20 March 1945

We departed from Bad Nenndorf

We are on the move once again.  I have been reassigned.  Maybe this will be my last move.  I hope so; I hope this is to be the end of it all.  There have been a few mumblings from some of the other men, they say the war is no longer going well for Germany but the captain has not said anything.  I would dearly like to think I will not have to spend another winter out of doors.   

I do not fancy getting too close to the Red Army again either.  So many men have tales of German and Latvian soldiers returning to units minus a tongue, the stories have to be true.  They say the Russians do it so their captives cannot give away Red Army positions.  In addition, Russian commanders are said to make their soldiers hold both ends of a damaged cable in their mouth to complete a broken circuit, making Red Army soldiers stupid but brutal.

11 August 1944

Bad Nenndorf

 Will never destroy the kingdom if you are united and loyal

Max Von Schenkendorf

To no address (unaddressed)   dated 11 August 1944

Bad Nenndorf, Germany

Hannover Department

Camaraderie package

The USSR Red Army approached the eastern border of Latvia in the summer of 1944, resulting in an extensive refugee flow of Latvian civilians westwards. The population feared Bolshevik repressions.  The refugee flow was also stimulate by the approaching ware fare front-line.  Many Latvian people were coercively evacuated by the Nazi occupation authorities.  Their numbers swelled those of workers, prisoners and concentration camp captives already sent to Germany during the Nazi occupation, not forgetting the Latvian soldiers transported to Germany.

At the beginning of 1945 there were 171 000 residents of Latvia within the German Reich.

From Riga evacuations began at the beginning of August in 1944 and continued until the 10th of October.  Most refugees from Riga ended up sailing out of the Baltic basin, disembarking at Danzig.  Evacuation by ship from Ventspils (Windau) and Liepaja (Libau) began in September of 1944 with the end ports being Danzig and Danzig Neufahrwasser. From Liepaja some ships also were sent to Pillau.  Evacuations from Liepaja and Ventspils continued until the beginning of January in 1945.

At the end of the war, in the summer of 1945, 107 000 refugees from Latvia were in West Germany, i.e. the British, US and French occupation zones.  25 400 people were held in the war prisoner camps of the western Allies.

In addition 4600 Latvians found themselves in Sweden, 2100 in Denmark and 2200 in Austria in the summer of 1945.

31 July 1944

Germany, Bad Nenndorf.

Arriving in Bad Nenndorf, at the railway station, the organisation is very good.  After such a long trip, it is nice to have someone take charge. 

I have ended up in hospital again, in Bechhofen, which is a tourist area.  It is not a real hospital but a large private house or hotel, requisitioned for the injured.  When the German military requisition a property, the previous residents have to move out.  The locals must go into the smaller houses because the Germans do not want those.

They are very organised, the Germans.  Their kitchen is especially well organised.  The food hall is centralised, producing very good food.  I now have nice food to eat, a dry bed to stretch out on and no guard duty.  It has been a long time since I had such comforts.

Walking out with a house mate, we went to see the local autobahn.   It is very impressive, I have never seen anything like it before.  We do not have anything to compare with an autobahn in Latvia.

Allied aeroplanes heading toward Hannover passed over me.  It wasn’t the sight of them that made me stop to watch but the noise.  A great roar of engines shook everything around me.  There were so many, the noise was terrifying.  I could feel the boom of engines in my chest, it vibrated my sternum.  The planes passed over in such great numbers, the sky turned black with them.   Later, I heard the bombs fall.  As those planes dropped their bombs before moving off, others flew over to take their place and drop even more.  It went on for a long time: I cannot imagine there being anything left of Hannover.  There cannot be any buildings left standing or anyone left alive.  I am very glad not to be in a hospital in Hannover.