19.Waffen-Grenadierdivision der ϟϟ and the Latvian Forest Brothers

SS man identified by some as Latvian Ādamsons

Latvian Forest Brothers

The man in the left photo is often identified as Waffen-Hauptsturmführer der SS Miervaldis Ādamsons. For various reasons, Stabswache de Euros doubt this is correct. However, Ādamsons, of Latvian origin, had been accepted in the SS on November 10 1941. He ended up fighting for an independent Latvia in the 19.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS. Another highly combat experienced Latvian volunteer in that same division was the Knight's Cross and CCC in Silver holder Waffen-Obersturmführer der SS Roberts Ancāns. On numerous occasions Ādamsons dressed as a Soviet partizan to infiltrate their lines and brought back priceless information. His company repelled seven attacks by the Soviets in the Kurland or Courland Pocket in a single 24-hour period. For this remarkable defensive success Ādamsons was awarded the Knight's Cross on January 25 1945. He survived the war and entered Soviet captivity in May 1945. Ādamsons was sent to a forced-labor camp in the mines at Murmansk. After a second escape attempt he was executed by the Soviets in Riga on August 23 1946. Awards among others: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, German Cross in Gold, Close Combat Clasp in Bronze, Infantry Assault Badge in Silver and Wound Badge in Gold. In 1993 Miervaldis Ādamsons was fully exonerated by Latvian supreme court. The photo was taken by former SS-Kriegsberichter Ernst Baumann in 1944, which suggests that the photography actually shows a member of the Wiking division. Credit: Benoit Vienne. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: some of the several tens of thousand Latvians who had worn the uniform of the Waffen-SS continued fighting the Soviets as Forest Brothers in the countryside for years after the war. The conflict between the Soviets and the Forest Brothers lasted over a decade and cost at least 50,000 lives. Photo shows Latvian freedom fighters armed with the Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun and the German Sturmgewehr 44. The photo was taken in the small town of Ērgļi in Latvia in 1951. Credit: Julius Jääskeläinen. PD.