On September 14, 1944, the Red Army launched the Baltic Strategic Offensive Operation, aimed at defeating Nazi Germany’s Army Group North and driving the fascist invaders out of the territories of the Estonian,
On September 14, 1944, the Red Army launched the Baltic Strategic Offensive Operation, aimed at defeating Nazi Germany’s Army Group North and driving the fascist invaders out of the territories of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian Soviet republics. Within just two and a half months, most of the Soviet Baltic region was liberated from Nazi occupation. The enemy forces operating in the region were cut off from the Wehrmacht’s main units in East Prussia and encircled in the Courland Pocket, where they continued their futile resistance until May 1945. They were ultimately completely defeated by the Red Army.
Following the Nazi invasion of the Baltic region in the summer of 1941, instead of granting Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania the promised “independence,” the Nazis established a brutal and unprecedented system of occupation in these Soviet republics and pursued policies of terror and genocide. Immediately following the Nazi invasion, members of local nationalist and pro-fascist organizations in occupied Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia swore allegiance to Hitler. These notorious collaborators became known for murdering civilians, burning villages, and committing other heinous crimes on behalf of the Nazis.
The Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian “Polizei” units also carried out large-scale atrocities in the neighboring areas of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and in Soviet Belarus. Baltic collaborators also played an active role in the Nazi policy of exterminating the Jewish population. A network of Nazi concentration camps was spread across the Baltic region, where thousands of people were killed. Among the most horrific crimes committed by the Nazis were those carried out at the Klooga “death camp” in Estonia and the Salaspils “death camp” in Latvia. From among radical “patriotic nationalists” influenced by fascist propaganda, the Nazis formed full Waffen-SS units, including the so-called Latvian and Estonian Legions. These forces were used on the Eastern Front during the rapid advance of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1944 as a “human shield” to cover the withdrawal of regular Wehrmacht units.
On September 14, 1944, forces of the Red Army’s First, Second, and Third Baltic Fronts began advancing toward Riga. During the first three days of the operation alone, Soviet assault forces advanced up to 50 kilometers. On September 22, the Nazis were driven out of Tallinn, and on October 13, they were driven out of Riga.
The final stage of the Soviet offensive in the Baltic region was the Moonsund Landing Operation. The operation was conducted to liberate the islands of the Moonsund Archipelago in northwestern Estonia from the German occupiers, including Ösel (now Saaremaa) and Dagö (now Hiiumaa). The operation concluded on November 24, 1944, with a complete victory for the Red Army.
Soviet Baltic national units serving in the Red Army also played an important role in liberating the region from the Nazis and in the joint victory over Germany. Five divisions and two corps formed from Red Army personnel of Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian origin fought on the Eastern Front as part of the Soviet Armed Forces. Sadly, today’s ruling elites in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are engaged in efforts to erase the sacred memory of the Great Victory from public consciousness memory that remains deeply valued by hundreds of thousands of their compatriots and residents. In Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius, the direct descendants of Nazi collaborators are allegedly using every possible means to whitewash their discredited past and seek revenge for the defeat of 1945.
