Kārlis Prauls (May 2, 1895 – January 30, 1941) was a Latvian general, and from 1930 to 1940 a commander in the Aizsargi home guard.

Biography

Prauls was born in Lielstraupe parish in Vidzeme.''Prominent people in Jelgava municipality''
In 1915, he volunteered for service in the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

army, graduated from

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

school,Newspaper "Iekšlietu Ministrijas Vēstnesis
''Par aizsargu priekšnieku''
(22.06.30.) and subsequently served with the Latvian riflemen units. When the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

broke out, Prauls joined the Latvian army. After the war he remained in military service with the 3rd Jelgava's infantry regiment as

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

commander, later responsible for the regiment's logistics. In 1930 he was appointed to the post of commander in the Aizsargi home guard. In 1936, he completed officers' training and was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. He subsequently attended and graduated from Latvia's War School and in 1939 was appointed to the rank of general. The Aizsargi were disbanded following the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed i ...

. Prauls was arrested on 19 September; sentenced to death on 20 December; and executed on 30 January 1941 in Ulbroka, outside Rīga. His remains were reinterred on 3 May 1994 at the Riga Forest Cemetery.

References

1895 births 1941 deaths People from Cēsis Municipality People from Valmiera county Latvian generals Military personnel of the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of World War I Latvian Riflemen Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Executed military leaders Latvian people executed by the Soviet Union Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga {{Europe-mil-bio-stub