The Latvian Division was the first national division in which the number of Jewish soldiers exceeded that of any other Red Army unit.

The 201st Latvian Rifle Division was formed in August–September 1941, after the Soviet Union had introduced Red Army troops into the territory of the independent Baltic republics (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) in June 1940 and incorporated the republics into the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union made some changes to their armies. By Order No. 0191 of the People's Commissar of Defence of the USSR, S. Timoshenko, dated 17 August 1940, it was decided to transform these armies into two-division territorial rifle corps. In the autumn of 1940, the Latvian People's Army was transformed into the 24th Latvian Territorial Rifle Corps of the Red Army (similar changes took place in Lithuania and Estonia, which meant the re-creation of the national formations of the Red Army that had existed in the USSR until 1938). In July 1940, political leaders, mainly communists and partly social democrats, were appointed to these military units. Of the 76 people sent to the Latvian army between June and September 1940, more than 10 were Jews, including A. Genkin, Y. Vater, M. Wolfson, A. Kan and others. The same processes took place in the armies of Lithuania and Estonia.

On 23 February 1941, the soldiers of the territorial corps took the military oath, which was timed to coincide with the 23rd anniversary of the creation of the Red Army. By that day, there were more than 15,000 people in the 24th Corps.

As a result of the reforms, not only did the number of Jews in the armies of the former independent states increase, but they also gained the opportunity to hold officer positions, which had not been the case in independent Latvian republic. The number of Jews in the 24th Territorial Rifle Corps is unknown, but it can be assumed that it was quite large. This is confirmed by the size and composition of the Komsomol organisations of the 181st and 183rd Divisions, which were part of the corps. Admission to the Komsomol in the corps was permitted from January 1941. At the end of April 1941, there were 273 Komsomol members in the 181st Division and 312 in the 183rd. Of the 230 people admitted in January-April 1941, Jews made up 12.1% of the 181st Division, and there were about the same number of Jewish Komsomol members in the 183rd Division (i.e., 34 to 40 people in the 181st Division and 40 to 50 people in the 183rd). At the same time, there were also Jews serving in the corps who were not members of the Komsomol.

At the beginning of World War II, the corps was stationed in the vicinity of Gulbene. On 14-15 June 1941, mass repressions and arrests of several hundred Latvian commanders took place in the Baltic States. In particular, by 22 June 1941, 424 Latvian officers had been arrested, including the commander of the corps, Lieutenant General Roberts Kļaviņš, and the commander of the 183rd Division, Major General Jānis Liepiņš; many of the arrested officers were shot in the first days of the war. They were replaced by newly appointed officers from other units of the Red Army. As a result of the repression, mass desertions began among Latvian soldiers.

Soviet historians kept quiet about this fact, but the desertion is indirectly confirmed by a report from the new commander of the 24th Territorial Corps, Major General K. Kachanov to the commander of the North-Western Front on 29 June 1941, which reports that even after the arrival of reinforcements on 20-25 June - mobilised from the Moscow region - there was a significant shortage of personnel in the units and formations of the corps. The fact that the Baltic territorial units, especially after the arrests carried out throughout the Baltic States in mid-June 1941, did not want to fight for Soviet power is confirmed by the testimony of the commander of the Western Front, Army General D. Pavlov, who after his arrest stated that ‘on the 25th [of June] the Lithuanian National Division scattered.’ In August 1941, the remaining soldiers and commanders of the territorial corps were sent to various units of the Red Army after undergoing checks.

On 24 June 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a decree ‘On the protection of enterprises and institutions and the creation of fighter battalions.’ In accordance with this decree, companies and battalions of the Workers' Guard were re-established in Latvia and Estonia. They were first formed in June-July 1940 from active supporters of Soviet power — communists, Komsomol members and non-party members — to guard nationalised enterprises and fight opponents of the new regime. Battalions were created in every city and numbered from several dozen to several hundred people. Even then, there were many Jews in these battalions. According to the recollections of P. Emelyanov, former chief of staff of the 10th Battalion of the Workers' Guard, formed from workers and employees of the Moscow district of Riga, up to 50% of the battalion's fighters were Jewish. There were especially many Jews in the battalions from eastern Latvia—Latgale, where the majority of Latvia's Jewish population lived. Thus, of the 50 fighters in the battalion formed in Ludza, more than 30 were Jews.

In June-July 1941, labour battalions and detachments of Soviet party and Komsomol activists from Riga and north-western Latvia fought their way to Estonia. The fighters from these units formed the 1st Latvian Volunteer Fighter Regiment and the 2nd Latvian Volunteer Worker Rifle Regiment. According to Major General V. Kozlov, the 1st Latvian Volunteer Fighter Regiment, attached to the 10th Rifle Division, was used as a “reliable strike force on the most tense sections of the front. On numerous occasions, individual companies of the regiment were attached to units of the formation, and sometimes to other divisions. This unit of volunteers was the most reliable unit during those difficult days.”

On 28 August 1941, German troops occupied Tallinn. Red Army units managed to evacuate the city with great difficulty, using transports and military ships. The units of the 1st Latvian Volunteer Fighter Regiment left with them. However, during the crossing from Tallinn to Kronstadt, the ships were subjected to fierce bombing, and many were blown up by mines. As a result, at least 70,000 people, including civilians, were killed. Only part of the 1st Latvian Volunteer Fighter Regiment survived. According to S. Arolovich, a former soldier of this regiment, the archives did not contain lists of those who died in Estonia in the summer of 1941, as well as those who died during the transition from Tallinn to Kronstadt, so the exact number of Jews who died is unknown, but it is estimated that about 3,000 soldiers died, of whom 300 to 600 were Jews.

The remnants of the 1st Regiment formed the Latvian Battalion, which became part of the 62nd Rifle Regiment of the 1st Rifle Division. The battalion consisted of 237 soldiers (including 21 Jews). After heavy fighting in the Peterhof area in mid-September 1941, 50-60 men remained in the battalion. They were incorporated into the 76th Latvian Separate Rifle Regiment, which was formed on the basis of the former 2nd Latvian Workers' Volunteer Regiment. This regiment was also formed from workers' detachments and battalions of the Workers' Guard of Riga, Jelgava and other cities in Latvia. The regiment numbered about 1,200 people. It was incorporated into the 125th Rifle Division of the 8th Army. On 7 September 1941, it was transformed into the 76th Latvian Separate Rifle Regiment. By this time, only 381 people remained in the regiment, which consisted of four rifle companies. The commanders and political officers of two companies were M. Gurevich and H. Permand (participants in the Spanish Civil War), while the third company was commanded by V. Sasha-Zasha. Before the creation of the Latvian Division, Latvian Jews fought as part of the Latvian Battalion near Strelna near Leningrad, the Narva Workers' Regiment, and the 582nd Construction Battalion, which built fortifications near Leningrad. The battalion existed until January 1942, after which all Latvian citizens were transported along the ‘road of life’ to the Gorokhovets camps, where the Latvian Rifle Division was formed.

Back in July 1941, the leadership of the Latvian Communist party and the Soviet Latvian government began petitioning the Soviet leadership to create a special military unit consisting of citizens of the Latvian SSR who had managed to flee or evacuate from Latvia, and Latvians who had lived in the USSR before Latvia was incorporated into the USSR. Among those who fled and were evacuated were 10,000 to 15,000 Jews. On 3 August 1941, the USSR State Defence Committee decided to create the Latvian Division. Initially, the division was called Latvian, but by August it had become Latvia’s in official documents. Then, in October 1941, an order from the command of the Moscow Military District stated that ‘the 201st Latvian Rifle Division shall henceforth be called the 201st Latvian Rifle Division.’ This uncertainty in the name continued until the order of the People's Commissar of Defence of the USSR dated 5 October 1942 stated: ‘to transform the 201st Latvian Rifle Division into the 43rd Guards Latvian Rifle Division’. Guards units were awarded this title for exceptional heroism. Guards units had a special banner with gold fringe and tassels on the cords; a portrait of V. Lenin, the motto ‘For our Soviet Motherland’ and the inscription ‘USSR’ on the front; a small red star, a hammer and sickle in the middle, the name and number of the unit, and the motto. On the banner of the 43rd Guards Latvian Rifle Division, the motto and name of the unit were written in Russian and Latvian.

The name ‘Latvian’ emphasised the division's republican rather than national affiliation, but political interests required refuting the numerous facts of Latvian collaboration with the Nazis. Thus, Red Army units retreating from Latvia repeatedly reported that they were subjected to constant shelling and attacks by local residents, Aizsarg units and deserters from the 24th Latvian Territorial Corps. The leadership of the Latvian Republic, the security services, and the military and political leadership of the USSR were aware of the joyful welcome given to German troops by the majority of Latvian residents. From July 1941, volunteer police battalions were formed, which operated outside Latvia — in Belarus and Russia — and took part in punitive operations against partisans and in the mass murder of Jews. On 22 October 1941, the 16th Latvian police battalion arrived at the Dno station in the Leningrad region to take part in combat operations as part of the German troops near Leningrad. This marked the beginning of the transition from police battalions to the creation of the Latvian SS Legion. These battalions were intended to counteract the Soviet-oriented Latvians in the form of a separate national unit within the Red Army, which would help liberate Latvia from German occupation. In addition, the name ‘Latvian’ was reminiscent of the name of the Red Latvian Riflemen division during the Civil War and revived the traditions of this truly extremely combat-ready and loyal unit. The creation of the division was intended to dispel the notion that the Latvian people supported the German occupation and were hostile to the Soviet regime and the Russian people (the same reasons were given for the creation and naming of the Lithuanian and Estonian divisions). The 201st Latvian Division became the first national military unit of the Red Army during the Second World War. The formation of the division began in the Gorokhovets camps near Gorky. The first groups of volunteers began arriving on 11-12 August, with the bulk arriving on 15-20 August. By this time, about 2,500 former Latvian militiamen and NKVD employees had already arrived. Volunteers arrived in groups of 100-200 people from the Gorky, Kirov and Ivanovo regions, where most of the evacuated Latvian citizens were housed. A large number of volunteers arrived individually, as the mobilisation of evacuated Latvian citizens did not begin until September. This was due to the atmosphere of mistrust towards all citizens of the territories that became Soviet in 1939-40. Discrimination against the inhabitants of these territories began at the old Soviet border at the end of June 1941, when thousands of refugees, both Jewish and non-Jewish, were detained because they still had passports from the former republics, which only had special marks indicating Soviet citizenship. Those who arrived in these republics in 1940, as well as communists, Komsomol members and their families, were allowed to cross the border first upon presentation of their party or Komsomol membership cards. The consequences of such actions were tragic, especially for Jews: many of those who wanted to leave for Russia turned back and perished.

Most of the men who managed to cross the border were sent to the ‘labour army’ for the construction of defensive structures in the frontline zone and defensive facilities in the deep rear. The fact of discrimination against Jews in the western territories was confirmed by Nusinov, a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, at the first plenary session of the JAC on 28 May 1942: ‘I have seen young Jews outside Moscow who overcame enormous difficulties in order to gain the opportunity to fight in the ranks of the Red Army.’ Some Jews in Latvia even had to resort to forgery in order to join the division (for example, Ziga Blumenau, who was born in Berlin but lived in Latvia, had to hide his place of birth and therefore ended up at the front under false documents in the name of Nathan Friedman. He fought throughout the war and was awarded several times).

Despite all the difficulties, the division was formed within a month, and on 12 September 1941, the division's soldiers took their oath of allegiance. The 201st Latvian Rifle Division consisted of the 92nd, 122nd and 191st Rifle Regiments, the 220th Artillery Regiment, the 10th Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battery, the 170th Separate Signal Battalion and several special units. Ninety per cent of the soldiers and commanders were citizens of the Latvian SSR. (The fact that there were indeed many Jews in the division can be judged by the reaction of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR, Prof. A. Kirhenstein, who, during his first visit to the division in August 1941, asked in bewilderment: ‘Is this a synagogue or a Jewish shop?’). According to the first commander of the division, Colonel Y. Veikin, 30% of the division's soldiers were Jewish (however, this has not been confirmed by documents). By the beginning of December 1941, the division had 10,348 personnel, 17% of whom were Jewish, i.e. 1,759 people. In some units, Jews constituted the absolute majority, so training was conducted in Yiddish, as many Latvian Jews did not know Russian (for example, in Z. Yakub's unit). There was a special atmosphere in the Latvian Division; the soldiers mainly tried to preserve their traditions and faith and were distinguished by their high moral standards. In addition to members of the Communist Party, candidates for party membership, and Komsomol members, the Latvian Division included many activists of the Zionist movement, both left-wing and right-wing revisionist, members of the Zionist youth organisation Hashomer Hatzair (including one of the leaders, members of the youth Zionist organisation Hashomer Hatzair (including one of the leaders of the Daugavpils organisation, M. Galperin, and members of the organisation, I. Gordon and I. Goldin), representatives of the Jewish socialist party Bund (including a student of the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia, Beba Kaplan, brush makers, brothers Haim and Nosn Trok, and furrier A. Plotkin), members of the Latvian Labour Youth Union (including student Veniamin Pliner, son of a lawyer; tailor Reuven Perelman, son of a brewery manager; Chaim Levin, who served three years in prison in independent Latvia for revolutionary activities; twins David and Genech Muravich; all of whom fell in battle near Moscow), members of the right-wing Zionist movement Beitar (71 people from the Riga branch alone, 38 of whom fell in battle; H. Feigelson and his brothers from Daugavpils). Beitar members were mainly volunteers, despite the fact that the repression of Zionists before the war primarily affected the Beitar movement, and by the beginning of the war, the movement had been virtually decapitated (14 activists of the Latvian Beitar were arrested), and many Beitar members were repressed during the war (for example, Yakov Perlov, who served in the Latvian Division, was transferred to another unit after being wounded, and in August 1944, he spoke at a synagogue in liberated Lviv, calling for emigration to Israel, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in a labour camp; five other Beitar members, including a communist, were arrested and received various prison terms, despite their participation in combat operations).

The social backgrounds of the Latvian Jews who served in the Latvian Division varied: the father of D. Mostov, who died in December 1941 near Moscow, was the owner of a sawmill; the father of B. Averbukh, who died in July 1944, was a wealthy merchant; the father of M. Afremovich was a physical education teacher; the father of A. Albrecht, who was wounded three times and became a war invalid, was a merchant of the 1st guild before the 1917 revolution, then a co-owner of a paper factory in independent Latvia, and was repressed in 1941; Captain Sholom Mendel Smushkevich of the cavalry reconnaissance unit from Daugavpils was a tailor; Captain Meir Deich, company commander, was a shoemaker.

In early December 1941, units of the Latvian Division were sent to the front. From 20 December 1941 to 14 January 1942, during the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow, the division took part in heavy fighting near Naro-Fominsk and Borovsk. Its losses amounted to 55% of its personnel, including 58% of privates and 30% of junior officers. Some regiments lost more than half of their personnel: for example, losses in the 92nd Regiment reached 68%, and in the 191st Regiment, 70%. The memory of the heroes who fell in the battle for Naro-Fominsk is immortalised by the Obelisk of Glory with the inscription in gold letters: ‘Eternal glory to the heroes — soldiers, sergeants and officers of the 43rd Guards Latvian Rifle Riga Division who fell in the struggle for the freedom and independence of our Motherland in the Great Patriotic War.’

The following served and died in battle in the 125th Guards Rifle Regiment: Captain Alik Levik, staff officer; Senior Lieutenant Sala Kirshtein, deputy battalion commander; brothers Lieutenant Boris Elitzofon and Senior Lieutenant Zama Elitzofon, both commanders of rifle companies; Captains Benjamin Kur, Monya Levin, Senior Lieutenants Erachmiel Mafzir, Nathan Meerson, Yitzhak Borok, David Gafelson; Lieutenants Yash Palin, Izya Geman, and more than 40 other officers. The list of fallen privates—machine gunners and sappers—includes 108 Jewish names. The division's total losses amounted to about 5,700 people, of whom approximately 1,060 were Jews, i.e., about 60% of all Jews in the division. The Komsomol organiser of the 191st Rifle Regiment, former secretary of the Daugavpils District Komsomol Committee Isaac Borok, a party member since 1924, sentenced in 1930 to seven years of forced labour for participating in the revolutionary movement, was killed in the battles near Moscow. Another participant in the revolutionary movement, Honon Zicherman, who was sentenced in 1934 to six years of forced labour, also died in these battles. More than 200 soldiers of the Latvian Division were awarded orders and medals for their courage and heroism in the battles near Moscow. Among them, more than 20 Jews were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Star, and the medals ‘For Courage’ and ‘For Military Merit.’ The first recipient of the Order of the Red Banner in the division was political instructor Reuven Amdur. The propaganda work carried out in the division emphasised its multinational composition and continuity of traditions. According to eyewitnesses, there was no ethnic discord in the division.

On 25 December 1942, 11% of the division's Komsomol organisation consisted of Jews (mainly citizens of the Latvian SSR). However, the number of Jews in the division steadily declined, as by September 1942, the reserves of Latvian citizens of draft age who had been evacuated had been exhausted. After that, soldiers of various nationalities from all over the USSR began to join the 1st Separate Latvian Rifle Reserve Regiment, which led to a decrease in the number of both Latvians and Jews who were citizens of the Latvian SSR (from 1 July 1942 to 15 July 1943, the number of Jews decreased from 12.3% to 7.8%). On 15 July 1943, the reserve regiment had 257 command and senior officers, 26 of whom were Jewish, i.e. 10.1%. On 19 March 1942, junior lieutenant courses were organised in the reserve regiment. The courses provided the division with 528 officers, 9% of whom were Jewish.

On 7 July 1944, another division was formed - the 308th Latvian Rifle Division, consisting of the 319th, 323rd, 335th Rifle Regiments, the 677th Artillery Regiment, the 377th Separate Anti-Tank Division, the 309th Separate Engineer Battalion, the 899th Separate Signal Battalion, and the 326th Separate Medical Battalion. As of 10 July 1944, 8% of the 308th Division was Jewish. As of 1 July 1944, at the start of the battles for Latvia, 8.5% of the 43rd Guards Rifle Division were Jewish. As the Soviet army returned to Latvia, there was an increasing influx of citizens who had previously lived in the Nazi occupied territory into the division, which led to a steady increase in the number of Latvians and a decrease in the number of other nationalities. The number of Jews steadily declined, as there was nowhere to draw Jewish reinforcements from in Latvia; virtually all Jews in the occupied territory had been exterminated. On 18 October 1944, 10% of the 43rd Division were Jews. The 1.5% increase in the number of Jews was due to veterans of the division returning from hospitals.

By the spring of 1945, almost all of Latvia, with the exception of its northwestern part, Kurzeme, was under Soviet control. As a result of a new intensive mobilisation, thousands of men who had lived for three years in an atmosphere of anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic propaganda were drafted into the Soviet army. By 30 March 1945, the composition of the division had changed dramatically, with Jews making up 5.6% and Latvians making up the overwhelming majority (83.4%). At the end of March 1945, citizens who had lived under Nazi occupation accounted for 60 to 90% of the corps' soldiers. This led to a decline in the division's combat capabilities, while at the same time the morale deteriorated.

By 20 July 1944, 35% of party organisers in the 43rd Guards Division were Latvians, 50% were Russians, and 15% were representatives of other nationalities. Among the party organisers of the 308th Division, G. Rapoport, party organiser of the 323rd Rifle Regiment battalion, was well known. For his revolutionary activities in independent Latvia, he was sentenced to hard labour in the Kalnciems quarries. In December 1940, he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia. Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Gurevich, who died in March 1944, was an underground revolutionary and party organiser of the 355th Rifle Regiment. Jews served in all units and services of the 43rd Guards Division. Senior instructor of the division's political department, Captain M. Wolfson, led a counter-propaganda group among enemy troops. One of the most famous division commanders was Major Joseph Pasternak, one of the few officers in the division to be awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. On 18 July 1944, the battalion under his command was the first to enter Latvian territory. Meir Ragolsky and Motte Kahn (Menachem Riger) served in the Special Department. According to Sh. Zeitlin, they, as officers of the Special Department, sent division soldiers S. Kaufman and M. Pereferkovich to the Trudarmia for making Zionist statements, from where the latter ended up in the Gulag. There were especially many Jewish medics. Jewish doctors worked in the field hospital: Major I. Polotsk, Major M. Dubinsky, Captain A. Shimakher — chief physician of the 125th Guards Regiment of the 43rd Latvian Division (killed in battle near Staraya Russa), L. Khnoch — Chief Medical Officer of the 1st Separate Latvian Reserve Regiment, later Head of the Medical Battalion of the 308th Division, Captain of the Medical Service I. Lifshits ― commander of the medical platoon of the medical battalion of the 43rd Latvian Guards Rifle Division from August 1943 to 5 May 1945, Medical Service Captain G. Spokoyno, Senior Lieutenants L. Geymanson, I. Kan-Kagan, medics Z. Spokoyno, I. Eidus, senior lieutenant of the medical service of the 201st Latvian Rifle Division L. Solomonov, doctor Z. Manevich. Doctor Mikhail Citron graduated from the medical faculty of the University of Bologna in Italy in the mid-1930s. He then returned to Riga, where he worked as a surgeon at the 1st City Hospital in 1940. With the outbreak of war, he retreated with the Red Army units, then was appointed head of the medical battalion of the newly formed Latvian Division with the rank of military doctor III. Before being sent to the front, he was arrested on charges of having been a member of the Fascist Party while in Italy, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, and then, as a ‘Fascist agent,’ had another 5 years added to his sentence; he was fully rehabilitated in 1956.

Entire families fought in the division. Four of Sara Ehrenstein's brothers and her husband served alongside the famous sniper. Of the four brothers, Isaac Kagan was a platoon commander in the 1st Latvian Regiment in Estonia and was killed in the summer of 1941, posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star; Shleime, a senior officer and tank commander, was awarded the Medal for Bravery and died in 1944; Abram, awarded the Order of the Red Star, and Khloyna, commander of an anti-tank platoon, awarded the Order of Glory, 3rd class, went missing. Among those killed in the Latvian Division were the brothers Yehuda, Wolf and Benjamin Brandman, Yakov Leizerovich and his son Abram, the brothers Eliezer and Shlomo Kukler, Alter and Abram Bass, Meir and Shlomo Berkovich, Yitzhak, Baruch and Hirsch Tsadovich, Asher and Eli Presman, Eli and Borya Taits, Robert and Ezra Vinokur, etc.

There were also women in the division: 114 Jewish women from Latvia fought in various military units, 69 of them in the Latvian Division. A platoon of machine gunners was formed from a group of girls who voluntarily joined the division in the 10th Company (the platoon was later transferred to the 123rd Guards Regiment), including 14 Jewish women, among them Leya Novozhenets, Lena Shor, Dvora Vulfovich, Dora Kandler, Zhenya Vidan, and others. During the battles near Stara Russa in 1942, the platoon helped build roads and dugouts. In 1943, the women participated in battles near the village of Ogurets on the Lovat River. The platoon commander was Lena Lukashevich, who lost her arm in the battles near the Tsidra River. Medical instructor Eva Wasser was awarded the medals ‘For Courage’ and ‘For Military Merit.’ The same soldier's medals and the Order of Glory III degree were awarded to radio operator of the 125th Guards Rifle Regiment, Senior Sergeant Ida Ulas.

Many fellow countrymen, neighbours from the same street, and schoolmates served in the division, which gave a special character to the relationships between the soldiers. Of the 100 Jews from Kraslava who served in the 43rd Latvian Division, 52 died in battle. The names of 74 Jews are listed on the memorial to the citizens of Ludza who died at the front.

Many soldiers of the Latvian Division were transferred to other military units after being wounded. For example, after being wounded near Naro-Fominsk in December 1941 and recovering in hospital, A. Shneer was sent to the Ufa Officer Training School, but soon all the cadets were sent to the Volkhov Front, where the commander of the reconnaissance platoon, Second Lieutenant A. Shneer, was killed on 3 September 1942. After being wounded near Staraya Russa, A. Gurevich continued fighting in the tank units. He became a platoon commander in the 25th Guards Tank Regiment of the 6th Mechanised Brigade. In April 1945, he fought in Austria, as they joked, as commander of a Jewish tank platoon, with Lieutenant Kleiman and Second Lieutenant Shrapstein commanding the other vehicles. I. Kagan continued to serve in the 14th Rifle Division after being wounded. Captain Yuri Vater, who fought in the Latvian Division until 1944, was sent to another unit and died heroically in February 1944 near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky. Wounded several times, he covered the retreat of his comrades with machine-gun fire and was captured by the Germans and hanged. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin.

According to division veteran and historian Bregmanis, the total number of Latvian Jews who fought in the Red Army during the war in the Latvian divisions was about 5,000, evacuated from Latvia, about 2,000 of whom died in battle.

The list compiled by veteran S. Arolovich contains 2,166 names of fallen Jewish soldiers from Latvia, mainly from the Latvian Division, but the list is far from complete.

Many Latvian Jews also fought in other units and formations of the Red Army. Therefore, the total number of Jewish soldiers from Latvia who died is probably at least 3,000, taking into account those who died in the summer of 1941, about whom no information has been preserved.

During the war, Latvian Jews were part of Soviet activist party and Komsomol units, Workers' Guard battalions, volunteer fighter units, as well as the 1st Latvian Volunteer Fighter Regiment; the 2nd Latvian Volunteer Workers' Regiment; the 76th Special Latvian Rifle Regiment; the Latvian battalion that fought near the village of Strelna near Leningrad; the Narva Workers' Regiment; the 582nd Construction Battalion, formed mainly from residents of the Baltic states, in the ranks of the 201st Latvian Rifle Division; the 43rd Guards Latvian Rifle Division; the 308th Latvian Rifle Division; Latvian partisan detachments and the underground resistance movement. Most of the Jewish soldiers in all these units were volunteers.

http://gariga.boom.ru/rootRiga/war.html

From Chapter 6 of the book PLEN “Латышская (Латвийская) стрелковая дивизия” byА. Schneer.