The Latvian Waffen-SS Legion: Latvian Collaboration in World War II
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 02. 2023
- During World War II Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union. Deportations, purges and executions were the result. When the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa Latvia was quickly taken by the German armies. Many Latvians hoped for the Germans to restore Latvian independence, but this wasn't going to happen. Initially many Latvian men were willing to collaborate. From 1942 the Latvian Legion was set up. The legion consisted of two divisions of the Waffen-SS: the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian), and the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian).
History Hustle presents: The Latvian Waffen-SS Legion: Latvian Collaboration in World War II.
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ► / historyhustler
SUPPORT ME ON PAYPAL ► www.paypal.com/paypalme/Histo...
SUBSCRIBE ► / @historyhustle
INSTAGRAM ► / historyhustle
FACEBOOK ► / historyhustler
TWITTER ► / hustlehistory
SOURCES
- Joining Hitler's Crusade. European Nations and the Invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941 (David Stahel) The Baltic States (Valdis O. Lumans).
- Latvia in World War II (Valdis Lumans).
- Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Volume 4 (Littlejohn David).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
• Newsreel of the Estoni...
Newsreel of the Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS in Action
• Latviešu Leģions, kara...
Latviešu Leģions, kara propagandas video. War time propaganda, Latvian Legion
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
MUSIC
"Division" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"Crusade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
SOUNDS
Freesound.org.
E-MAIL
historyhustle[at]gmail.com
Russian Collaboration in WW2:
czcams.com/video/cKpj786Sorc/video.html
Belarusian Collaboration in WW2:
czcams.com/video/dbOYmKsp0pU/video.html
Cossack Collaboration in WW2:
czcams.com/video/c5XX9DUVQ1w/video.html
✅ 🇧🇷
@@marcoskehl 👍
Can you make also ukrainian collaboration? this thing existed, but everyone forgot about it
@@mornie666 I did, see
czcams.com/video/Cll91vfc_3Q/video.html
Latvia has certainly gone through the ringer in the 20th Century.
It seems like most of the Eastern European countries had a terrible time during the 20th century. Poland, the Baltics, Belarus, and Ukraine.
@@snapdragon6601 And Western Balkans as well...
Never cease to amaze history lovers like me
😁👍
My grandmother is a Latvian - born and raised.
I know a bit of those stories You tell here, from people who experienced it.
As a kid I visited Latvija. Visiting my family there, my aunt shown me a photo of Her and my grandma, holding a nazi flag... After that i did some reserch. Some of my family members were part of SS or colaborated. Most of my family ended up in germany or Poland.
Keep up the good work!
My parents were born in Latvia. I was born in the US but have Latvian citizenship. My grandfather, Peteris Zvejnieks, was deported by the Russians to Siberia in 1949 but returned to Latvia in 955 and lived for several years. My uncle, also Peteris Zvejnieks, was killed fighting the Russians.
That is pretty disgusting...I would not like my grandmother if she was a nazi fan...
Thanks for your replies, Jan and Peter!
@@peterrisbergs7156hello i am latvian:)
@@oltk6177 Sveiks! Mes dzivojam Matisos pie Burtnieka Ezera.
Thanks for this video!
My aunt married an Estonian man who was drafted into the Luftwaffe as an AA gunner when he was 15.
Taken prisoner by the US Army, and used as an interpreter because he was fluent in 5 languages.
Onkel Heinrich was way too nice a guy to be with a barracuda like my aunt.😁
Thanks for your reply.
😆 👍
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
A neglected but interesting and appalling subject. Latvia was definitely caught between a rock and a hard place.
Thing is though there was no official ''collaboration'' of Latvia with anything as the government of Latvia did not exist, same as the state itself did not exist. Those who were in charge after 1940 Soviet occupation of course evacuated to Soviet Union and those from before were either in Soviet custody or some later in nazi custody.
So yes, there definitely were ''quislings'' from Latvian political circles and a fair bunch of people who either wanted to fight vs bolshevism or (way smaller pool) of people who wanted to kill Jews, but Latvia was occupied and part of Ostland, there were no official Latvian institutions to collaborate with the nazis
Some of my grandmothers relatives who were teenage boys back then were branded ''traitors'' and executed by Germans.
A very good presentation of a complicated topic!
Many thanks Arthur!
There were sizable contingents of Latvians, Estonians, and Lithuanians who were also in the Red Army during the war. It would be interesting to learn about them as well.
They were conscripted at a gun point.
@@RR-jz2up Yeah, my great great grandfather was forcefully conscripted to the Soviet army in 1941. He ran to the forest like many Estonian men in the end of June 1941. His family (mother, father, wife and 3 kids) were threatened to be sent to Siberia or shot if he did not show up. He came out from the forest and was sent to Soviet Russia. He found his end in 1942 in a work batallion, worked to death.
Indeed. There is also the role played by the Red Latvian riflemen too. Jukums Vācietis, formerly a colonel in the Latvian Rifles became the first commander-in-chief of the Red Army.
@@RR-jz2up not all of them, not even the majority.
@@latviankhan2989 Litteraly majority were consripted execpt jewish decent or russians who volunteered lovely unlike interwar when latvians actually joined rsfr to fight latvians
Always informative. Thanks, Stephen!
It would perhaps be worth an independent video, dedicated to Latvia's complex history in 1st half of the 20th century. IMHO the described story is part of the broader series of events, rooted back in WWI. Like the unfortunate history of Latvian Riflemen, their participation in bolshevik's revolution and 1919 fights back in Latvia. It is a heartbreaking and twisted story.
Jukums Vācietis, formerly a colonel in the Latvian Rifles became the first commander-in-chief of the Red Army.
As a Latvian, I regret that the Riflemen saved Lenin on at least one occasion. Had they not been so good some less extreme forces would have come to power in Russia, such as Mensheviks. This might have given Russia the chance to really become a Soviet country governed by a body of people (as the name suggests), rather than a bloody dictatorship under one sick man.
@@Renuars Yes i agree. Some Latvians fought with Russia and others germany. They advanced in the soviet union. The fought in Afganistan. It was shit in the soviet union but some had good experience.
I swear the Americans suck at pronouncing latvian places
@@Renuars Latvians saved not only Lenin, they saved Bolsheviks Revolution. The cruelty of the Latvians was unbelievable . There was a proverb in Russia during the terror that Latvians unleashed - Don’t look for the executioner- find a Latvian.
And Revolution is held together by Latvian bayonets , Jewish brains , and Russian fools .
Actually , in Latvian was also a kind of Revolution in those days, even though Latvian became independent, Baltic Germans who had many big estates were robbed of their lands when their estates were nationalised without getting compensation.
Another wonderful history nugget Stefan ❤ have a wonderful weekend ahead.
Thanks for your words again Jesse, as well as your support. Have a good one.
Yet another fascinating, entertaining, and extraordinarily well researched video.
Thanks for watching.
" extraordinarily well researched" Yeah, not really.
Another great feature Stefan! You never fail to come up with the goods!👍🇮🇪
Many thanks👍
Saddest part was when Latvian Red army units were thrown against the 19th Latvian SS legion in Courland battles. There were some families in which brothers fought on each side.
There was only one occasion where the Germans and Russians were stupid enough to try and force Latvian units to fight Latvian units. There was barely a shot fired as they didn't want to fight their own people, and both sides rotated the units to other sectors of the front quite quickly.
Mums patīk gaudot par "brālis pret brāli un dēls pret tēvu," bet realitātē, tādu atgadījumu bija ārkārtīgi maz. Lai arī kādi staigājoši mēsli komandēja latviešu vienības, lielākā daļa saprata, ka tādā situācijā daudz reālāk bija pašam pagaršot svinu nekā piespiest latvieti šaut uz latvieti.
Always an excellent and easy to follow look at history from this host.
Thanks for your reply.
Thank you for sharing history
👍👍👍
Thank you for describing so well in short so complex time in history of Latvia.
Many thanks for your reply.
In abt ten minutes you can learn things that it would take many hours of reading to learn. Thank you Mr Stefan
Thank you! ❤️
👍👍👍
Thanks for the effort!
A few quick comments/remarks though:
a) the most difficult phase of War of Independence (against very much impossible odds) was sustained by Baltische Landeswehr, which had a 'battalion' of Latvians indeed, however the bulk of manpower was local Germans. Trivia - eventually Landeswehr until its dissolution was commanded by Harold Alexander of WW2 North Africa fame;
b) certainly Ulmanis government between 1934-1940 passes for qualifier 'dictatorship', however to call it a 'military dictatorship' is over the top and over the board. Look at any picture of powers-that-be of those years - even the 'war minister', General ("of horse carriers" according to many) Balodis wears civilian clothing;
c) qualifying Pērkonkrusts as 'government' is a major exaggeration, irrespectively of the time period or year concerned;
d) another trivia - commander of the 1st Latvian Riflemen regiment (Daugavgrīvas) of Imperial Russian Army during most of WW1, General Rūdolfs Bangerskis, was appointed to the figurehead position of Generalinspektor der Lettischen Legion;
e) it seems worth noting that the relatively orderly withdrawal of Heeresgruppe Nord in summer of 1944 to Kurzeme peninsula was largely possible due to the valiant rear guard actions of 19th division;
f) there are claims that some elements of 15th division ended up defending Berlin in the final battles, including the last stand at Reichskanzlei.
Thanks for sharing this.
It seems like most of the soldiers in the last stand for Berlin were non-German. Or, if not most, at least a large part. Latvians, French, Dutch etc.
Well done research. Thank you for the objective report and greetings from Latvia :)
Thanks for replying!
Estonians who fought in the Estonian SS Legion were motivated by two things: to avenge the brutal Soviet crimes committed against Estonians in 1940 - 1941 and to prevent Soviets from reoccupying Estonia. They did not fight for Hitler and most hated him as Estonians knew very well that he was responsible for a lot of the suffering the Baltic countries went through. Joining the German military was the only realistic way for Estonians to get weapons to protect their country against the Soviets during the second half of WW2.
Same as Latvians, only possible way fight against russia as non german cityzen, to join SS 15 & 19 legion
I imagine the Jews in those countries felt very differently.
@@navajoguy8102 Estonia had a relatively small number of Jews before the war and majority of them escaped to Russia when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
@navajoguy8102
Factual history shows that a large sizeable percentage of Jewish people in the Baltic nations were communist sympathizers and collaborators.
One of several cases of Jewish Communist mass murders was that of NKVD Mass murder Nachman Durantsky brutally tortured Lithuanians in the Rainiai Forest massacre eventually he fled to Israel which refused to extradite him back to the Independent Republic of Lithuania for trial for perpetrating Crimes Against Humanity against Lithuanian citizens.
What suffering to Estonia did Hitler ever cause? The suffering was from the soviet union.
Thank you for your wonderful presentations and the knowledge that you bring in telling these histories.
history hustle is only telling the story from the winners side, history hustle has no knowledge of the real truth, only from what woke university and history books written by the winning side he has read or been taught from, James do you own research, read books written by soldiers from the other side, a waffen SS general leon degrelle has written many books on the struggle to free Europe from Bolshevik hoards, read the real truth from both sides
@volksdeutsche waffen ss thank you for this this information about Degrelle and his books. My personal WWII library has books written by German, English, American, French, and other WWII participants and scientists involved in weapons development. I have a full appreciation for what the Allied Forces did to German Folk and Germany in retribution for the actions of the NSDAP before and during WWII - it was an effort to exterminate as many German Folk as possible and was as wrong and evil as the actions of the NSDAP. I enjoy Stefans historical presentations - he is fair and honest in what he says.
james search CZcams THE LEON DEGRELLE STORY, over one hours video, what Degrelles saying has come true, the right side lost, watch his story of the waffen ss, he was allowed private access to the fuhrer during the war, he knows what it was all about
Awesome historical footage
Allot. Thanks for sharing . History Hustle always 💯 shares excellent subjects with sufficient information about its selected subjects... Sir Stefan, you are responsible 🙏 & a talented history teacher. Good luck & best wishes
Good jobb! 👍
Baltic history is full of horror and war 1914-1991.
I read upp on Latvian history as part of resertsh about The Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers, (Swedish: Baltutlämningen), for a filmproject in 2001 (not on youtube, Im not happy with it)
🇸🇪🇦🇹
In year 1994, two of those Latvian legionnaires were invited to Stokholm, where they received personal King apologies for extradition made by Swedish government. One of those guys name - Janis Ozols. I know him personally. He told me his story, survived 25years sentence in Gulag and show me picture with Swedish King, shaking his hand... Janis pass away few years ago, in age 107!!! This is destiny of Baltics, as frontier of western world, stood against Russia!
@@paulsrozans221 im trying to ansver you but I might not get thrue?
Victims of Yalta by Nikolai Tolstoy. Nothing to do with Swedish extradition of Baltic Soldiers. Just another story of horror and hypocrisy. Highly recommended to anyone interested in real history.
Lad thank you for producing another brilliant video lecture on the Latvian Legion SS. I enjoyed it immensely. Kudos!
This channel consistently provides meticulously researched ,well presented and fascinating material. It is, in my humble opinion, ridiculously undersubscribed given the high quality of the content.
my grandfather was in the latvian legion and end war came as a prisoner to uk. he fought the russians long before the germans arrived. and till day he passed away he couldnt go home.
Thanks for sharing.
Your Grandfathet is, Nazi, who escape
An an American I understand that most Americans have never heard of Latvia or could even place it on a map. To expect them to understand the complex history of this country is a stretch. It's sad how poorly world history and even geography is taught in my country.
That’s a bold generalization!
@@kgizzle92 Yes, it is. That's why there are a lot of exceptions. "Most" is the operative word in my post.
What’s so difficult about understanding the NAZI concept. They are back and the United States is leading the charge against the Russian Federation using the return of the NAZIS
Thank you for doing this video!
In my opinion, the Germans being forced by the allies to withdraw from Riga in both 1918 and again in 1919, when they had promised soldiers settlement in a new Baltic German state, was a massive yet rarely talked-about part of the “stab in the back” theory about the rolling back of a victorious German army, especially when contrasted with the looming Bolshevik threat.
Nowhere was that more true than the Baltic, Ukraine, and Crimea, something that framed Germany’s (and the Soviet Union’s) geopolitical goals during the interwar period and of course during the Second World War itself.
Thanks for exploring a topic that could use more attention, cheers!
Stefan good video as usual👍🏻
Good job bro
👍👍
Thanks Carl!
The best of your videos I watched so far. :)
Many thanks.
Latvia like Ukraine and many other estern countries didnt konwn Germany the same weay as they known comunist Russia that was they neighbour. Just like now pepole western contries think that Russia aint that bad.
Nearly half of the Red Army was made up of Ukrainians by 1945. Those who openly cooperated with the Germans or joined the UPA maybe a couple hundred thousand at most.
All matter of prospective and exposure. The Germans sure would not have been very kind to my people (Chechen/Ingush), but Hitler didn't kill half of us, Stalin did with his accursed deportation which nearly deprived us of our native land and halved our population. My grandparents were born in Kazakhstan and would have to live in a foreign land if not for the reversal of this decision.
Būtu kauns nekomentēt latviski, esmu runājis gan ar ussr, gan vācu veterāniem (radiniekiem) tie bija traki laiki, kad vectēvs bija vienā un brālis otrā armijā. bet video diezgan labs!
Good video, greetings from Latvia!!
Thanks for your reply.
Bija traki laiki.Jūsu brālis karoja 2. pasaules karā,tad jums cienījams vecums.Kādas jūsu domas par to?Kuru pusi atbalstat.Daudzi,tai skaitā krievi nopeļ latviešu leģionārus un 16.martu.Bija protams tādi SS leģionāri starp latviešiem,kuri tiešām piedalījās ebreju iznīcināšanā,bet lielākoties stājās leģionā,jo ticēja,ka būs brīva Latvija atkal.
Ja jau koloboranti, tad visi latvieši bija,,koloboranti,, jo visi karoja ienaidnieku armijās .
Onkulis kaut ko burbuļo...
As usual, Stephan dropping knowledge, cheers
😁👍
Top video 👏
Dank!
Big Fat Thumbs-up again 👍
Groet'n oet Grun', T.
Dank!!
About legionary day, most Latvians believe that despite the uniform they were forced to wear, they risked their lives for Latvias possible independence
I can understand.
@@HistoryHustle That makes me happy hahaha, usually foreigners just look at the SS uniforms and immediately assume "ah yes genocide and fascists"
If im not wrong, after the war Latvia and rest of baltics were one of the rare few where they were pardoned and not tried the same as nazis in Germany for example
Just a shame they killed so many Latvian Jews right
@@Sukhumvit1 well yea but no one is defending nazis, what we are remembering are the soldiers of which were majority 16 year olds fighting for Latvia, not involved in invasion of Poland or rounding up Jews. In case for Latvia and other Baltic countries, it was choosing lesser evil at the time, submitting to Russia at the time was giving away your rights and Jews dying’ giving yourself away to Germans was losing a lot Jews but keeping the country
I hope you can understand that, it’s not really hard to, if you’re smart enough to realise there is no “good side” in this
Latvia “chose” what was less damaging to them
Even if it wasn’t a choice, majority of the Latvian soldiers defected after Germans abandoned Latvia to Russia, forming Forrest brothers, Russians think they were nazis but they were against both
@@Sukhumvit1 well well well, my guy was caught supporting hamas
What an irony
My God, the nightmare of being caught between the Nazi war machine and the Soviet army. 2 of the most ruthless to ever exist.
yes, tragic history
Yeah they were screwed
It's really heartbreaking
Had to suck
so... nothing good?
Lies, deception, every day more lies... you people...
Who build Riga? Who rebuild Latvia? Tell me please! Mighty latvian tribe probably...
Fascinating! Oskars Dankers is a mysterious figure I’ve always wanted to know more about and Latvia isn’t a country often discussed regarding WW2, even regarding the German invasion it tends to be Ukraine so this was especially interesting with my bottle of beer! Cheers
As a Latvian, I can confirm that this is roughly the case. My father's family was also deported to Siberia in 1941, but survived and gradually returned. My ancestors were "lucky" in that no one was taken into German or Soviet army during the war. I can also add that until the Soviet occupation in Latvia, Germany was considered the most dangerous enemy and our government was seriously preparing for war with it. The SS Legion also formed in Estonia, while the Lithuanians managed to avoid it.
oh ok... easy question for you then. What was the name of the camp. And how big do you think were travel expenses to send one sucker in Sibirien rigeon.
@@DementedArch Kansk , Krasnoyarsk Krai. The family was separated and the exile lasted for about 15 years. The question about transport costs from Latvia to Siberia is out of place. Cheaper than shipping Africans to America a few centuries ago, I think. People were taken there in cattle wagons and later used as slaves in forest work.
@@arnisgrinbergs7366but Latvians jews I don't think were taken there to the same camps. They were taken to salaspils and other camps, perhaps mostly in the same country. I'm not sure how much mixing happened. In Poland in the most famous camp yes the majority were Jewish but also other polish people ended up there that didn't practice Judaism. Did lithuanians, polish and estonians were sent to the same camps as Latvians and mixed there? In that case there should have had been a common language of communication there, probably german or Russian which were common at that time. Russian still is while german not so much anymore
Important to note that none of the latvian legion soldiers served on the western front and never shot at american or british forces.
Most of them were motivated to fight for Nazis beacause of soviet authrocities and to defend their homeland - Latvia.
After the war many in the legion went in to the forrests and set up anti soviet partisan units (the forrest brothers).
The Latvians were ferocious fighters
my god my great grandfather is in this!!! voldemars viess
Very interesting to read!
Great episode, can you do one on Lituania?
Part of my family came from there.
One day for sure.
How I remember - Latvian 19th SS division was most decorated non-German SS division in Eastern front! They better get killed then surrender to Red army - so they where fighting with all strength what they had!
They sure had something to fight for.
Absolute majority were conscripts. Germany has apologized and paid compensations. And it is always necessary to remember that a mass deportation took place a few days before Hitler started war against his former best buddy Stalin with who he launched WWII. Yes I think many in the legion believed that if they helped Hitler to destroy Soviet Union, the West will defeat Germany. But, of course, the West did not care about small countries like Latvia. After all they allowed Stalin to occupy Baltic states in 1940.
By the way, don't forget that many joined Soviet army, even as volunteers, and others spent the war hiding in the cellars (anything to remain neutral). That is because during the centuries Latvia (people living on the territory) had (with some brief exceptions) fought along Germans against Russians and vice versa. So neither were popular, even though Germans, for example, took care about the development of Latvia during the rule of the tsars. For example, literacy on average was twice as high as in Moscow and Petersburg, and in Riga it was close to 100%. That is despite the fact that Moscow allocated equal sums for education.
Very interesting - thanks Stefan :)
My great uncle was Major Peteris Kvalbergs who was an artillery officer in the Lativan Legion. He was captured in the Courland Pocket and spent 10 yrs in a forced labor camp in a Siberian Forest (Tiger Forest (sp)) as a POW. Only 10% of Courland Pocket prisoners survived imprisonment.
Incredible he survived. You ever met him and did he tell about his experiences?
No, he died in 1966 when I was 4yoa. His dtr who was born in 1939 told me his story.@@HistoryHustle
stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea is the quote i use
Also, in 1938 Soviets carried out so called 'Latvian Operation' inside the Soviet Union, when they literally wiped out nearly all those having Latvian ethnicity. In the first half of 20th century the Russians Communists had committed about 5 acts of genocide against Latvians (probably Estonians and Lithuanians as well). This practice of trying to wipe out Latvian culture continued up until the 1980's.
Have heard of the Polish operation but not of this. Thanks for sharing.
You need to elaborate - Latvians were "purged." Many of the higher ranks in the USSR government and army were held by Latvians, an absolutely disproportionate amount, considering the nation is roughly 2 million strong. Most, if not all, Latvians could read and write and had at least some form of education, while the vast majority of USSR was literally... illiterate. At some point, comrade Josif realized this and ordered a purge, fearing an overthrow.
Ok, fine, I'm not sure it was him, I'm not sure if he had upgraded from a murderous criminal to "the most equal among equals" yet. I'm gonna guess it happened after Lenin's death, as that Kalmik was particularly fond of the Red Latvian Riflemen, he would frequently request them specifically to be sent to military engagements where SHIT NEEDED TO BE DONE, and where "elite units of the Red Army" would simply flee, as is the Russian vaunt to do.
Even the notorious GULAG system was created by a Latvian named Bērziņš (means "little birch"). He had changed his name to something more Russian sounding, but it doesn't change the fact. That shit-for-DNA soulless creature was later purged himself, and died in one of his own camps. Karma, I guess.
But also the Jewish people in latvia. This same time was a very bad time to be a jew in latvia and elsewhere. So many terrible things happened with latvian jews in various places across latvia. Rumbula massacre is considered to be the second largest after the one in Ukraine during the world War 2. Plus daugavpils had over 70 synagogues before the war and now only a few remain of those
@@kraanz no, Latvians as such ceased to exist as a minority. It did not just concern the goverment and security establishment officials. It was the whole diaspora.
@@Lachausis "no, Latvians as such ceased to exist as a minority." Wtf, no they didn't. Then how did they re-appear? Through genetic experiments in a lab? Jurassic Park style? Latvian DNA was retrieved and re-engineered from inside a piece of amber? Which, coincidentally, is why they love it so much to this day? =D
Hi Stefan are you able to do a video on Greeks in WW2 who collaborated with the Nazi forces in Greece. I have read that there were security forces made up of Greeks but that also an attempt was made by the Germans to set up a recruitment office for volunteers for the (waffen SS or Waffen Units)? Apparently it was bombed by the resistance killing 40 German soldiers and also those looking to sign up.
Given collaboration was not raised very much in Greece post war it appears to be a murky area.
Many thanks
More on that here:
czcams.com/video/MjjK9Qusn_g/video.html
Having done research on the subject as part of my major, I noticed that the two main historical problems identified in the past 25 years, had to do with the "voluntary service", i.e., how and where our citizens drew the line between collaboration and simply being victims of circumstance; and two, that of the consistent Latvian pleas of increased sovereignty under Germany, which the Legion (as well as the Kurelians, look that up) took part in, but it never sat right with the German authority (the govt. body you mentioned was pretty much a puppet to the Ostland).
I made some interesting discoveries. I compared the Legion to the 43rd Riflemen Division (Latvian national unit within the Red Army, the first of its' kind no less) and the national resistance the latter of which found itself intertwined with the Legion, as well as putting up non-violent forms of resistance. The Kurelians officially operated within the Legion, but were in-fact a part of the LCP (Latvijas Centrālā Padome, i.e., Central Council of Latvia, an illegitimate body of government).
It was fun and interesting to me, I went through dozens of sources.
Based legionaires. Dievs svētī Latviju!
Please explain.
@@HistoryHustle Im Latvian and our legionaires were based, fighting for our land to get rid of soviets. God bless them and Latvia
Baltic countries were stuck between two major superpowers. Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Both were bad but for those in the Baltic countries had very little choice in choosing who to side with. It was either join and die on the battlefield or die by a bullet by those who are in charge.
Only Nazi Germany was bad. The choice of the side was obvious to non evil people.
@@MrGenexxx Damn, if I were you, I'd be ashamed of claiming something is good or bad, before doing proper research.
@@MrGenexxx Yes, the world is black and white only. And the Soviets were absolute angels. Just like their rotten descendants in Ukraine today. Absolute angels. Liberators, lmao.
What do you think about Indians who were struck between British Empire and Japanese Empire?
Germans, or Germanic people lived in Latvia and Estonia for centuries, in the the early 13th century in modern day Estonia&Latvia was a crusader's state formed - Livonia and exited until the 1560s (btw, destroyed by russians). Baltic Germans were very prominent in the area until Dec. 1939, almost every one in the cities spoke German until russian occupation, basically Riga or Tallinn (Revel) were Baltic-German cities, especially before the XIX century industrialisation, when ethic Latvians and Estonians from the county side moved to the cities.
One of mine grandfathers was a Baltic German, forced to repatriate from Latvia, Riga to then Germany when the soviets occupied Latvia in June 1940, most Baltic Germans living in Latvia and Estonia were asks to repatriate to Germany in Dec. 1939., tens of thousands of them. He served all WWII in the Group North, Waffen SS and was captured in Kurland (Kurzeme) in May 1945 (btw, the fact that they managed to hold until May 1945 allowed more than 300,000 people to evacuate from advancing russians, it is enormous amount for Latvia, which now has the population of 1,8ml.), after he was in GULAG in the far North East of the USSR until 1949 as a PoW, died in Riga in 1983.
Another my grandfather was a Jew-Baltic German in Riga (misheling (mixed), according to Nazi system of ethnic purity) and ended up in Majdanek (or Lublin) concertation camp as forced labour, liberated by the Red Army in June 1944, had to join soviet army immediately and as translator he finished the war in Berlin May 1945, he died in Riga in 1984.
XX century was hell for Latvia and Estonia, to say the least...
Yes, those poor Baltic Germans. The descendants of murderous crusaders who saw the local Latvians and Estonians as nothing more than serfs and their personal property. Those poor Baltic Germans who tried to violently overthrow and wipe out Latvia right after ww1. Those poor, poor Baltic Germans, oh noes.
@@kraanz :) nice to hear some soviet and dictator Ulmanis propaganda, it is clear you are stupid enough to NOT understand there were no Latvians or Estonians until the late 18th mid 19th century :)
@@kraanzyes poor, they were just people like you and me despite their decendents with whom many of them had nothing to do with. Latvia and estonia were their birth place. And they played an important part of latvian and estonian culture for centuries. And then they had to leave their lives there which is sad. Now what's left of their lives is all those amazing buildings, parks and gardens where they lived across estonia and latvia. Unfortunately some of them have not been cared for well but many of them are in a good condition. This is the obvious legacy left by these people and which you see while traveling across the baltics. Unfortunately some such historical properties have been lost due to war or by falling into disrepair
@@dreamthedream8929 Can't argue with that, a lot of beautiful buildings are in a sorry state, especially in Riga.
@kraanz yes, Imants lancmnis the rundales palace director and in charge of other palaces around the country said that it was one of the bad things that happened after baltic Germans forced out. The disregard for artistic historic cultural heritige among the local population that was left however he did mention that probably in the harsh post war time it was too much to ask. But eventually a lot of the beautiful baltic german buildings were taken care of and now are in a good condition, others perhaps soon will also be
You said that when the Germans invaded, armed Latvians attacked the Soviets. I'm curious if there was any coordination between the Latvians and Germans to this, or if the Latvians acted independently. Did they respond to the ding dong at 5:28? Take it easy.
June uprising in Lithuania was similar and atleast here it was coordinated between german lithuanians and Lithuanians
some yes some no
@@olsonjens5907 Lithuanians did coordinate with germany
Armed resistance against the illegal Soviet Russian occupation forces forces occured in Latvia, Estonia and in Lithuania. These were the first Forest Brothers and at times during the begining of the German invasion they did cooperate with the Germans to stop the evil Soviets.
USSR occupied the three countries and immediately set up puppet governments, who then voted to "voluntarily" join the USSR. Naturally, these despicable turds were not loved and tried to flee to sRussia as soon as the Germans invaded. My guess is, he was speaking about revenge on those traitors.
The facts point to the fact that had the Nazi party been less idealistic and choosy about who fought with their German troops, they could have put far more pressure on the Russians at an earlier point. Getting more 88mm guns to the front mounted on Panther chassis would also have help enormously looking at the success of the StuG III. The Germans seem to act like they had all the time in world when in fact were running desperately low on time, an attitude of 'The Sun will come out tomorrow' pervaded almost all German thinking and the perfect solution later on when the problem had become unmanageable was often the pathway taken rather than a quick fix now while the problem was still in its early stages.
Stuck between Hitler and Stalin was not a good place to be.
Indeed.
Same goes for being struck between Hitler and Churchill
Before ww2 close to 2 million inhabitants were live in Latvia, and nearly 90% called latvian their mother language. After ww2, in 1953, latvians in Latvia was left about 60% . But inhabitants was still close to 2 million or even little above. As U can see every 4th inhabitant of pre-ww2 Latvia during ww2 was gone as refugee, K.I.A or punished/ deportated. So the estonians and lithuanians.
By 1867, Riga's population was 42.9% German speaking, lately they was deported between 1920-1940.
After 1885 provincial governors usually were Russians.
@@dmitryprokopiev2041 "By 1867, Riga's population was 42.9% German speaking, lately they was deported between 1920-1940." Deported? By whom? To where? What are you even talking about? And since when do the demographics of one city represent the entire country? That's like saying most of sRussia is Uzbek because there's a ton of them in Moscow.
"After 1885 provincial governors usually were Russians." In the sRussian Empire? What does that have to do with independent Latvia?
Latvia had a pretty stable population in the last 120 or so years. Like estonia and lithuania. No dramatic fast increases or decreases. The highest in latvia was around 2.6 million people in the 1990s, kind of what lithuania is now
Surprisingly good, I was expecting from the title a Putin troll report. The fact that Latvians served on both sides illustrated the divisions in Latvian society. The losses both in the red army and the waffen ss were horrific. One interesting point is missed, why did Lithuania have no Waffen SS division? What was different in Estonia/Latvia. Another point that is significant is that the German superior officers received much lower punishments than those of the Latvians carrying out their commands. Compare Arajs' punishment, with that of his German handler. Some German officers got off very lightly and continued successful careers in West Germany.
Don't forget that the collaborating Latvians and Russians shot all imprisoned nationalists in Latvia at the beginning of the German invasion. That caused a lot of hate.
I mentioned this.
I am from Greece, and I think there is no controversy about the celebration day for the latvian SS soldiers. Russia should also do the same for the russians that fought against communism.
Jukums Vācietis, formerly a colonel in the ‘Red’ Latvian Rifles became the first commander-in-chief of the Red Army.
No, that would mean the millions of Russians in WW2 died for nothing.
You do know the Latvian SS killed thousands of Latvian ethnic jews right?
Why should they be celebrated?
sRussia will never do that, since the era of USSR is seen through unrealistic lens of "those were the good times" there today. Completely ignoring the genocides, forced relocations of entire nations, GULAG, etc. "Those were the good times, unrestricted terror and total disregard of and for humanity is awesome."
@@rjames3981 Yes, the Red Army was commanded by a dude whose name literally means "Insanity German."
Thing is though there was no official ''collaboration'' of Latvia with anything as the government of Latvia did not exist, same as the state itself did not exist. Those who were in charge after 1940 Soviet occupation of course evacuated to Soviet Union and those from before were either in Soviet custody or some later in nazi custody.
So yes, there definitely were ''quislings'' from Latvian political circles and a fair bunch of people who either wanted to fight vs bolshevism or way smaller, but still a not insignificant number of people who wanted to kill Jews, but Latvia was occupied and part of Reichskommissariat Ostland, there were no official Latvian institutions to collaborate with the nazis, even not a puppet government or anything
Many Latvians who experienced that time are praising Latvian legionars as for many of them it was a chance to revenge to Soviet regime for all the crimes they did to Latvian people.
Lenin’s elite Latvian guard played a crucial role in the Russian revolution.
‘The commanders of the Red Latvian Riflemen (as well as some other Latvians, not connected to the Riflemen) attained dizzying heights in Soviet Russia and across the USSR. Gustav Bokis, for instance, headed the mechanized forces of the Red Army, Jukums Vācietis served for a while as commander-in-chief, and Jēkabs Alksnis commanded the air force’.
@@rjames3981
Jukums Vācietis, Jēkabs Alksnis and Gustavs Boķis - shot in 1938 during the great terror in Russia.
Yep. Stalin was from Georgia. Later NKVD chief Beria too.
I had two Latvian friends who fought for the Nazis against the Soviets. They never discussed what had happened and I’m sure that was the safest decision. They surrendered to the British Army after Hitler’s downfall.
Thanks for sharing.
Hopefully justice is brought to those nazis. Shows those trials were not close to enough
@@HahaHaha-ks3ml Guilt by association?
It's good they made sure to never fall to the hands of the Soviets
@@HahaHaha-ks3ml Yes, they were such monstrous Nazis that they were asked to guard the actual Nazis at Nuremburg. Because that makes sense. What an idiot.
On the other hand in 1944, when Russia came back in territory of Latvia, soviets mobilised civilians of Latvia (not woluntarily) in the RedArmy to fight against germans...
My father was mobilised at age of 17!
I was wondering where you were going with this video, seeing as how you described the Latvian Legion in your headline as the "Waffen-SS Legion." You were right to note that most people who got involved in it were no fans of Nazism and just wanted their country back. Naively, as it turned out, but true. Two specific things that I would note. First of all, the Ulmanis regime from 1934 until the Soviet invasion was many things, but it was most certainly not a "military" dictatorship. That implies an all-powerful military of the type that little Latvia simply did not (and does not) have. Second, you referred to the Perkonkrusts organization as an "alternative government." It was a small group of radicals, and that is all it ever was. I am an American-born Latvian, and I recognize that the choice for Latvians during World War II was an impossible one. I also feel that rubbing the world's face into this situation once a year on March 16 is a stupid thing to do no matter how much I know what the Latvian Legion was and was not. The history of World War II has been written. Hitler has been declared to be the villain of all villains, and nobody wants to hear excuses about why somebody fought in the villain's forces. In sum: Thanks for the video.
close your eyes and ears and you will be ok. Nothing to hear or see. It is a private event
Kārlis Streips?
@@billybigballs5776 Yes?
@@streips sapratu,ka tas esat jūs,kad pieminējāt,ka Amerikas latvietis.Mans komentārs bija sasveicināšanās.Bet jums bija labs atbildējums video autoram.
@@billybigballs5776 Esmu, jā. Vienmēr laipni.
Is there anyway to send over sources? I got a lot of info about Lithuanian collaborators, up to info about individual cases like guys joining SS Divisions.
See email below video!👍
got much about the rest of the "collabotors" .... the ones who fought for russia, either by choice or compulsion?
Sandwich between two evil powers
yes..
What do you think about Indians who were struck between two evil empires the British and the Japanese?
it is kinda scary how they thought they are the liberators
Yes, from Soviet rule, but not from Nazi rule. And since they experienced Soviet rule before it is understandable they believed like that.
👍
👍
Thanks. A very informative presentation. BZ
The Latvians immediately adopted the German time honored tradition of making the legend of the Mäuseturm become reality.
Thank for the video. As Latvian historian and history teacher appreciate your work. It’s the most difficult topic in our country still, specially because of very strong condemning propoganda from Russia. They try to portrait legion as simply Latvian fascist volunteer collaborators. Ofc history isn’t that simple at all, and 90% of all young guys were mobilised through 1944! Very similar situation like in Ukraine…
Thanks for your honest reply.
Hey, where do I find your work? This is my grandfather's story and I keep researching to find out more because I only had him until 11 and I'm definitely old enough to understand better and I am completely fascinated. Thank you in advance/paldies
It’s not really Russian propaganda when you had groups like the Arājs Kommando’s killing thousands of Latvian Jews.
It’s always Kremlin propaganda right.
@@lokkib8239 Check out Zoomer Historian, they did a piece on the Latvian Legion a while ago, it was quite good.
Equip yourself with a hefty bag of salt, though - the comments under it seem to contain quite a lot of "Hitler did nothing wrong" type of people, so use common sense.
And whenever researching the topic, keep in mind there's going to be A TON of Kremlin trolls and straight up brainwashed people who try to convince the world that every single person in the Baltic states is automatically enrolled in the Nazi party at birth. Some of those idiots are even here.
Latvia must be very happy being in NATO after all this.
They should kick germany since they had most ss troops
@@Oberschutzee What do you mean?
@@akkiaddizone6889 kick Germany from nato it was is full of nazis
@@Oberschutzee You're someone with a great understanding of history....NOT.
Tell us what your ancestry is, and we'll find there's always some historic events to taint people.
@@annpeerkat2020 ?
Good video, you didn't mention the Arajs commando or Bangerskis - also very surprised that you haven't mentioned Arthur Silgailis - possibly the best history on the Latvian Legion, also, Uniforms, Organisations of the Waffen-SS Vol 4, which has a decent history of the 15th Latvian SS - although Volume 5, is better, that is a history of the 19th (Latvian) and the 20th (Estonian)
Rather than discussing the actions of few units like the one that piece of shit Arājs led, it's way easier to gloss over and to continue the Soviet/Russian agenda of "all the Baltic nations were and still are sworn Nazis, they join the party automatically at birth." It's way easier that way, rather than try to explain that there were separate cases of truly despicable people.
My uncle was forced to fight for the Russians and my father was forced to fight for the Germans. Brother against brother.
Crazy times!
There were over 20 nations that wore the SS uniform
czcams.com/play/PL_bcNuRxKtpEj8sMLxUerrHbsmyar9lqt.html&si=qBqzJCOJf2ZcEj4Z
My grandfather was in red army and after that he joined germany because we really didn't like the reds and we still don't
Ok, I can understand. Asuming he was from Latvia.
@@HistoryHustle yeah that would be right
Great video like always. Not only Latvians all Baltic States have SS units. From Eastern European nation only Serbs, Czechs, Sloveniabs and Polands didn't have SS units or fought for Hitler side.
Thanks for watching. There were pro-Axis Serbian units that were under Waffen-SS administration. Please check this video about it:
czcams.com/video/utoEQ2NqI_s/video.html
@@HistoryHustle No, they just serve Hitler inside Serbia against Partisans and Chetnics, but they don't fought for them outside, neither on Eastern or Western front.
Don't confuse SS with the legion concept. I do believe some Serbian units were under SS control. Some legions were under Wehrmacht control.
All these countries (and others) had hundreds of thousands who fought alongside the Red Army also. Ref liberation of Kiev, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin etc
Lithuania didn't have any SS units.
The common thought of the era was "Defeat the russians, we can deal with the germans afterwards with western help" - the same way as it had happened in the Liberty War right after WW1. Basically deal with the largest evil first, the smaller one can be left for later.
It's well known how bad the germans were on the people living in occupied territories, so it's quite hard to imagine just how much worse just a year under soviet control must have been for something like "living under germans was tough, but it was a relief after the russians" to be written by authors of that time.
Also a point to be noted is that russian forced conscription during the first occupation had severely depleted to pool of potential men to join the legions, so the numbers they pulled afterwards are still quite impressive.
Christmas uprising when?
Can't tell.
You can not call it "collaboration". Collaboration presumes that there is some state which collaborators treason. At that time Latvian state was annihilated by russians, and Latvian citizens forced to soviet citizenship, which was lately replaced by other occupant - Germany citizenship. Neither of both were legal by international law. Hence there can't be treason neither Latvian state nor occupants states.
That is your interpretation of the word. Collaboration means working together with. That is where this video is about.
@@HistoryHustle It is not exactly my interpretation, it is how Criminal code of USSR it interpreted. As criminal crime. Of course, if You mean collaboration only as a verb without any lawful impact than I do my apologizes.
The Latvians did nothing wrong, they (as we all Muscovite barbarians´ neighbors did ) tried to survive only . with Love From Bielarus´!
Latvian SS killing 90% of the Jewish population...you said they did nothing wrong.
@@PavelAVasilevich yeah like belarusian ss they killed over 900k jews in belarus with german help but majority it were belarusians
Grand duchy of Lithuania was created by lithuanians dont forget that litsvin shit
A LITTLE MORE TRUTH FROM YOU THAN SOME OTHERS .
Ok👍
4:30. And that’s exactly why Hitler lost the war. Stalin would not have a chance if the colonialized nations were on Nazi side.
if Stalin would treat his people better he would be a hero and they wouldnt join the waffen ss but instead call them all traitors and he's the goat
Most of the people fighting on the Soviet or German side had no say in it. I have a personal example. My grandfather was called in to fight for the Soviet army and it was obligatory. You either came willingly, or were arrested. But on the other hand, my grandfather's brother got called to serve the German army, he didn't have a choice either.
as a Latvian, i always have respect to Germans for liberating us, even if it was for short time
Well feel free to watch the video, the Germans had different plans for Latvia. Only reason they couldn't carry them out was because they were defeated.
"Liberating"
You also respect them for genociding any "undesirable" individuals?
@@seb_1504 ye
Dievs sveti Latviju!
Impossible explain this topic in 13 minutes. Very complicated.
I see.
Another sad chapter to this is how the Swedish government turned those who fled here over to Stalin because our weak cowardly government didnt refuse when that demand was made.
There is another side of story.
Approximately 70000 latvians served in a Red Army.
Would be great to listen they stories.
1944/45 mobilization of those who had not been mobilized by germans. Used in human wave attacks on Courland 1944/45
"We dug the grave of our own nation." There.
What is the relationship of the Osman empire and the Nazi Ideology? Isn't the Osman Realm not the real "Second" Empire after the Byzantian / Roman Empire. With respect of treating the Slavic nations as slaves - where the word was originally was formed . Also the expansionist ideology of Nazi Germany more ressembles that of the Ottomans, which shouldn't not be treated as a coincident as Turkey was a major factor during WW I also in triggering the War itself in its extent. The middle east was one of the focal points also to the NS state. So was the black sea, which was Ottoman during a long period before the Crimean War. A status that lead to the intervention of both france and great brittain in that war.
Ottoman Empire was gone by the time the Nazis seized power.
1. Ulmanis most definitely didn't "establish a military dictatorship," what utter nonsense. Do your research better.
2. The enlisting soldiers were lied to, promising they would only serve on the Eastern Front, essentially, to defend their home country.
3. They were promised they would serve under Latvian officers, another lie.
4. Latvia wasn't "incorporated into the USSR." Latvia was illegally annexed and immediately looted and brutalized.
Your sources? About point 4: same same.
@@HistoryHustle My sources? My Grandparents, mostly. Sorry, can't think of any official ones. Plus, comon, the Germans covered their asses pretty well.
"Mein Offizer, we can't recruit people from occupied territories, it's illegal!"
Just slap the "freiwillige" on them, problem solved. We haven't drafted them, they joined themselves! See?
"You're so brilliant, mein schatz..."
Was?
"Was?"
The Latvian -collaborators- ALLIES ❕❕❕
With the Germans.
@@HistoryHustle That was the point, Captain Obvious ^ ^
Latvia was occupied. Can't be an ally to someone who is occupying you. Think before you write.
If the Latvians only knew what was in store for them.
I went to Riga recently and bought a souvenir patch to sew on my son’s backpack. It was only later I realised it was the Latvian SS emblem!
Whaaaaaaaaaaat, no way. As far as I know nazi & communist symbols are banned from public events, and possibly spaces in general. I have not seen them for sale anywhere but in the most seedy booths of some shady markets, and that was yeeeears ago.
@@BurtsKurts This was at an ordinary souvenir shop alongside typical keyrings, magnets etc. I don't think the shop was being intentionally political but the patch is the exact design as the shoulder insignia.
@@stukafaust that's a bit sad. Did some googling, found them for sale, I will assume ignorance for the sake of my nerves... Will also probably
reach out to the shops, thanks.
@@BurtsKurts Don’t go too hard on the shop if you find it. I honestly think it really was just ignorance. Maybe it’s just my dark sense of humour but when I found out I was mildly amused by the misunderstanding.
What an unpleasant surprise. Imagine wanting to sow a souvenir on your son's backpack only to find out it is the emblem of the literal embodiment of evil.
Im pretty shure the legion wasnt realy valountery, most were conscripted.