History of Latvia: a Brief Survey

The first 1000 Latvian men conscripted for military service in the German army (Latvian Legion) on29 March 1943.Latvia’s population perished not only on the battlefield. During the years of Nazi occupation,special campaigns exterminated approximately 70 000 Jews, 18 000 Latvians and 2 000 Roma— in total about 90 000 people. In the case of the Latvians, these were mostly civilians whosepolitical convictions were unacceptable to the German occupation force. Jewish and Romacivilians were eliminated as a result of the inhuman Nazi theory of racial purity. A majorityof Latvian Jewry had been murdered by late 1941, when it is estimated that there were onlyaround 6000 Jews remaining in Latvia.A draft order into the so-called ‘LatvianSS Volunteer Legion’, summer of 1943.Many Latvians were actively involved in a resistance movement against the persecutions ofthe German occupation regime. For instance, Žanis Lipke (1900-1987) risked his life to savemore than 50 Jews. Civic circles in Latvia were also dissatisfied with the German occupationregime and secretly plotted to reinstate a democracy. In order to carry out the plan forindependence, an underground organisation was established, the Latvian Central Council,which published the outlawed publication Brīvā Latvija (‘Free Latvia’). This notably democraticperiodical propagated the idea of renewing democracy in Latvia after the war.36Žanis Lipke (1900-1987)Nazi Germany began to suffer regular defeats on the eastern front and was pushed backto the west. In mid-July 1944, the Soviet Army once again crossed Latvia’s pre-war easternborder, and by 13 October had already invaded Rīga. In mid-October the German army, whichpartly also included former soldiers from the Latvian Legion, was besieged in Kurzeme. Atthat time, Kurzeme was flooded with refugees from eastern Latvia who were fleeing Sovietrule, the Red Army and persecution. With no other reprieve in sight, many fled in fishermen’sboats and ships to Sweden and Germany, from where they drifted to various parts of theWestern world (mainly North America and Australia). Approximately 150 000 Latvians endedup in exile in the West.