2x2 Divisions
In 1944 a peculiar symmetry prevailed along the northern part of the German-Soviet front. On each side there were two Latvian divisions, forming respective army corps. A lot of blood was shed by these "2x2" divisions, as they could be called, figuratively if not literally fighting brother against brother. Some fought voluntarily, but most, on both sides, had been drafted and forced to fight.
On the German side corps and division commanders were Germans, but the so-called "Inspector-General of the Latvian Legion," most of the officers, and all of the soldiers were Latvians. On the Soviet side corps and division commanders were Latvians, the rest -- officers and soldiers -- were mainly Latvians, but also Jews and Russians.
On the one side, as part of the German armed forces, taking part in the war were the Latvian Second Brigade, later the Nineteenth Division and Fifteenth Division, that is, the so-called Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS Sixth Army Corps, as well as six border guard regiments, air force helpers, and pilots, part of the Luftwaffenlegion Lettland.
On the other side, as part of the armed forces of the USSR, taking part in the war were the remnants of the Twenty-fourth Territorial Corps, the First Independent Latvian Riflemen's Regiment, the Second (Seventy-sixth) Independent Latvian Riflemen's Regiment, later the 201st Latvian Riflemen's Regiment (renamed the Forty-third Latvian Guard Riflemen's Division), and the 308th Latvian Riflemen's Division (both of these divisions were combined into the 130th Latvians Riflemen's Corps), as well as pilots, who formed the First Latvian Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.
One can contrast the two Latvian Waffen-SS divisions, the Nineteenth and the Fifteenth, with the two "Red" Latvian Riflemen's divisions, the Forty-third Guard and the 308th. One side was the Latvian Legion, the other -- the Latvian Corps. The Legion was sent into battle by those whose flag had a swastika, the Corps by those whose flag had a five-pointed star. The Legion's enemy was "Bolshevism," the Corps' enemy was "Fascism." Thousands of Latvians fell in battle, on the one side, and on the other. On several occasions Latvians fought against Latvians, especially in Kurland, by Dzukste, in December 1944. The total number of Latvians on the German side was about 140,000; on the Russian side -- about 65,000, plus 15,000 Latvian Jews, Russians from Latgale, Poles, and others.
I had the opportunity to acquaint myself with rather extensive source materials about these 2x2 divisions and to talk with veterans from both sides, who often talked very openly and freely. I became convinced that these Latvian warriors (and Latvians have been known as brave warriors throughout history), fighting in front line trenches, were not responsible for the crimes committed by the two totalitarian regimes in the rear. There were, of course, exceptions, but the majority were typical front line soldiers, who do not have to be ashamed of fighting in war, having been conscripted under foreign flags -- one with a swastika, one with a five-pointed star.
In the West, people who are not well informed are frequently suspicious and mistrustful of veterans who admit they fought on the German side in the ranks of the Waffen-SS. A full analysis of these armed formations is beyond the scope of this book. I can only point out that Hitler and Himmler decided to form Latvian divisions, which were organized as the Latvian Legion in the Waffen-SS Sixth Army Corps because otherwise it would have been logistically impossible to send over a hundred thousand Latvians to the front. It must be emphasized that Latvia was in the Reichskommissariat Ostland, a territory not annexed to Germany but in a legal sense considered to be occupied enemy territory. The Hague Convention forbids occupying powers to call inhabitants of such territories into their regular armies (in this case, the Wehrmacht). Therefore Hitler, overcoming his dislike of Latvians (see the quote in the introduction), decided he could get the necessary Latvian cannon fodder by calling the new army units "volunteer divisions." The Waffen-SS was formally a volunteer army defending the "new Europe."
In fact the Latvians were mobilized, by force, with severe punishment for avoiding call-up orders, and death for deserting from the front. Intensive conscription into the Latvian Legion started in the fall of 1943, when the German army was suffering one defeat after another on the Eastern front. Before that, there were Latvian battalions fighting on the front, especially in the Volchov region, but they were intermingled among German units.
Hitler's and Himmler's purpose was two-fold. First, they circumvented the Hague Convention, with its prohibition against conscripting the people of occupied lands into the regular army. Second, they
inextricably joined the conscripted soldiers to the Nazi regime. With the SS "runes" on their collars, the death's head on their caps, and their blood group tattooed in their armpit, the soldier's carried the mark of Cain. They were identified with the Allgemeine-SS, the General-SS. They fought to the last breath, refusing to be taken prisoner, for they knew that, as SS men, the jails of the Cheka and
camps of the Gulag awaited them. This Machiavellian ploy succeeded to a large extent. It is not accidental that Latvians, from the Fifteenth Battalion of the Waffen-SS Fifteenth Division, desperately defended the Reichskanzlei and Himmler's State Security Headquarters (Hauptamt) in Berlin at the end of the war. These 80 men were surrounded on all sides, but kept on fighting. They were not just Waffen-SS, but also Latvians, therefore, to the Soviets, double traitors.
Ironically, the last commander of this battalion, Lieutenant Neilands, was the translator at the capitulation talks between the commander of Berlin, General Krebs, and the Russians. Another Latvian, the Soviet Colonel Nikolajs Berzzarins (Bersarin) became the first commander of Russian-occupied Berlin.
Since the war the Latvian exile press has, in my subjective opinion, excessively glorified the political stance taken by the leaders of the Latvian Legion. However, other, more critical approaches have also appeared. For example, Captain Adolfs Blakis of the Latvian Legion,
awarded the Iron Cross, who died in 1984, strongly castigates the mistakes, illusions, and delusions of Latvian political and military leaders in his book Medalas otra puse (The medal's other side, Buenos Aires, 1956). Blakis had the moral right to criticize, being an insider who fought heroically and was severely wounded on the front.
It must be emphasized that the soldiers of the Latvian Legion fought against the Bolsheviks, not for Germany. A popular song was: "First we'll hit the lice-ridden ones [the Russians], then the bluish-grey ones [the Germans]."
And what about the veterans of the other side -- those who fought in the ranks of the Soviet army? Among them were those who at the time believed that Latvia's greatest enemy was not Bolshevism, but fascism, that is, the same Germans who took over as masters 700 years ago. Just like the legionnaires on the other side, they too had their illusions: they hoped that after the war Latvians, even as part of the Soviet Union, would enjoy more rights and freedoms. The Kremlin after all had promised to allow "national army units" after the war, and to allow each "Soviet republic" to form "national foreign ministries." They were bitterly disappointed, just as were those who hoped that Hitler would give them back their country for fighting so bravely. The only achievement was that the Latvian Legion was sent to fight only on the Eastern front, not against the Western Allies.
Like the Latvian Legion, the Forty-third Guard Riflemen's Division of the Soviet army had its heroes. The sharpshooter Janis Vilhelms earned the title "Hero of the Soviet Army" in 1942, and in July 1943 the Americans awarded him the Gold Cross as an outstanding Allied soldier. The sharpshooter Erika Gaile fell at the front at the end of 1942; she had been a prominent skier during Latvia's years of independence. Many pilots from the air force of independent Latvia served in the Soviet Latvian Aviation Regiment -- Ernests Jakobsons, K. Kalnins, P. Sprogis, and others.
Having had long, frank discussions with veterans of both sides, it seems to me that they all could meet over vodka or beer and together reminisce about the bloody battles, not reproaching each other about the alien flag each fought under. It was a tragedy for both sides. Old front-line fighters understand each other, as long as they are not fanatics, but ordinary men.
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Jews in the Soviet army' s Latvian divisions were in an unusual position. The second in command of the 121st Guard Riflemen's Regiment and later commander of the 123rd Guard Riflemen's Regiment was a Jew, Colonel Perlovsky. Captain Joseph Pasternak, a Jew, fought side-by-side with Captain Ernests Veiss.
Jewish soldiers could be divided into two groups. There were those who had been communist sympathizers before the war, such as Zaiman Eidus, Juri Vaters, and M. Vulfson. They were completely convinced that they were fighting for an absolutely just cause, not just against fascism, but also for Soviet power. Others, probably the majority, fought against the Germans as the greater of two evils. On the German side only one fate awaited them and their families -- certain death, while Stalin's empire as of June 22,1941, had the same goal as democratic England and America, that of defeating the Nazis. The Soviet regime was abhorrent to these Jews. Many had relatives and friends who had been sent to the slave camps in Siberia. They conversed among themselves in Yiddish, and members of the banned Zionist organizations also spoke in Hebrew, in whispers, so others would not understand their longing for their true fatherland, Eretz Israel. In 1945 and 1946 some of the Latvian Corps soldiers tried to illegally cross the border, to make their way despite the British blockade to Palestine, through Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy. Starting in the period 1969-1971, others emigrated to Israel with their children and grandchildren, and the Soviets have "for all time" erased their names, including those of decorated heroes, from all history books, rolls of honor, etc. One of the bravest soldiers in the Latvian Corps was a scout. Sergeant Datel, a Jew from Kurland. His son Michael Datel, who emigrated from Riga to Israel in 1971, met a hero's death in October 1973, defending not just his people, but also his independent country, his fatherland, Israel.