Latvia in World War II (review)

Latvia in World War II is the first of eighty volumes in a series dealing with individual nations and their experiences in the Second World War. Lumans, a Latvian-American and the son of immigrants who fled the initial Soviet invasion in 1941, engages with many of the questions that post-Soviet Latvia continues to have trouble facing today. The Latvian experience during the Second World War, much like those of its Baltic neighbours, was about dictatorship, occupation, and colonialism. Latvia suffered the collapse of democracy and the erection of a dictatorship prior to the Second World War. Secondly, Latvia experienced both Soviet and then Nazi occupation before the final Soviet advance in 1944. Finally, with the Nazis' defeat and the West's acquiescence, the three Baltic states became Soviet colonies lasting until August 1991. Traditionally a military historian, Lumans dissects the complexities of this very small state in a very big war with a thorough analysis, a plethora of research and an insightful discussion.

As well as portraying the ebb and flow of the war in Latvia, Lumans also objectively engages with three contemporary contentious issues. Firstly, did the Germans "liberate" Latvia following Soviet occupation? Details of the racial categorization and how it changed over time pours cold water on any intention of the Germans to "liberate" Latvia. Secondly, Lumans makes a thorough investigation of the Holocaust in Latvia. He establishes beyond doubt that many Latvians were willing participants in the killing of Jews in Latvia and through antipartisan activities in Belarus. At the same time, the author also illustrates how the mass murder of Jews was directed by the Nazis and rarely happened outside the direction of the SS. As Lumans highlights, what is saddest for Latvia is the fact that it appears that so few Latvians attempted to help those Jews that were attempting to escape genocide. Finally, the book deals with the question of collaboration. In other words, where did German compulsion begin and Latvian cooperation end? There were generally three types of Latvians. There is little doubt that some were prepared to take up arms against those who had terrorised Latvia in 1941. At the same time, many Latvians thought that by working with the Germans, they would be able to reclaim the state that the Soviets had taken away. Finally, there were those Latvians who were trying to stay out of the army and work brigades established by the Nazis. However, in the end the Latvians in general had very little choice especially as the war steadily worsened for Nazi Germany. Overall, the answers to these questions are important as Latvians "resurrect their state and decide which features of their wartime legacy to accept as part of their common, Latvian national experience and which to discard as incongruous anomalies or even as un-Latvian" (p. 263). In this regard, Lumans has offered an instructive history to Latvia and the wider community.