Latvians contributed 148,000 to German forces 1941-45. The Germans refused to recognise the Provisional Government in Riga, July 1941, but appointed Commissioner-General Dr Dreschler with Latvian Major General Dankers as head of the Civil Administration.
Schutzmannschaft -Latvian Auxilliary Defence Units
A general reorganisation of Latvian police and reserve units was completed by October 1942 with 9,000 Civil Police and 9,000 men in Defence Battalions. 47 Latvian Defence Battalions were formed during 1942-43 with some transferred to the Waffen-SS which provided a general reserve for the German army.
The Latvian Waffen-SS in 1943
In January 1943 Himmler inspected the 2nd SS Inf Bde on the Leningrad front which comprised the Dutch, Flemish and Norwegian SS Legions with two Latvian Defence Battalions attached. Himmler was so impressed by the Latvians 'Germanic bearing' that he directed a Latvian Volunteer Legion be formed on 8 February 1943. Latvians supported the Legion expecting it to be a national army. The Latvian SS Brigade replaced the 2nd SS Inf Bde on the Volkhov front, September 1943. In June 1944 the corps was renamed incorporating the Brigade and the Division and redesignated 15th Latvian SS Volunteer Division which was sent to the front north of Nevel and 2nd Latvian SS Volunteer Brigade sent to the Leningrad-Novgorod front. In February 1944 these two Divisions were forced back to the Latvian border and fought together as VI SS Corps.
The Red Army Invasion and General Mobilisation, 1944
In February 1944 the Red Army (Krasnyi Voyennoi) reached Latvia's eastern frontier and general mobilisation was proclaimed. The 1st -6th Latvian Frontier Guard were formed to reinforce the Latvian police units and the two SS Divisions and were redesignated SS Frontier Guard Regiments (Police). In July, Army Group Centre was annihilated by the Red Army's Operation Bagration (23June -29 August), allowing the Soviets to advance into eastern Latvia. 6 Latvian Regiments joined Kampfgruppe Jeckeln to halt the Red Army offensive, sustaining massive, unsustainable casualties with many deserting. Most survivors served in the 106th Armed SS Inf Regt, serving as VI SS Corps troops or were evacuated to Germany to serve in the 15th SS Division.
The 1944-45 Campaigns
By July 110,200 Latvians 1944 were serving with the German forces and with police units and auxilliaries this totaled 148,000-165,000 Latvians in German service. In April 1944, the Karelis Home Guard Group was recruited to operate as guerrillas behind Soviet lines after the Red Army had re-occupied Latvia. The Germans discovered Latvian Major General Karelis intended to contact the Western Allies through neutral Sweden to defend Latvia against the Soviet Union. In July 1944 the Karelis Group were disarmed.
After February 1944 the Latvian 15th SS Division and the 19th SS Division fought tenaciously to defend eastern Latvia but failed to halt the Soviet advance. On 13 October 1944 the Red Army captured Riga and reached the sea south of Libau trapping Army Group North (redesignated Army Group Kurland) in January 1945 in the Kurland pocket. The 19th SS Division fought on stubbornly until 8 May 1945.
Latvian Red Army units were recruited from communist Latvians who had emigrated to the USSR since Latvian independence forming the 130th Latvian Rifle Corps in August 1944, which was the first unit to enter Latvia in 1944, fighting in the battle of Riga.
Latvians in the Luftwaffe and High Ranking Latvian Officers
The 12th Night Attack Wing, Luftwaffe, flew reconnaissance over the Gulf of Finland in Arado Ar 66 trainers from September 1943 for one year until three Estonian pilots defected to Sweden and the squadrons were disbanded in October 1944.
Inspector General Rudolfs Bangerskis attained the rank of non-Germanic SS-Leutnant General (Waffen-Gruppenfuhrer). There were two senior Colonels (Waffen-Oberfuhrer) Skaitslauks and Silgailis. Eleven Latvians won the Knight's Cross (Ritter Kreuz).
The Second Soviet Occupation 1945-91
Latvians opposed the Second Soviet Occupation with guerrilla warfare very successful against Soviet occupation forces 1944-48. Stalin deported 100,000 Latvians to Siberia between 1946 and 1953 to interdict this resistance replacing them with hundreds of thousands of Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainians to weaken Baltic nationalism.
Sources
- Germany's Eastern Front Allies, Baltic Forces by C Jurado and N Thomas, Osprey Publishing 2002
- Panzer Leader by General Heinz Guderian, Futura Publications 1972
- The Battle for Narva Mar Oct 1944 and the Kurland Enclave 1944-45
Michael Manning - ' The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity' W.B.Yeats
