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battle group. On 18 July 1944, battalion commander
Lieutenant Colonel Aperāts was mortally wounded in battle near the town of Mozulyu and handed his command over to Hāzners, who with the five dozen or so surviving soldiers and officers he now led managed to cross a swamp and break out from the
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in Rīga arrested Hāzners on 25 June. The interrogators demanded he identify anti-Soviet elements but Hāzners refused. Hāzners and several other prisoners managed to escape on 30 June as the
Soviets began their retreat ahead of the German capture of Rīga the following day.
61:
Infantry
Regiment. The military was considered a good career; Hāzners determined to become a professional soldier. He entered the Latvian Military Academy in 1928, graduating in 1931, and was then deployed to join the 7th Sigulda Infantry Regiment stationed in
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On 20 August 1944, Hāzners was redeployed to
Germany with the remnants of 32. Regiment, where he was promoted to the rank of major and appointed commander of the 15. Fusiliers Battalion. On 26 January 1945, Hāzners was wounded in action at
131:, 32. Regiment as regiment commander adjutant. He was appointed commander of I. Battalion on 6 March 1944 but reassigned as commander of III. Battalion on 13 April. That mid-July the 32. Regiment was forced to retreat from positions in
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After a year of brutal Soviet occupation, the arrival of the
Germans was initially greeted as a liberation by many Latvians. The Latvian national anthem played on the radio. Hāzners joined partisan forces along the
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Infantry
Regiment. In 1939 he was sent to the highest military academy, graduating in 1940 with a rank of captain. In March 1940, Hāzners was appointed a military training instructor at the Rīga Rainis
57:
Agricultural High School, then working for several years at the
Vidsmuiža Livestock Research Station. In 1926 he was called up for compulsory military service in the Latvian army, joining the 3rd
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116:. He became involved in coordinating Latvian military participation in front-line combat on the Eastern Front. In October 1942 Hāzners was appointed county chief of
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465:
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Andrew
Ezergailis - Six versions of the Holocaust in Latvia - Latvijas Vēsturnieku komisijas raksti - Holokausts Latvijā, Rīga: 2006, Volume 18, page 79
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welfare organization. Subsequently, he participated in training war invalids, helping approximately 500 take up useful trades and occupations.
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53:, however, Hāzners' schooling was interrupted. Following the war, he resumed his studies after his family's return, graduating from the
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Daugavas Vanagu Centrālas
Parvaldes Izdevums - Latviešu karavīrs otrā pasaules kaŗa laikā, Toronto: 1993, Volume 11, page 149. (
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Instead of addresses, Latvian rural homesteads had names independent of the surname of the family residing there.
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shore ensuring the
Russian retreat was complete. Hāzners subsequently performed adjutant duties for Colonel
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community. He served as the president of the Latvian National Committee (1948-1951), from 1951 editing the
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407:— Background and analysis of U.S. Department of Justice deportation case, retrieved 15 June 2017
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70:(18 November). In September 1936 he requested and was granted a transfer to the 6th
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monthly newsletter, eventually serving as the organization's general-secretary.
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202:-fabricated documents, Hāzners was accused of active participation in the
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Russian forces surrounding them. For his heroism, Hāzners was awarded the
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Following the war, Hāzners was housed with other Latvian POWs at the
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at the Erslaķi homestead into a miller's family. At the outset of
220:, revealed his identity. Hāzners was acquitted after neither the
49:, Hāzners' family became refugees in 1915, finding a new home in
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Hāzners died 12 May 1989 in the United States. He was buried in
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Hāzners resigned his county position in May 1943 and joined the
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for recovery, where he remained until the end of the war.
286:"Valdības vēstnesis" 1934, 17 November (No. 261), page 2.
322:"Daugavas Vēstnesis" 24 October 1942 (No. 247), page 2
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15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)
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in Belgium, where he was one of the founders of the
295:"Brīvā Zeme" 1936, 1 September (No. 137), page 3.
97:Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union
333:"Holocaust in Latvia - Shifting Interpretations"
66:. Hāzners was promoted to lieutenant in 1934 on
139:; the battalion was reorganized as part of the
83:. He was relieved of military service upon the
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304:"Brīvā Zeme" 1940, June 12 (No. 130), page 3
79:. On 12 June 1940, he was awarded a Class V
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451:Latvian emigrants to the United States
222:Immigration and Naturalization Service
313:"Tēvija" 1941, July 5 (No. 5), page 6
228:(OSI) were able to provide evidence.
27:, and a recipient of the Nazi German
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411:Zedelgem POW Camp commemoration site
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466:Nazis who fled to the United States
85:Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
19:(1905–1989) was an officer in the
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446:People from Jelgava Municipality
206:. At the time, he was living in
187:Hāzners was active in the exile
405:Case File: Vilis Arveds Hāzners
357:from the original on 2008-07-06
226:Office of Special Investigation
149:(Honour Roll Clasp of the Army)
461:Escapees from Soviet detention
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436:Latvian World War II refugees
441:Latvian Waffen-SS personnel
387:Alternate sources indicate
30:Ehrenblattspange des Heeres
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41:Vilis Hāzners was born in
159:(Immenheim) and sent to
68:Latvian Independence Day
167:Life after World War II
135:along the banks of the
214:, a columnist for the
147:Ehrenblatt des Heeres
99:on 21 June 1941, the
235:Cemetery in Latvia.
176:prisoner-of-war camp
17:Vilis Arveds Hāzners
351:Wall Street Journal
347:"Spitzer's Nemesis"
198:In 1977, based on
391:, Bērzu cemetery.
212:Fredric U. Dicker
81:Order of Viesturs
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385:Daugavas Vanagi.
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208:upstate New York
189:Latvian-American
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181:Daugavas Vanagi
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141:Kārlis Aperāts
137:Velikaya River
125:Latvian Legion
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25:Latvian Legion
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21:Latvian army
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431:1989 deaths
426:1905 births
217:Times Union
47:World War I
420:Categories
361:4 February
239:References
37:Early life
233:Bērzkrogs
204:Holocaust
77:Gymnasium
355:Archived
224:nor the
210:, where
173:Zedelgem
161:Denmark
133:Opochka
110:Vidzeme
64:Aluksne
59:Jelgava
55:Jelgava
157:Mrocza
118:Abrene
95:After
51:Valka
363:2014
101:NKVD
72:Riga
23:and
200:KGB
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247:^
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