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Books : History : Europe : Latvia
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The “spellbinding” (The New York Times) true story of a Jewish boy who became the darling of the Nazis
When a Nazi death squad massacred his mother and fellow villagers, five-year-old Alex Kurzem escaped, hiding in the freezing Russian forest until he was picked up by a group of Latvian SS soldiers. Alex was able to hide his Jewish identity and win over the soldiers, becoming their mascot and an honorary “corporal” in the SS with his own uniform. But what began as a desperate bid for survival became a performance that delighted the highest ranks of the Nazi elite. And so a young Jewish boy ended up starring in a Nazi propaganda film.
After sixty-three years of silence, Alex revealed his terrible secret to his son Mark. With his son’s help, Alex retraced his past in search of answers and vindication. His story is at once a terrifying account of survival and its psychological cost as well as a brutally honest examination of identity, complicity, and memory.
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Battle in the Baltics 1944 - 1945 is an exclusive insight into the last frantic months of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1944 - 1945. From mid-August 1944 there was nothing but a drum-beat of defeats for the German Army as it fought to the grim death to try and hold back the overwhelming might of the Russians from reaching the borders of the Reich. It was in the Baltic`s where Army Group North played a decisive role in trying to stem the rout and preventing the fragile lines from finally being smashed to pieces. Drawing on a host of rare and unpublished photographs accompanied by in-depth captions, the book provides a revealing insight into the last desperate months of the war. It reveals in detail how the remnants of Army Group North were driven back across a scarred and devastated wasteland to the borders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, East Prussia and Pomerania. What followed was the Battle of the Baltic`s where exhausted and undermanned German forces fought to almost near extinction against the constant hammer blows of Soviet ground and aerial bombardments. Everywhere disintegrating German forces tried to cling onto vital ground. Eventually after many precious German Panzer and infantry divisions were encircled and annihilated the remnants of Hitler`s once vaunted force was pushed back through the Baltic states into East Prussia, and then fought to the death in the last few small pockets of land surrounding three ports: Libau in Kurland, Pillau in East Prussia and Danzig at the mouth of the River Vistula. It was here that the final battle of the Baltic`s would take place where German troops were ordered to `stand and fight` and wage an unprecedented battle of attrition.
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This is the first English-language volume that brings the history of Latvia to the threshold of the twenty-first century. Until the reestablishment of Latvian independence in 1991, Stoviet dominance served for nearly fifty years to hinder publication of any complete and objective historical record of the region. Plakans now places the evolution and formation of the Latvian nation in a balanced, historical framework that stretches from the early medieval period to the present. Particular emphasis is given to the period between the Latvian "national awakening" of 1816—1819 and the emergence of an independent Latvia in 1918. From this point forward, the book extensively chronicles an evolving Latvian state structure, provides an appendix that summarizes all changes and important officeholders, and explains the current systems of political parties. This post perestroika historical narrative should contribute significantly to assessing the likely hood of Latvia's survival as an independent republic.
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The A to Z of Latvia details the changes the country has undergone since the liberation of the country from the U.S.S.R. and tells the turbulent history of Latvia through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, an appendix, and several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, and events.
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Covering the horrors that took place in Latvia from the beginning of the Second World War until 1947, this book focuses on the heart of the 20th century: Stalinist industrialization, collectivization and political annihilation; Nazi expansionism and genocide; with local nationalism, local nationalist rivalries, and local anti-Semitism. The author traces the developments in one particular region of Latvia, Daugavpils. There, the dilemma of Hitler or Stalin, the ideological struggle of fascism or communism was more acute than anywhere else in Europe since the population was actively involved in establishing both.
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This is a stirring and haunting personal account of the Soviet and German occupations of Latvia and of the Holocaust. Michelson had a serene boyhood in an upper middle-class Jewish family in Riga, Latvia Chr(45) at least until 1940, when the fifteen-year old Michelson witnessed the annexation of Latvia by the Soviet Union. Private properties were nationalised, and Stalin's terror spread to Soviet Latvia. Soon after, Michelson's family was torn apart by the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. He quickly lost his entire family, while witnessing the unspeakable brutalities of war and genocide. Michelson's memoir is an ode to his lost family.
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Witnesses to rape, torture, and executions, Agate Nesaule and her family survived against all odds in World War II Europe to emmigrate to America where Agate could receive the education her mother had always dreamed of. But the trauma of war was not so easily buried. For years she has been secretly tormented by memories. Now, in this 1995 American Book Award winner, she finally tells her powerful story.
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In this timely book, Anatol Lieven presents an intimate and engaging portrait of the history and culture of the Baltic states from their ancient origins to their contemporary status. He explores the culture and personality of the Baltic peoples, their religious and racial differences, their relations with Russia and with the West. Drawing on a wide range of sources including interviews, newspaper accounts, and his own observations, he describes and analyzes the rise of national movements in each of the three countries after Glastnost and the possibilities for democracy and Europeanization or for ethnic conflict and nationalist dictatorship.
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Following the conquest of his native Latvia by the Nazis, the author was given the stark choice: service in the SS or forced labor in a slave camp. So he 'volunteered' to fight for the Nazis. He describes his training and how he became an instructor before being sent into Russia. He nearly perished during the terrible winter of 1943-44 being wounded and finding himself with his friend lying dead on top of him. As the tide turned and the Russians advanced remorselessly through. He was wounded twice more and awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.With German resistance collapsing, the author had to flee for his life - capture by the Russians meant almost certain death. He surrendered to the Americans but describes the neglect he suffered at their hands. Unable to return to Latvia now occupied by the Russians, he became a Displaced Person eventually settling in the UK.
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Are you online and ready for global smart card and database genealogy for virtual travelers? Here’s how to search family history for nations bordering the Baltic Sea, the Balkans countries, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.The nations listed in this guide (all faiths) include Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Armenia, Assyria, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, and many other lands in the Middle East, the Balkans—Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Eastern Europe—Hungary, and more.
Collecting details about people is moving toward smart card technology and its offspring. The new wave in genealogy is authentication technology. Authentication begins with new-wave technology used to gather population registers.
Compare the new technology to the old method of door-to-door census taking, tombstone tracings, and city directory publishing. No, genealogists are not using smart cards this year, but smart card technology is being used to compile population registers in Europe.
The future holds a new wave of technology used for authentication for banking transactions being applied to other areas. Currently this technology is used for collecting details for population registrars such as census taking.
The application for research is of interest to family historians, librarians, and governments. It’s already in use by private industry for electronic authentication.
Family history is now about intelligent connections, whether it’s a population registrar, census detail, or electronic identity for banking. Smart card genealogy began in 1998 in Finland with governments seeking to put census and population registers in an electronic form that would be available to researchers, and these applications are going global.
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The Baltic states--Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania--are nestled in northeastern Europe, where they lie at a crossroad of European culture. This is the most recent and up-to-date narrative history of the Baltic states, providing readers with an ideal starting point for research on the area. It includes a timeline of major events, biographic sketches of noteworthy historical figures, a glossary, and a bibliographic essay.
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What do we know about Latvia and the Latvians? A Baltic (not Balkan) nation that emerged from fifty years under the Soviet Union - interrupted by a brief but brutal Nazi-German occupation and a devastating war - now a member of the European Union and NATO. Yes, but what else? Relentless accusations keep appearing, especially in Russian media, often repeated in the West: "Latvian soldiers single-handedly saved Lenin's revolution in 1917", "Latvians killed Tsar Nikolai II and the Royal family", "Latvia was a thoroughly anti-Semitic country and Latvians started killing Jews even before the Germans arrived in 1941", "Nazi revival is rampant in today's Latvia", "The Russian minority is persecuted in Latvia. . ." True, false or in-between? The Finnish journalist and author Jukka Rislakki examines charges like these and provides an outline of Latvia's recent history while attempting to separate documented historical fact from misinformation and deliberate disinformation. His analysis helps to explain why the Baltic States (population 7 million) consistently top the enemy lists in public opinion polls of Russia (143 million). His knowledge of the Baltic languages allows him to make use of local sources and up-to-date historical research. He is a former Baltic States correspondent for Finland's largest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and the author of several books on Finnish and Latvian history. As a neutral, experienced and often critical observer, Rislakki is uniquely qualified for the task of separating truth from fiction. Contents Prologue Misinformation, disinformation? Questions and Answers 1. Are minorities, especially the Russians, discriminated against in Latvia? Is it very difficult for them to become citizens? Do they have political rights? 2. Are the Russians denied the right to use their language in Latvian society and in the schools? 3. Were the Baltic lands a small, underdeveloped province in a far corner of Europe, to which Germans, Swedes, Poles, and Russians brought religion, culture, and well-being and where no prerequisites for independence existed? 4. Did Latvia Reds help Lenin seize power in Russia? Did they help murder the Russian royal family? 5. Was Latvia granted independence as a present? Was the war of Independence an exaggerated myth? Was it a series of monor skirmishes that the Latvians were able to win with foreign help? 6. Why did the Latvians not resist the Soviet army's taking over their country in 1940? Did the people carry out an anti-bourgeois, anti-fascist revolution, after which Latvia joined the legally, by means of elections? 7. Did Latvians murder their Jews in 1941? How anti-Semitic is and was Latvia? 8. Why did tens of thousands of Latvian volunteers fight in the SS troops, and why are SS veterans still allowed to march on the streets of Riga instead of being brought to justice? 9. Did the Soviet Union occupy Latvia? Were the Latvians victims of genocide? 10. Did the Latvians succumb to Soviet power, cooperate with the Communist authorities, and start their independence movement only after the Lithuanians and Estonians had begun theirs? 11. Has Lativia always belonged to Russia and benefited from it? Is it a strategically indispensable area for Russia? 12. Shouldn't Latvia be grateful for factories, houses, schools, roads, and harbors built during the Soviet era? Shouldn't she pay compensation as well? 13. Has Latvia been unwilling to establish good relations with neighboring Russia? Does Latvia champion an intransigent, hostile line toward Russia in the European Union, and did she decline a border agreement with Russia? Does she demand that Russia hand over some border areas to her? 14. Have the new leaders of Latvia privatized state property for their own use and are they guilty of massive corruption while the majority of the people live in poverty? Acknowledgements: How and Why This Book came to Be? Basic Facts about Latvia Notes Bibliography Index
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Valdis Lumans provides an authoritative, balanced, and comprehensive account of one of the most complex, and conflicted, arenas of the Second World War.Struggling against both Germany and the Soviet Union, Latvia emerged as an independent nation state after the First World War. In 1940, the Soviets occupied neutral Latvia, deporting or executing more than 30,000 Latvians before the Nazis invaded in 1941 and installed a puppet regime. The Red Army expelled the Germans in 1944 and reincorporated Latvia as a Soviet Republic. By the end of the war, an estimated 180,000 Latvians fled to the West. The Soviets would deport at least another 100,000.
Drawing on a wide range of sources—many brought together here for the first time—Lumans synthesizes political, military, social, economic, diplomatic, and cultural history. He moves carefully through traditional sources, many of them partisan, to scholarship emerging since the end of the Cold War, to confront such issues as political loyalties, military collaboration, resistance, capitulation, the Soviet occupation, anti-Semitism, and the Latvian role in the Holocaust.
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Fire Burn is based on diaries kept during World War II by a single, young professional woman, Irene Zarina White. From September 1939 through May 1946 Irene lived under four different governments: the Republic of Latvia, the Soviet Union, Nazi Ger
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The original forced conversion of pagan Livonia, what is now the Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia, was carried out by a military order known as the Brethren of the Sword. In 1236 this order was incorporated into the Teutonic Knights following a catastrophic military defeat. The knights had always consolidated their conquests through networks of castles and fortified places, and the Livonian Chapter of the Teutonic Order built castles of stone. This title covers the developmental and operational history of these fortresses over the length of the Middle Ages. It details how the Baltic fortifications of the Teutonic Knights evolved to reflect the changing nature of siege warfare and the increasing dominance of gunpowder in warfare.
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Nationalism and Democratic Transition: The Politics of Citizenship and Language in Post-Soviet Latvia explores the impact of nationalism during Latvia's transition from communist rule (1988-1991) and examines the post-Soviet efforts of Latvia to construct a democratic nation-state in a multi-ethnic context. While most observers have labeled Latvia as a typical example of a state promoting an exclusive form of ethnic nationalism, the author argues that Latvia's path to independence was characterized by a moderate, non-violent form of nationalism which sought to include non-Latvian groups in the struggle against Soviet rule.
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How do women artists in Russia, Estonia and Latvia view themselves in the post-Soviet era? What is their relationship to feminism and how has that relationship changed following the fall of the Soviet regime? Having conducted over 60 interviews between 1995 and 1998, Renee and Matthew Baigell explore in this volume these women's difficulties of pursuing an art career in a male-dominated society, and the attitudes of their male counterparts toward feminist concerns. The artists interviewed - some born as early as the 1920s, others as recently as the 1970s - discuss their private lives and situations, as well as specific works of art. They reveal a wide range of attitudes and a complex relationship with a feminist movement often regarded as an alien import from the West. Gender issues in art school, parental attitudes toward the prospect of their daughters becoming artists, the demands and strains of career and family life, and questions regarding a female approach to imagery are among the topics raised, as are these artists' hopes and dreams for the future. This book also includes a brief chronology of pertinent art exhibitions during the 1990s.
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Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
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In the course of World War II, the Republic of Latvia was occupied and annexed by the USSR in June of 1940. A year of sovietization was followed by four years of another occupation (1944-1945)- this time by the army of Hitler's Third Reich. After Germany's defeat, the Soviet occupation returned, lasting for the next forty-five years. The book is a documentary history of the presence of these two totalitarian "great powers" on Latvia's soil, the administrations they created, the policies they implemented, and the institutions of control they developed. Containing some previously published documents (mostly concerning the German occupation), the bulk of the collection consists of the English-language translations of documents from the much longer Soviet period. The latter ended up in the national archives of Latvia after the collapse of the USSR and the renewal of Latvian independence. A particularly noteworthy component of the Soviet-era documents are the internal reports (often marked "top secret") of the Soviet-era Latvian KGB, the internal memoranda of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party, and the correspondence between the Latvian Party and its Moscow superiors. The subjects covered include the behavior of the Soviet army on Latvian soil, the sovietization of the Latvian economy, control over churches, punishment of dissidents, dealing with the Latvian émigré community, the treatment of the so-called "national communists," and the successful drive for independence from 1987 onward.