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The Soviet Union conscripted into its army sections of independent Latvia's military units, as well as those Latvians who were in Russia as a result of previous wars or who lived there. Many Latvian soldiers deserted when Germany attacked Latvia. A few, continued to serve with the Soviet forces. 130th Latvian Rifle Corps of the Order of Suvorov.
The ensuing months would become known in Latvia as Baigais Gads, the Year of Horror. Mass arrests, disappearances, and deportations culminated on the night of June 14, 1941. Prior to the German invasion, in less than a year, at least 27,586 persons were arrested; most were deported, and about 945 persons were shot.
During the German invasion, the Soviets conducted a forced general mobilisation that took place in violation of the international law. Under the Geneva Conventions, this act of violence is seen as a grave breach and war crime, because the mobilised men were treated as arrestants from the very beginning. In comparison with the general ...
General Commissioner of Latvia Otto-Heinrich Drechsler, Reich Commissar for the Ostland Hinrich Lohse, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories Alfred Rosenberg and SS Officer Eberhard Medem in 1942. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states were under military occupation by Nazi Germany from 1941 to
Motion pictures were taken by Richard Wiener, on leave from his position as a German naval sergeant. [43] The December shootings at Šķēde were photographed by SS-Scharführer Karl-Emil Strott. [44] These became the best known images of the murders of Jews in Latvia, and they show only Latvians. [45]
A secret protocol of the pact places Estonia, Latvia, and Finland in Soviet sphere of interest, Lithuania in Germany's sphere of influence. Poland was effectively divided between Stalin and Hitler. 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland. This event signifies the start of World War II in Europe.
Germany developed positive relationship with the Baltic states, especially with Latvia. Latvia represented itself as a bridge to an improved relationship with the Soviet Union. Latvia managed to sign a trade agreement with Germany in 1926 and with the Soviet Union in 1927. [14] Similarly, Lithuania signed a trade agreement with Germany in May ...
Armed combat behind the German front lines was carried out by the soldiers of the Red Army units: Latvian Riflemen Soviet Divisions and people guards. Activity picked up in 1942, one year after the first winter war, but real work by the partisans in Latvia started only in 1943 after the German Army Group B stalled at Stalingrad and Kursk. [5]