Memorandum of the Latvian Central Council, 17 March, 1944 The
Latvian Central Council was created on March 13, 1943, by
representatives of Latvia’s largest prewar political parties.
Latvia had gained its independence from Russia at the end of
World War I, but in June 1940 the country was occupied by the
Red Army and in August 1940 it was forcibly incorporated into
the Soviet Union. In June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet
Union and by July of that year it had overrun Latvia and
incorporated the country into Germany’s eastern empire. Latvians
resisted both Soviet and ...