page_title: Military history of Latvia during World War II
section_title: German occupation
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Latvia during World War II / German occupation
caption_attribution_description: English: Soviet advances on the Eastern Front (WWII), 1943-08-01 to 1944-12-31
context_page_description: After the occupation of Latvia by the USSR in June 1940, much of the previous Latvian army was disbanded and many of its soldiers and officers were arrested and imprisoned or executed. The following year Nazi Germany occupied Latvia during the offensive of Army Group North. The German Einsatzgruppen were aided by a group known as Arajs Kommando in the killing of Latvian Jews as part of the Holocaust. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict against their will, and in 1943 180,000 Latvian men were drafted into the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS and other German auxiliary forces.
  In the Baltic Offensive of autumn 1944 the Soviet Union recaptured much of its Baltic coastline, leaving 200,000 troops of Army Group North cut off in the Courland Pocket. Formed into Army Group Courland, this force held out until the end of the war in May 1945, when it surrendered to the Soviet forces and the troops were sent to prison camps.
context_section_description: Army Group North's objective was Leningrad via the Baltic States. Comprising the 16th and 18th Armies and 4th Panzer Group, this formation drove through Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the cities of Russian SFSR of Pskov and Novgorod. While under German occupation, Latvia was administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland. In 1941 empowered by the Einsatzgruppen and Nazi war criminal Franz Walter Stahlecker the far-right-wing extremist group of 500 Arajs Kommando led by Viktors Arājs participated in the Holocaust. 80,000 to 100,000 Latvian citizens were killed during the Nazi occupation, including ca. 70,000 Latvian Jews; about 20,000 Jews brought from Central and Eastern Europe were also murdered in Latvia. Nearly three years later in 1943, forced conscription of 180,000 Latvian men into the German auxiliary forces was ordered by Hitler. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict against their will, including in the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS, most of them conscripted by the occupying authorities.
  While the Army Group North held back the Soviet Estonian Operation, the Soviet Operation Bagration achieved unbelievable success. Army Group Centre was in tatters, and the northern edge of the Soviet assault threatened to trap Army Group North in a pocket in Courland. Panzers of Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz had been sent back to the capital of Ostland, Riga and in ferocious defensive battles had halted the Soviet advance in late April, 1944. Strachwitz had been needed elsewhere, and was soon back to acting as the Army Group's fire brigade. Strachwitz's Panzerverband was broken up in late July. By early August, the Soviets were again ready to attempt to cut off Army Group North from Army Group Centre.
caption: Soviet advances from 1 August 1943 to 31 December 1944   to 1 December 1943   to 30 April 1944   to 19 August 1944   to 31 December 1944
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