WWII

The Courland Pocket, Latvia

Below is a selection of relics used by German and Soviet troops during the Courland Pocket in Latvia. The Courland Pocket, located in the Courland Peninsula, was when Nazi troops, the Army Group North and the Reichskommissariat Ostland, were cut off from the remainder of German troops by Soviet Red Army forces between July 31, 1944 and May 10, 1945. Today, relics can still be found on the very sites where the Courland Pocket took place. Among the artifacts found were personal belongings of soldiers, medals, and even full and parts of weapons. The museum has a selection of relics used by both sides, Nazi and Soviet, which, as previously mentioned, can be viewed below.

Above are some relics used by Nazi soldiers that were found between the Latvian cities of Tukums and Talsi. Artifacts include spoons, tubes with different medicinal contents such as toothpast, a shaving razor with its original box, buttons, an astray, a Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service) medal, among other pieces.

Here is a jar found at the Courland Pocket that was used by German soldiers. When the jar was acquired by the museum, it was in pieces and had to be painstakingly restored and reconstructed. The first image shows where the cracks in the jar began and, with its reassembly, the only part that couldn't be filled in was the hole where the shattering started. The pieces that once occupied that hole turned into tiny, dust-like shards that could not be reused. This piece, along with the others above, was found in German positions between the cities of Tukums and Talsi, Latvia.