THE UNKNOWN WAR

The latvian national partisans’ fight aganist the Soviet occupiers 1944- 1956

The main aim of the book is to highlight the fight of the Latvian partisans. The stories of the partisans are the stories of the brutal Russian oppression of Latvia. The content of the book is concentrated on the years from 1944 to 1956. Latvia was occupaied by the Soviet Union in 1940 and again in 1944.

«… THE PARTISAN’S FORMAL OATH: I, AS A LATVIAN NATIONAL PARTISAN, SOLEMNLY SWEAR TO RESPECT THE STATUTES OF THE LNPA, THE ORDERS AND INSTRUCTIONS(GIVEN) BASED ON THOSE STATUTES, AND TO OBEY MY LEADERS WITHOUT OBJECTION. I PROMISE TO BE JUST TO ALL, TO OBEY THE LAWS OF LATVIA, AND TO FULFILL ALL DUTIES ENTRUSTED TO ME TO THE BEST OF MY CONSCIENCE , FOR THE HONOR OF GOD AND MY NATIVE LAND:A FREE , INDEPENDENT LATVIA…»

LNPA: THE LATVIAN NATIONAL PARTISANS’ ASSOCIATION

The main content of the book is 208 photos of memorial plaques located in different sites in Latvia. Some of the memorial plaques are photographted more than once. Information about the content of the photos are also included. The facts presented are not a nice reading at all. The keywords are: Terror, raping, tortur, deportations to Soviet Union,  imprisonment and killings of Latvians. It is also called « the red terror». The Communist Party and the Soviet Union published infromation about Latvia to the western world that Latvia had been liberated from German occupation by the Army of Soviet union. Photos  of partisans are also published. The stories are tragic. Few of the partisans survived the fightings. Most of them were killed in actions. After having viewed the photos I was fascinated by two photos. One is on page 293: MARTA GROBINA.She lived in  the Kairi family home.The Cheka arrested her on August 13, 1947. She returned to Latvi on July 19, 1956. A photo of her from 1936 is published and a photo of her from 1997. The second photo is from page 339: HILDA MIETZITE. She was a partisan in the Indians- Graversons group. She was the only survivor of the battle on February 25, 1950.

The reports from territorial divisions of Lativa were written by historians: Janis Vilums ( Latgale and Zemgale), Zigmars Turcinskis (Vidzeme), Dr. hab. Ritvars Janssons ( Kurzeme), and Raitis Abelnieks(Zemgale). Historical reports and comments  from historian Gunars Bluzms and Inese Dreimans have been presented too.

WHEN DID THE FIGHTING ENDED IN LATVIA?

On February 13, 1957, Latgale, the last national partisan group – the Miculis family- five members only, finished the fightings.

On May 13, 1957, Vidzeme, the last « Forest brother» , Peteris Sviklans, surrendered to the KGB.

In 1960 in Kurzeme the partisans finished the fightings.

In 1952 the last actions of the partisans were finished.

WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON THAT THE PARTISANS WENT ON FIGHTING MANY YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE SCOND WORLD WAR?

Winston Churchill’s famous speech of 1946 in Fulton, USA, and the Latvian -language Voice of America broadcasts ,gave encouragement  to thousands of fighters in the Baltic countries.Invain.The Latvians believed in the reports about support from Western countries.They were all betrayed again and again. The war lasted for about 12 years. The Latvian people were betrayed by Soviet Union, betrayed by Nazi-Germany and betrayed by Western countries.

The mission of the book is to tell people worldwide that the Latvians do not, and will not, be betrayed anymore. Above All: Support the work of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia where I bought the book in 2019 while making research work.

Copyright: Latvian National Partisan Association, The Power of Thought Society and HPT ltd.

The book was published in 2011.368 pages. Comments of the book must be forwarded to:dslatvia@gmail.com

Tedd Urnes
Board member of Baltic Audiovisual Archival Council(BAAC)