Secrets of June 22: atrocities of the Latvians in Belarus. Chapter XIV

When in modern Latvia the participants of so-called fight against “Soviet invaders” are extolled in every possible way, when in modern Latvia openly passing their marches and when modern Europe closes the eyes on all these, so know this is the NAZISM.

From the memoirs of the officer on special instructions of a staff of the Russian Liberation Army lieutenant V. Baltinsh:

“In 1943 the gradual mobilization of the Latvians began for replenishment of much thinned voluntary Latvian parts. The general Bangerskis was put by the Germans as the head of Latvian SS.

At the end of 1943 I was sent by one Latvian establishment to Russia - to the former Vitebsk province. A lot of things were seen by me, a lot of things were learned according to inhabitants of villages of Knyazevo (Krasnoe), Barsuki, Rozalino, etc. When the German parts, occupying these villages and quite tolerantly belonging to population, left, the parts of the Latvian SS came to change. And at once the terrible causeless terror began. Inhabitants were compelled to run up to the woods at night and to hide there as wild animals.

In 1944 I arrived to Morochkovo village. All it was burned. In cellars of huts the Latvian SS-men settled down. In day of my arrival the again arrived German part had to replace them, but after all I managed to talk in Latvian to several SS-men. I asked one of them: “Why the unburied corpses of women, old men and children lay round the village - one hundred corpses and also the killed horses?” The strong putrid smell was in the air. The answer was as follows: “We killed them to destroy the Russians as much as possible”. After that he brought me to the burned-down hut. Some burned bodies lay also there which have been semi-filled up with straw and ashes. “And these, he told, we burned alive …”

When this Latvian part left, it took some Russian women as concubines. They had to wash clothes to soldiers, to heat baths, to clean rooms, etc. After leaving of this part by means of several people I dug up the straw and ashes in the burned-down hut and took semi-burned corpses from there. They were 7, all were female and the wire beaten by other end to a slip-up of a door was attached to a foot of every woman. How many torments had unfortunate before they died!

We removed a wire from the stiffened burned feet, dug seven graves and buried unfortunate, having read “Our Father” and having sung “Eternal memory”. The German lieutenant met us. He got nails, boards, sent for the aid to us some soldier, and we, having built seven orthodox crosses, set up them over graves, having written on everyone: “The unknown Russian woman”.

Next day we passed the small river and found near it some escaped wooden huts and inhabitants. At the sight of us the last were frightened, but we managed to calm them quickly. We showed them seven fresh crosses and told what saw and made. Peasants bitterly sobbed and told what they had to endure about staying the Latvian SS-men there.

In May near Kobynniki village in one of hollows I saw about three thousand bodies of the shot peasants, mainly women and children. The escaped inhabitants told that the people who were speaking the Russian, wearing the German uniform and red-white-red tags on the left sleeve - the Latvian SS-men were engaged in executions.

I don't remember the name of the village in which my attention was attracted by the cloud of flies turned over a wooden barrel. Having glanced in a barrel, I saw the cut-off man's heads in it. Some were with moustaches and beards. Round the village we found many corpses of the shot peasants.

After conversation with the escaped inhabitants, there were no doubts that the Latvian SS-men operated too who have shown the “courage and fearlessness” in punishments over the defenseless population. All other, created by them, seems insignificant in comparison with that terrible barrel and the women burned alive in a hut.

It was necessary to encounter the same facts in the Pskov province from Estonian SS-men. It isn't surprising that all man's population went to the woods - in guerrillas to show at least the secret resistance to similar groups, without having been able to cope with them some other way.

In Riga on Moscow vorstadt the Hitlerites created the Jewish ghetto, protection and management of which were also assigned to the Latvians. You shouldn't extend about atrocities which were done there.

The general Bangerskis received for “brave actions” of the Latvian SS parts from Hitler a rank of the lieutenant general and the German iron cross.

In 1945 after the end of war some thousand Russian members of Vlasov and also general Vlasov and generals P. N. Krasnov, Shkuro, A.A.Malyshkin, V.F.Zhilenkov, G. N. Trukhin, F.I.Zakutny, D E. Blagoveshchensk, etc. were given violently out to Bolsheviks by English command, but any Latvian SS-man wasn't given out to Bolsheviks. In reply to excesses of the Latvian and Estonian SS-men in the Russian territory the general Vlasov told in editorial office of the Riga newspaper “Today”: “The people who want the independence, have to deserve it first of all and then ask about it …” - from memoirs of the officer on special instructions of a staff of the Russian Liberation Army lieutenant V. Baltinsh

Reichsfuhrer's SS telegram

Favourite gruppenfuhrer Bangerskis!

In new year I send you and all Latvian wars the warm wishes. Especially I thought about sufferings and hard fate of the Latvian people. To change this destiny in the general aspirations is our task.
Hayl Hitler!

Your G. Ghimler.
(it was sent on January 13, 1945)

In the territory of Belarus the following Latvian formations operated from 1941 to 1944: 15th SS division, 2nd and 3rd police regiments, 1st boundary regiment, 26 battalions “noise” (15, 17, 18, 24–26, 208, 231, 266 “Е”, 268, 271, 273, 276-282, 313, 316, 317, 432, 546, 860) and 1 motorcycle and shooting platoon.