Kārlis Lobe
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Kārlis Lobe (26 March 1895 – 9 July 1985) was a Latvian officer in the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
, Latvian Army and the Latvian Legion, recipient of the
Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...
.


Biography

Kārlis Lobe was born in "Janēni" homestead in
Jaunpiebalga parish Jaunpiebalga Parish ( lv, Jaunpiebalgas pagasts) is an administrative unit of Cēsis Municipality in the Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvi ...
, Cēsis district. He graduated the Piebalga congregation school, and in 1914 an agricultural school in the vicinity of
Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...
.


World War I

In 1916 he graduated from military academy and joined the 2. Riga Latvian Riflemen Regiment, where he commanded a company in the Christmas Battles of 1916/1917. In 1918, after the October Revolution, Lobe joined the Army of Kolchak, and later commanded the Latvian Imanta Regiment founded in Vladivostok, with which he intended to return to Latvia to join the War of Independence.


Latvian Army

Lobe returned to
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
in 1920 and joined the Latvian Army. From 1921 he was a lecturer at the Military academy, at the rank of a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. In 1932 Lobe graduated from the Higher Military Academy courses, and in 1935 was placed in command of the 12. Bauska Infantry Regiment of the 4. Zemgale Infantry Division. In April 1938 he was transferred to the Military academy. In 1939 he was promoted to
lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
and appointed at chief of staff of 2. Ventspils Infantry Regiment of the 1. Kurzeme Infantry Division. During the year of Soviet occupation Lobe escaped repression and deportations. Lobe married his wife Milda (b. 13 February 1898 in Latvia) on 22 May 1922. She died on 31 May 1985, at Österhaninge south of Stockholm, Sweden.


World War II

After the German invasion of the USSR Lobe became the commander of the Ventspils self-defence force. There is conflicting information regarding Lobe's participation in the Holocaust, as of now his involvement is yet to be definitively proven.http://www.president.lv/images/modules/items/PDF/item_1641_Vesturnieku_komisijas_raksti_18_sejums.pdf (Page 124) At the end of 1941 Lobe was appointed head of the Latvian self-defence force. Later he was involved in anti-partisan operations against Soviet guerillas in Eastern Latvia and Belarus with the
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 **Latvi ...
. In spring of 1943 Lobe became commander of the 2. (Imanta) Infantry Regiment of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS on the Volkhov Front. In 1944 Lobe was awarded the rank of colonel and commander of the infantry of the entire Division, participating in fighting in the
Opochka Opochka (russian: Опо́чка) is a town and the administrative center of Opochetsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Velikaya River, south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ; 9,902 (2019 estimat ...
district and in Vidzeme. At the end of 1944 he was appointed as commander of Latvian construction battalion in Germany, but due to his Latvian nationalistic views was relieved of this command and placed before a German military tribunal. At the end of the war Lobe was interned in British zone of occupation for the period of a year.


Post-war

After the war, Lobe actively participated in the commune of Latvians in exile in Germany, such as the Hawks of Daugava organization. He continued this involvement after moving to
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1950. From 1954 until his death, Lobe was employed at the
Military Archives of Sweden The Military Archives of Sweden ( sv, Krigsarkivet) is the part of the National Archives of Sweden that keeps archives related to agencies that answer to the Ministry of Defence. The Military Archives were established in 1805 and contain listin ...
. He was an active participant in the Central Council of Latvians in Sweden. In 1970, Lobe unsuccessfully tried to sue the Swedish newspapers
Ny Dag ''Ny Dag'' ("New Day") was a Swedish communist newspaper and the main publication of the Communist Party of Sweden (later renamed 'Left Party – Communists') from 2 January 1930 to 5 August 1990, when publication stopped. ''Ny Dag'' was started ...
and Kvällsposten, after articles about his past as a Holocaust perpetrator and Nazi collaborator had been published in the newspapers. He died on 9 July 1985 in Österhaninge, south of Stockholm, Sweden. Karlis Lobe married his wife Milda on 22 May 1922. She was born on 13 February 1898 and died on 31 May 1985 at Österhaninge, south of Stockholm, after 63 years of marriage.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobe, Karlis 1895 births 1985 deaths People from Cēsis Municipality People from Kreis Wenden Imperial Russian Army officers Latvian military officers SS officers Latvian Riflemen Russian military personnel of World War I White movement people Latvian Waffen-SS personnel Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars Recipients of the Gold German Cross