at an indeterminate height in a swampy area. The partisans fiercely resisted the Czech army units for at least 40 minutes, but the entire composition of the group fell: Pēteris Prauliņš, Artūrs Bružuks, Jānis Kalvāns, Edvīns Slikšāns and Francis Skromanis. The forest brothers who were shot were dumped near the parish house, but their remains were later buried in nearby gravel pits. Irma Bružuk was seriously wounded, who was captured and died on May 17 in Jēkabpils hospital. She was buried outside the cemetery, but when the cemetery was expanded after the restoration of Latvia's independence, a monument was placed on her grave.
The memorial stone for the partisans of P. Prauliņa's group in Kalna parish was consecrated in November 1998. The place of P. Prauliņa's bunker is located in the 4th district of the 99th block of Vidsalas, Kalna parish. The stone on which P. Prauliņš sat has been preserved.
A memorial place for those who fought against Soviet occupation and victims of communist repression in Zebrene Parish
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 grave of the brothers of the national partisans of Íle in the Virkus cemetery of Birze parish
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.”
The gravestone of the national partisan Bruno Druķas, who fell in 1941, in the Jaunsesava cemetery of Naudīte parish
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.
Memorial place for Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans in Ukru Parish
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.
The tombstone of the national partisan Harry Gunter, who fell in 1941, in the ůžinu Priežu cemetery of Zalenieki Parish
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.
Jelgava State Teachers' Institute building at Svētes Street 18, where in 1940-1941 members of the youth resistance were active in
A few days after the USSR occupied Latvia, on June 20, 1940, a youth resistance organization of about 20 people was formed at the Jelgava State Teachers' Institute, which included former students of the Cēsis Teachers' Institute Viktors Daniels, Arturs Neparts, Vilhelms Pētersons, Fricis Sīpols and others. Its members gathered in secret meetings and spread anti-Soviet slogans with the slogan "Communism must die so that Latvia can live". Through Arnolds Saulīte, a graduate of the Jelgava Teachers' Institute and a teacher at Riga Primary School No. 8, it was possible to obtain information provided by foreign radio news, which indicated the imminent start of the German-USSR war. An anti-Soviet slogan was printed in 4,000 copies in the apartment of organization member Olga Rubule, which was simultaneously distributed in Jelgava, Cēsis, Valmiera, Rēzekne, Bauska, and Tukums on May 13, 1941.
After the German attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941, students of the Jelgava Teachers' Institute established contact with the Latvian Army Lieutenant Roberts Rekelis and actively engaged in military observation and maintaining communications in Jelgava. A few days later, as the Soviet occupation regime began to collapse, the youth of Jelgava took over the maintenance of order at the Teachers' Institute. Obtaining additional weapons and ammunition and taking advantage of the confusion of the Soviet security authorities, an armed group led by Fritz Balodi managed to free about 100 prisoners from the Jelgava prison who had not yet been evacuated to the USSR.
Memorial place for the members of the Jelgava 1st High School resistance movement repressed by the Soviet occupation regime on Meiju Street 9
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.
Memorial plaque to the resistance members of Jelgava 1st secondary school, repressed by the Soviet occupation regime, at 10 Akadēmijas Street
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.
St. The tower of the Trinity Church in Jelgava, Akadēmijas Street 1, where Egon Užkurelis hoisted a homemade Latvian flag in 1952
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 Agricultural Academy in Jelgava at Lielaja Street 2, where in 1943-1944 members of the Central Council of Latvia worked in
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.
In the territory of Baraka's former sugar factory filtration camp, Aviācijas iela 49, where in 1945 the imprisoned Latvian soldiers were secretly supplied with food by members of the Jelgava resistance organization "Three Star Column"
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.
Memorial place for the members of J. Rozentals - J. Freimanis national partisan group in Iecava county
The memorial site for the members of the Jānis Rozentāls – Jānis Freimanis national partisan group was established in 1996 in Iecava parish, on the site of the bunker of J. Freimanis' forest brothers' group. On the concrete base under a white birch cross, you can read the inscription "For the freedom of Latvia to the fallen national partisans" and the names of the forest brothers – Jānis Freimanis, Jānis Kāpostiņš and Laimonis Zīraks, who fell on January 11, 1950 in the former territory of Garoza parish of Jelgava district. Behind the monument, the site of the bunker is visible, but on the edge of the square there is a stand with information prepared by Bauska Museum historian Raits Ābelnieks about the national partisan group of J. Rozentāls and the Dūmiņš brothers, which operated in Iecava, Misa and Zālīte parishes in 1944-1947.
The Forest Brothers unit led by Jānis Rozentāls was formed in the summer of 1945, but by September it already had 11 partisans. This Forest Brothers group was active in the Iecava and Zālīte parishes of Bauska district, as well as in the Garoza, Salgale and Pēternieki parishes of Jelgava district. On August 13, 1948, the Chekists managed to kill the unit commander and his brother, capture three other partisans, but the remaining Forest Brothers of this group continued the fight against the occupiers under the leadership of Jānis Freimanis.
Monument to the defenders of Bauska against the Soviet occupation in 1944 in the Palace Garden
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.
Memorial ensemble for those who fought against Soviet occupation and victims of communist repression in the garden of Bauska Palace
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
Memorial to the defenders of Bauska against the Soviet occupation in 1944 in the garden of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit
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"
Memorial plaque to the victims of the repressions of the Soviet occupation regime at 54 Plūdoņa street in Bauska
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.
Memorial place for Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans in Plūdonis cemetery of Ceraukstes parish
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.
Memorial place for Latvian and Lithuanian national partisans in the Mežgali school park of Brunava parish
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.
Monument to the Capuchin monks - supporters of the national resistance movement at the Skaistkalne church
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.
Memorial place for national partisans in Kurmene Parish
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 tombstone of the national partisan Edmunds Vigmanis, who died in 1941, in the Valles cemetery
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.
Commemorative plaque for the participants of the school youth resistance at the primary school of Bauska city at Rīgas street 32
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.
Susijusi istorija
Pēteris Supe - the initiator of the founding of the Latvian National Partisan Association
From 1944 to 1946, Peter Supem managed to unite the national partisan units scattered in the forests in an organized movement that fought against the occupation of Latvia in the Abrene district for several years after the Second World War. Pēteris Supe, nicknamed "Cinītis", was one of the most outstanding organizers and leaders of the national guerrilla movement in Northern Latgale.
About D.Breiksis national partisan group
The memorial site is located on the site of the former “Daiņkalni” and “Graškalni” houses of Rauna Parish, under which a group of national partisans led by Dailonis Breiks (nickname Edgars, 1911-1952) hid in the bunkers created from 1950 to 1952.
Forest Daughter Domicella Pundure (Lucia)
Domicella Pundure is 90. At Riga Castle on May 3, 2018, she received the Order of Viesturs from the hands of President Raimonds Vejonis for special merits in the national resistance movement and in defending the country's independence. Domicella Pundure remains the last witness to the battle of Stompaku bog.
About the last Vidzeme partisan group
An incredible story about how the Chekists "surrendered" in front of the last partisan group in Vidzeme, asking them to come out of the forest.
Deportation echelon secretly photographed at Skrunda station in 1949
On 25 March 1949, Elmārs Heniņš, a pupil in Skrunda, witnessed his classmates being taken away. He took his camera and climbed a pine tree on a nearby hill to document what was happening, later hiding the pictures.
The battle of February 23, 1946 in the vicinity of Zūru meža Dzelzkalni
1945/46. Misiņa's group spent the winter of 2011 in the Dzelzkalni area of Zūru forest, where several bunkers had been built. About 40 partisans stayed here. On February 23, 1946, the camp was surrounded by the internal affairs troops of the USSR and a fierce battle took place
Pēteris Čevers - national partisan and commander of a partisan group
Pēteris Čevera - national partisan and commander of a national partisan group
The story of Peter Cheever's gang activity and destruction
P. Chevers gathered former officers of the legion around him, and also welcomed the local residents of Kurzeme into the group. They all chose to remain faithful to the idea of a free and independent Latvian state, rather than submit to a foreign occupation. Chever's group deployed in the territory of Vandzene - Upesgriva - Okte parishes of Talsi district, trying to avoid frontal clashes with Czech troops or fighter battalion fighters