Latvian Prisoners and Detainees - Latvian People Convicted of Murder, Latvian Prisoners of War, Latvian Prisoners Sentenced to Life Imprisonment (Paperback)

Chapters: Latvian People Convicted of Murder, Latvian Prisoners of War, Latvian Prisoners Sentenced to Life Imprisonment, anis Ansons, Kaspars Petrovs, Alfr?ds Rubiks, Krij?nis Ber?is. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 17. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: anis Ansons (4 December 1911 24 November 1968) was a Latvian member of Waffen-SS, Germany's World War II fighting unit of the Schutzstaffel . He rose to the rank of Hauptscharfhrer and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, an award given in recognition of extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. At the conclusion of the war, he was taken prisoner by the Soviet Army. A native of Kandava, a small town in Latvian region of Kurzeme, anis Ansons was born into a farming family . In the aftermath of Germany's June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, Latvia fell under German occupation, and Ansons volunteered to join the Latvian Brigade, a fighting unit incorporated into German military command. He was posted to 1st Company, 24th Battalion, where he remained until March 1943, when he was transferred to 3rd Company, Latvian Regiment . In October he was promoted to the rank of Oberscharfhrer and, in April 1944, to Hauptscharfhrer in the 6th Company, Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS 44, 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian), and fought during the Battle of Leningrad. Ansons also participated in the fighting at the Courland Pocket where, according to the commendation, he exhibited bravery deserving of the Knight's Cross awarded to him in December 1944. Over the night of 27 December the Soviet Army had broken through the front line and penetrated about two kilometres into the rear. Ansons was sent on a reconnaissance of point 73, to determine enemy stren...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=21506818