Latvia Under German Occupation in 1943Latvian Legation, 1944

Morale

All refugees who have recently arrived from Latvia are of the unanimous opinion that the attitude of the population toward the Germans and the authorities of occupation is one of opposition, and even inimical and one of hate. This is the way a young seaman expressed it:

“The general attitude now is quite different to that existing in the summer of 1941. Most of us then believed that the Germans actually did want to help us free ourselves from the Russian barbarians. We also believed that the Germans would restore our liberty and independence. We received the Germans with flowers in honest trust and without hypocrisy. Today the life of every Latvian is a continual round of hypocrisy. Deep in our souls we hate the Germans, but at the same time we must deal with them with a smile, for we understand that we dare not yet revolt against them, no matter how deep our hatred may be. They still help us to keep the Bolsheviks from crossing our borders.”

This double role must also be played by most of the higher Latvian officials, and many of them, particularly recently, are trying to resign from their posts and to find employment elsewhere. Whoever is able to do so leaves the towns for the country to do farm and other similar work. Those who own farms and formerly rented them now cultivate them themselves, which is the best solution to the present delicate problem.

Some have been able to obtain employment in the “National Relief.” This is the only comparatively strong Latvian organization which is able to lead a more or less independent existence and is not subject to the direct control of the German occupation authorities.

Resignation from an official position is by no means an easy matter, however, as not everyone is able to obtain employment elsewhere. Moreover, also the Germans oppose this strenuously and simply refuse to accept such resignations.

In view of the present attitude of the Latvian people a new factor has become very conspicuous, i.e., the population has lost all fear of the Germans. The Latvians now act with great self-consciousness and dignity. They offer no apologies when Germans challenge them or feel insulted. Consequently conflicts and brawls between Latvians and Germans have become common occurrences. Individual skirmishes take place not only between civilians, but also between the German soldiers and the so-called Latvian “volunteers,” both behind and at the front lines.

This spirit of opposition of the Latvian population is already commencing to assume an organized form: here and there one observes signs of illegal activity, and it is rumored that the entire underground movement is being conducted by an underground organization. Illegal newspapers are being published, and in cases when the Germans use too harsh measures, illegal pamphlets appear. For example, a pamphlet appeared against the mobilization. It was typewritten, and the authorities discovered that it was the work of employees of the VEF (State Electrotechnical Factory). Some 200 employees were arrested there, of whom a number were interned in a concentration camp in Latvia, but others disappeared completely—evidently they had been deported to Germany.

Obviously the occupation authorities cannot be unaware of this inimical feeling of the population for the Germans. Their reaction to this, on one hand, expresses itself in various repressions, and on the other—unmistakable and unessential forbearance toward the demands of the population, and primarily “sweet speeches.” For example, the supplying of the Latvian Legion with all types of mechanized weapons must be considered as yielding to the demands of the Latvians. Originally the “volunteers” had been furnished only rifles. Also the permission to organize and support Latvian festivals must be considered in this light.

The “sweet speeches” recently are being made in larger numbers by the “bearers of supreme authority,” with Commissar General Drechsler at the head. Their purpose is to “talk away” the inequality which exists everywhere today in life in Latvia. The leading motive of all these speeches is one and the same, viz., “We Germans and you Latvians are equal nations; we have had the same history, and the same fate awaits us; we must therefore hold together and fight together.”

The tone of these speeches as well as that used in the “Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland” has lost much of the former haughtiness of the Prussian “bearers of culture.” Now the editorials in the DZO in a light vein try to emphasize that the Latvians have no cause to feel affronted if the Germans refer to them as “natives” (die Einheimischen). One should not confuse this expression with the name “colored natives” (die Eingeborenen), which has an entirely different meaning. One should understand that in the German language there is no word other than “die Einheimischen” to designate the entire population of the Baltic. One surely cannot demand that all three peoples—the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians—always be individually enumerated, naively explains the DZO.

Neither should the Latvians misunderstand the expression “we” so often used by the Germans, the DZO further attempts to whitewash itself. This “we,” of course, does not mean “we Germans” but “we all,” i.e. “we—Germans, Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians and White Ruthenians,” in brief, “all who live here.”

Evidently this was also the purpose of a big exhibition which was held in the summer of 1943 in the City Museum of Riga. This exhibition was divided into several sections, of which some markedly tried to promote the idea of the “equality” and “affinity” of the Latvians and the Germans.

Both the honeyed speeches and the photographs in the exhibition, however, are properly assessed by the Latvian population. Everyone knows, state the refugees, that those are only empty words, and that the deeds of the Germans have nothing in common with what they say.

In order to obtain a clear picture of the attitude existing among the Latvian population, a remark should be made here. It is true that hatred against the Germans has attained such proportions that it is to be found even among those elements who formerly placed all their hopes upon the Germans. However, despite all this it must definitely be emphasized that no serious sympathies for the communists have appeared in Latvia. Even among the workmen and the small artisans, who suffer most under the German system of economic gangsterism, one will not find a single person wishing for the return of the Bolshevik period. Many of them do say that under the Bolsheviks it was easier to obtain goods, as the Bolsheviks were not as efficient in organizing the plundering of the population as the Germans. However, such statements are never followed by the inference that the Bolsheviks should be supported against the Germans. Even the sympathies of the most radical workers lie far from such thoughts, for during the single year of their rule the Bolsheviks had soured the life of the Latvian workers.

In answer to the question, upon what the Latvian people place their hopes in the long run and wherein the Latvian population sees an exit from the present delicate situation, the refugees all have the same reply: We hope that the United States and Great Britain will realize what they have promised the world by the Atlantic Charter.

This firm conviction is also expressed in the Statement issued by the Latvian Underground Central Council in February 1944, in Riga.

The L.C.C. in its statement demands full and unrestricted independence for Latvia.