The Progress Report of Latvia's History Commission: Crimes
against Humanity Committed in the Territory of Latvia from 1940
to 1956 during the Occupations of the Soviet Union and National
Socialist Germany The so-called “German period” of the
occupation is a most convoluted and contradictory time in
Latvian history. The key to understanding this period is the
objective evaluation of the context in which the events took
place and a balanced perception of the past. Historical
Background and Summary Nazi occupation replaced a Soviet
occupation, which had been, for thousands of inhabitants of
Latvia, a most tragic and wrenching experience. The hopes for
renewed independence of Latvia turned out to have no foundation
in reality. Nazi plans did not include a sovereign Latvia, but
rather its subjugation and turning it into a Germanized
province. As a “General District” (Generalbezirk) Latvia became
part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland, which encompassed the
territories of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Bel