The upgraded exhibition “The End of the War in Kurzeme” was officially opened on 13 December at the Ezere Customs House, a repository of cultural history and local history materials in Ezere within the framework of the Estonia-Latvia cross-border cooperation programme project “Military Heritage”. It reflects the events leading up to the end of World War II. On 8 May 1945, the Act of Surrender of the German troops surrounded in the Kurzeme Cauldron was signed in this building.
The exhibition is multi-layered and aimed at a wide range of visitors. Foreign visitors can also find the content in English, but in order to appeal to history enthusiasts, the in-depth part of the exhibition offers specific, detailed information on the army units of the belligerents in Kurzeme at the end of WW II.
Through artistic means, appropriate colour palette, battle diagrams, video evidence, eyewitness memories, photographs from the last days of the war, as well as unique historical background information, the exhibition brings the visitor into the thick of the story of the beginning and the end of hostilities in Courland. It will also highlight the consequences of warfare today, where the evidence of WWII is not only history but also an everyday reality.
The exhibition is a collaboration of true professionals in their field – the content and historical concept was developed by historian Valdis Kuzmins, while the artistic and visual design was created by artist Ieva Lapiņa.
Historical information:
In Reims, Germany the Third Reich signed its surrender to the Allies on 7 May 1945 at 02:41 CET. The unconditional surrender took effect at 23:01 CET on 8 May 1945.
On the morning of 7 May 1945, Marshal Leonid Govorov, Commander of the Leningrad Front, having received information about the signing of the Reims surrender, sent an ultimatum to the leadership of Army Group Courland demanding that they lay down their arms and giving them 24 hours to reply. The Colonel-General decided to accept the Soviet ultimatum after receiving an order from Grand Admiral Karl Denitz that the surrender was to take effect.
On 8 May at 8.00 a.m. At 07.00 and 08.35 Moscow time, the Leningrad front headquarters received open-text radiograms informing that Army Group Kurzeme had accepted the surrender. The two sides agreed on the radio procedure and agreed that on 8 May at 15.00 on the Skrunda – Pampaļi road, the representative of Army Group Kurzeme, Major General Otto Rauser, would cross the front line. The negotiations, at which the Soviet side was represented by Colonel General Markian Popov, started at 18.00 and took place in Ezeres, in the customs house on the Latvian-Lithuanian border.
The document was signed at 22.05 on 8 May and stipulated the surrender procedure, the points for collecting weapons, the amount of documents and information to be submitted and other practical measures. (Information from https://militaryheritagetourism.info/lv/military/sites/view/88?0)
The exhibition is now open for visitors by appointment by phone +371 29475438. For more information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/EzeresMuitasnams.
In the meantime, if you are also interested in Military Heritage, follow Military Heritage Tourism on Facebook, on Instagram, and more than 500 objects, stories and other information can be found at https://militaryheritagetourism.info/lv.
The project “Latvian-Estonian joint military heritage tourism product” (“Military Heritage”) is implemented in the Interreg Estonia-Latvia cross-border cooperation program for 2014-2020. A total of 25 partners and 36 military heritage sites in Latvia and Estonia are involved in the project.
The Project is co-financed by the INTERREG Estonia Latvia programme 2014. – 2020. (More inormation about project partners (celotajs.lv))
#militaryheritage #militāraismantojums #Militaarajaloopärand #Militärerbe #Военноенаследие
Information prepared by:
Jana Kalve
Kurzeme planning region
Project manager
mobile: +371 29524558,
e-mail: jana.kalve@kurzemesregions.lv,
www.kurzemesregions.lv
This information reflects the views of the author. The managing authority of the programme is not liable for how this information may be used.
