Gustavs Celmiņš (April 1, 1899 – April 10, 1968) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n politician, who was the founder of the

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

, anti-German,

anti-Slavic Anti-Slavic sentiment, also called Slavophobia, refers to prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination directed at the various Slavic peoples. Accompanying racism and xenophobia, the most common manifestation of anti-Slavic sentiment througho ...

, and

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

political party

Pērkonkrusts Pērkonkrusts (, "Thunder Cross") was a Latvian ultranationalist, Anti-German sentiment, anti-German, anti-Slavic, and antisemitic political party founded in 1933 by Gustavs Celmiņš, borrowing elements of German nationalism—but being unsym ...

Biography

He was educated at the commerce school of the

Riga Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Riga, formerly Riga Stock Exchange, is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by Nasdaq, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Established ...

, and graduated in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 1917, he began studies at the

Riga Polytechnical Institute Riga Technical University (RTU) () is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as Riga Polytechnical Institute and Riga Polytechnicum. In 19 ...

which had been evacuated to Moscow. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, he returned to Latvia. In 1918, Celmiņš enlisted into the newly created

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces () together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. From 2007 to 2024, the Land Forces were organized as a fully professional standing army until the re-introduct ...

, and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

the following year, and was then appointed Latvian

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In 1921, he was awarded the

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, ), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during the Latvian War of Independ ...

. Retired from army in 1924, he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1925 to 1927. Celmiņš became the secretary of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and subsequently worked in the Finance Ministry. On 24 January 1932, the Latvian

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

group ' was founded, and Gustavs Celmiņš was elected as its leader. After ''Ugunskrusts'' was banned, he founded the ultranationalistic organization ''

''. Common for both organisations was that they advocated a national revolution for a radical re-organisation of society, politics, and the economy in Latvia. Following the

1934 Latvian coup d'état The 1934 Latvian coup d'état () known in Latvia also as the 15 May Coup (''15. maija apvērsums'') or Ulmanis' Coup (''Ulmaņa apvērsums''), was a self-coup by the veteran Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis against the parliamentary system in Lat ...

, Celmiņš was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He was exiled from Latvia in 1937. Celmiņš moved to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, then

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. While in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, he was arrested and then banished from Switzerland. He later lived in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, where he had contacts with the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

, and then moved to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In 1938, he became the leader of ''Pērkonkrusts "foreign contacts office". After the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

invaded Finland, Celmiņš enrolled as a volunteer on the Finnish side. When the conflict ended, he moved to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. In July 1941, after

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, together with

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

officials, Celmiņš returned to Latvia and briefly regained leadership of ''Pērkonkrusts''. After the German occupation authorities banned ''Pērkonkrusts'' a month later, Celmiņš continued his outward collaboration with the Germans in the hopes that sizable Latvian military formations would be created. From February 1942, he headed the Committee for Organising Latvian Volunteers (), the main function of which was the recruitment of Latvian men for the Latvian Auxiliary Police Battalions, known in German as ''Schutzmannschaften'' or simply ''Schuma''. Aside from front-line combat duties, some of these battalions were also deployed in anti-partisan operations in Latvia and Belarus that included the massacres of rural Jews and other civilians. This situation was not what Celmiņš had hoped for, and so he began to sabotage the recruitment efforts. Because of this, he was later transferred to a job as a minor clerk within the occupation administration. ''Pērkonkrusts'' members working within the SD apparatus in occupied Latvia would feed Celmiņš information, some of which he would include in his underground, anti-German publication ''

Brīvā Latvija ''Brīvā Latvija'' (Free Latvia; ) is a weekly newspaper for Latvians living outside Latvia, aimed mainly at those residing in western Europe. It was founded in 1986 through the merger of two émigré newspapers: the UK-based ''Londonas Avīz ...

''. This eventually led to Celmiņš and his associates being arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in 1944, with Celmiņš ending up imprisoned in

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

. In late April 1945, he was, together with other prominent concentration camp inmates, transferred to Tyrol where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on 5 May 1945. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he lived in Italy, where he published the newspaper ''Brīvā Latvija''. In 1947, he published the autobiographic book ''Eiropas krustceļos'' ("At the Crossroads of Europe"). In 1949, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. From 1950 to 1952 he was an instructor at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

's Armed Forces school in New York state, and beginning in 1951 he was also the director of the Foreign Language program for the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and a television lecturer about the USSR and communism. From 1954 to 1956 he worked as a manufacturer in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Between 1956 and 1958 he was a librarian at Trinity University in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. In 1959 he became a professor of

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 ...

studies at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. He died on April 10, 1968, in San Antonio, Texas.Celmiņš, Gustavs (01.04.1899.-10.04.1968.)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Celmins, Gustavs 1899 births 1968 deaths Politicians from Riga People from Riga county Latvian collaborators with Nazi Germany Latvian fascists 20th-century Latvian politicians Fascist politicians Latvian dissidents Latvian military officers Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Volunteers in the Winter War World War II resistance press activists Flossenbürg concentration camp survivors People deported from Latvia Prisoners and detainees of Latvia Latvian expatriates in Finland Latvian emigrants to the United States Latvian exiles St. Mary's University, Texas faculty Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class Nazis who fled to the United States

Biography

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