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Rūdolfs Gaitars
Rūdolfs Gaitars (29 May 1907 – 22 March 1945) was a Waffen-Obersturmführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was the first Latvian to be awarded the German Cross in Gold. Pre-War Life Gaitars was born on 29 May 1907 in Penkule Parish, Semigallia. Before the war he worked as school administrator in a local Penkule primary school. In the Second World War He was dismissed from his school post in September 1940, following the Soviet occupation of Latvia. He then served in the Latvian army and reached the rank of warrant officer. During the Soviet mass deportations on 14 June 1941 Gaitars was on the deportee list, but hid in a forest. His family was sent to Siberia. After Operation Barbarossa started in June 1941, Gaitars organised armed units in Penkule. Together with ex-members of the Aizsargi (home guard) he set up checkpoints on roads and arrested Soviet activists and politicians. Gaitars became Commandant of the Penkule parish. In May 1942 he enlisted in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penkule Parish
Penkule Parish ( lv, Penkules pagasts) is an administrative unit of Dobele Municipality, Latvia. Towns, villages and settlements of Penkule Parish *Penkule Penkule is a village in Penkule Parish and Dobele Municipality in the historical region of Zemgale, and the Zemgale Planning Region in Latvia. Dobele Municipality Towns and villages in Latvia {{Zemgale-geo-stub ... * Baldonas * Ezeriņi * Skujaine References Dobele Municipality Parishes of Latvia {{Zemgale-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semigallia
Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tribe. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians. Name The name of Semigallia appears in sources such as ''Seimgala'', ''Zimgola'' and ''Sem'' 'e'''gallen''. The -gal element means "border" or "end", while the first syllable corresponds to ''ziem'' ("north"). So the Semigallians were the "people of the northern borderlands" i.e. the lower parts of the Mūša and Lielupe river valleys. Territory 1st - 4th centuries Between the 1st and the 4th century the cultural area of Semigallia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Company (military Unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure. Usually several companies are grouped as a battalion or regiment, the latter of which is sometimes formed by several battalions. Occasionally, ''independent'' or ''separate'' companies are organized for special purposes, such as the 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company or the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company. These companies are not organic to a battalion or regiment, but rather report directly to a higher level organization such as a Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters (i.e., a corps-level command). Historical background The modern military company became popularized during the reorganization of the Swedish Army in 1631 under King Gustav II Adolph. For administrative purposes, the infantry was divided into companies consist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Untersturmführer
(, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of ''Sturmführer'' which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921. The rank of ''Untersturmführer'' was senior to ''Hauptscharführer'' (or '' Sturmscharführer'' in the Waffen-SS) and junior to the rank of ''Obersturmführer''. Overview ''Untersturmführer'' was the first commissioned SS officer rank, equivalent to a second lieutenant in other military organizations. The insignia consisted of a three silver pip collar patch with the shoulder boards of an army lieutenant. Because of the emphasis the SS placed on the leadership of their organization, obtaining the rank of ''Untersturmführer'' required a screening and training process different from the standard promotion system in the enlisted ranks. In the early days of the SS, promotion to ''Untersturmführer'' was simply a matter of course as an SS ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Latvian SS Infantry Brigade
The 2nd SS Infantry Brigade (mot.) was formed on the 15 May 1941, under the command of Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld with the 4th and 5th SS Infantry (formerly ''Totenkopf'') Regiments and began its operational service in September in the Army Group North Rear Area, under which command it would spend its entire existence. It gradually began to incorporate foreign legions of the SS under its operational control. After the western legions departed for refit, it began operating with Latvian volunteer formations and eventually was redesignated the 2nd Latvian SS Infantry Brigade and on the 18 May 1943, and used as the cadre in the formation of the Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) in January 1944. Operational history The 2 SS Infantry Brigade was raised on 15 May 1941 and was placed under the command of Army Group North Rear Area for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Prior to this, the role that the unit would undertake during the assault was discussed in a meeting betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pulkovo Observatory
The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (russian: Пулковская астрономическая обсерватория, Pulkovskaya astronomicheskaya observatoriya), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, is the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is located 19 km south of Saint Petersburg on Pulkovo Heights above sea level. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. It was formerly known as the Imperial Observatory at Pulkowo. Early years The observatory was opened in 1839. Originally, it was a brainchild of the German/Russian astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, who would become its first director (in 1861, his son Otto Wilhelm von Struve succeeded him). The architect was Alexander Bryullov. The observatory was equipped with state-of-the-art devices, one of them being the a aperture ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front (russian: Ленинградский фронт) was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front The Karelian Front russian: Карельский фронт) was a front (a formation of Army Group size) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia. Wartime The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when ... on August 27, 1941. History The Leningrad Front was immediately given the task of containing the German drive towards Leningrad and defending the city from the approaching Army Group North. By September 1941, German forces to the south were effectively stopped on the outskirts of Leningrad, initiating the two-and-a-half-year-long siege of Leningrad. Although Finnish Army, Finnish forces to the north stopped at the old Finnish–Soviet border, the Leningrad front suffered severe losses on the Continuation War, F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvian Police Battalions
Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvian culture **Latvian horse *Latvian Gambit, an opening in chess See also *Latvia (other) Latvia is a country in Europe. Latvia can also refer to: *Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1990) *Latvia (European Parliament constituency) * 1284 Latvia - asteroid * Latvia Peak - mountain in Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, То ... * {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aizsargi
Aizsargi (literally: "Defenders", "Guards") was a volunteer paramilitary organization or militia ( lv, Aizsargu organizācija, "Guards Organization", AO) in Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ... during the Interwar period, interbellum period (1918–1939). The Aizsargi was created on March 30, 1919, by the Latvian Provisional Government as a self-defense force, a kind of National Guard, during the Latvian War of Independence. In 1921 it was reorganized to follow the example of the Finnish ''White Guard (Finland), Suojeluskunta'' (known as the "White Guard"). The Aizsargi published a newspaper, entitled ("Defender"/"Guard"), and the movement had subsidiary sections for women ("") and youth (""). The organization was among those which militarily supported the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after Frederick Barbarossa ("red beard"), a 12th-century Holy Roman emperor and German king, put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goal of conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it with Germans. The German aimed to use some of the conquered people as forced labour for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the Caucasus as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories. Their ultimate goal was to create more (living space) for Germany, and the eventual extermination of the indigenous Slavic peoples by mass deportation to Siberia, Germanisation, enslavement, and genocide. In the two years leading up to the invasion, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic pacts for st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of Russia since the latter half of the 16th century, after the Russians conquered lands east of the Ural Mountains. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over , but home to merely one-fifth of Russia's population. Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Omsk are the largest cities in the region. Because Siberia is a geographic and historic region and not a political entity, there is no single precise definition of its territorial borders. Traditionally, Siberia extends eastwards from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and includes most of the drainage basin of the Arctic Ocean. The river Yenisey divides Siberia into two parts, Western and Eastern. Siberia stretches southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Deportation
The June deportation ( et, juuniküüditamine, lv, jūnija deportācijas, lt, birželio trėmimai) was a Population transfer in the Soviet Union, mass deportation by the Soviet Union of tens of thousands of people from the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940), territories occupied in 1940–1941: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, occupied Poland (mostly present-day West Belarus, western Belarus and western Ukraine), and Soviet deportations from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina#1941, Moldavia. This mass deportation was organized following the guidelines set by the NKVD with the USSR Interior People's Commissar Lavrentiy Beria as the senior executor. The official name of the top secret operation was “Resolution On the Eviction of the Socially Foreign Elements from the Baltic Republics, Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and Moldova”. The Soviet police, called "''militsya''", carried out the arrests with the collaboration of lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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