Voldemārs Veiss

Voldemars Veiss ( German name Waldemar White, born November 7, 1899 in Riga, Latvia, † April 17, 1944 ) was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Latvian Army, Standartenführer in the Waffen- SS and significant Nazi collaborator in the Baltics.

Veiss ' role as a Nazi collaborator

On July 20, Stahlecker solved the paramilitary, imposed the formation of a police organization and sat at the head of Voldemars Veiss. The end of 1941 a " Latvian self-government" in the Reich Commissariat Ostland was formed under German control, with Veiss as a representative of " the Director-General of Internal Affairs ." From the fall of 1941, the Wehrmacht used Latvian police units under Veiss ' command within the Russian campaign on the front as well as in fight against the partisans and the civilian population, such as in the operation Winterzauber. , 1943, the so-called Latvian SS Legion was formed for the war effort. Voldemars Veiss was commander of the " volunteer regiment " of the 2nd Latvian Brigade with the rank of SS - Obersturmbannführer. , 1943, and 1944 Veiss received several medals for bravery, including the first sandal that of Adolf Hitler on the occasion of the Polish campaign specially endowed Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

On April 7, 1944, he was severely wounded in battle on the river Welikaja. He came into the SS military hospital in Riga, where he died a few days later from his injuries. He was buried after a lavishly staged funeral in the Cathedral of Riga on 21 April 1944.