8 September 1945

Leaving for Belgium

“Most Latvian soldiers in Germany were at first kept in British prisoner-of-war camps in Germany. In the autumn of 1945 most of them were transferred to a POW camp 2227 at Zedelgem in Belgium. They had naively expected the Western Allies to understand the reasons why they had fought on the side of the Germans. Instead of understanding, they at first received beatings, and occasionally they were used for live target practice by guards. They were released during 1946 when the Western Allies concurred that the majority of Latvians were not Nazis despite their German issued SS uniforms.”

— VisvaldisMangulis in Latvia in the Wars of the 20th Centuryhttps://latvians.com/index.php?en/CFBH/Zedelgem/collection-000-main.ssi

 

POW camps in and around Zedelgem

Camp 2227, which was generally used for Baltic soldiers, was not the only camp in the area. Camp 2226 was used for Germans; other Zedelgem camps were used for other nationalities or for segregating POWs by military rank. The following is a page from an inventory of POW camps which includes Zedelgem—the POW population across all camps totalled 63,459, including more than 16,000 in Camp 2227.

Restricted document from the HQ 21 army group.  German personnel under British control, as at 1800 hrs, Thursday 19 July 1945  Summary of surrendered troops at PW 
Field. Marshall Montgomery commanding

https://latvians.com/index.php?en/CFBH/Zedelgem/collection-000-main.ssi

Prisoner of War

My camp in Denmark was not a real camp.  It had been an old base of some sort, possibly a small run way.  There were no buildings left standing to provide shelter from the weather or the night cold.  There was no where to wash or to eat, there was nothing.  We were interned on a strip of land that had water to three sides.  There was only one way in and out of that camp, requiring a very small guard.

When it rained, we got wet.  When the wind blew, we got cold.  There were not even any trees to shelter beneath.  Eventually, canvass tents were delivered to us but as the ground was concrete, it was impossible to erect them.  The Americans had not thought of that, or maybe they just had not seen our concrete camp.  The best we could do was shelter under the loose canvas like kids playing under a blanket.

Every now and again, a group of American soldiers would drive out to look at us.  They came in Jeeps with music playing loudly from a radio.  They would shout out and holler, just having a good time because the war was over.  We envied them, driving up and down with their legs dangling out of the Jeep.  Our officers would never have allowed us to act like them.  We would not have been allowed music or to muck about whilst in uniform.  We always had to be serious.  We were never allowed to be boys.

I saw my first black man outside that camp.  He was an American.  He came with a group of Yanks to look at us.

At first, we thought he was a burn victim.  We thought the man had been caught in an oil fire, thought he had been in the water when a ship went down.  We thought the burning oil had stained his hands and his face, shrivelled up his hair.  None of us had ever seen a black man before.  When our guard told us the man was born that way, everyone wanted to see him.  Someone looked out for him, ready to shout if the black man came near.  We were as curious about black American’s as they were about us.

1 September 1945

Certificate agreeing to submit control of military pay entitlement

I, and my fellow prisoners of war, are being processed.  We were hoping to have been allowed back home before now.  Hitler is dead but our war time ordeal is not over.

1 September 1945

Side of the Road

Latvian / VĪKSNAS / Regimental Newspaper

Lunden Flehde

Saturday Sep 1 1945

18 August 1945

Lunden is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Eider river, about 16 km north of Heide.  Rehm-Flehde-Bargen is in the district of Dithmarschen.

Latvian 142nd Regiment, Church Service - Lundena, Flehde, Denmark

 His Song

The Lord is our strong fortress, etc....

My God, I praise home

God, guardian of our home land that she remains a flowering state and strong, etc ......

His Tune

God is our hope, Stone Mountain etc .........

August – September 1945, Latvian Variety Troupe - 

"Birds of Passage" Program

Soup to eat, regular religious guidance, this camp is better than I had expected.  In addition, we are treated to entertainment.