Gustavs Celmiņš facts for kids

Gustavs Celmiņš (born April 1, 1899 – died April 10, 1968) was an important Latvian politician. He is best known for starting a group called Pērkonkrusts, which means "Thunder Cross." This group wanted to make big changes in Latvia.

Gustavs Celmiņš: Early Life and Military Service

Gustavs Celmiņš went to school in Moscow and later studied at the Riga Polytechnical Institute. After a big event called the October Revolution, he returned to Latvia.

In 1918, Gustavs joined the new Latvian Army. He quickly became a lieutenant, which is a military officer. Later, he worked for Latvia in Poland as a military attaché, helping with military relations between the two countries. In 1921, he received the Order of Lāčplēsis, a special award for bravery in Latvia.

Political Career and Exile

After leaving the army in 1924, Celmiņš worked in the Latvian government. He was part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later the Finance Ministry.

In 1932, he helped create a group called Ugunskrusts, which means "Firecross." This group wanted to bring about big changes in Latvia. When Ugunskrusts was banned, he started a new group called Pērkonkrusts ("Thunder Cross"). Both groups believed in a strong, independent Latvia and wanted to change how society and the economy worked.

In 1934, after a change in government, Celmiņš was arrested and put in prison for three years. After his release in 1937, he was sent away from Latvia.

Life Abroad and World War II

After being exiled, Celmiņš lived in several countries. He moved to Italy, then Switzerland, but was asked to leave Switzerland. He also lived in Romania and Finland. In Finland, he even volunteered to fight when the Soviet Union invaded.

Later, he moved to Nazi Germany. In 1941, during World War II, he returned to Latvia with German officials. He hoped to lead Pērkonkrusts again and create a strong Latvian army.

However, the German authorities soon banned Pērkonkrusts. Celmiņš still worked with the Germans, hoping to form large Latvian military groups. He helped recruit Latvians for police battalions. These battalions were involved in fighting against resistance groups and also in terrible events against civilians. This was not what Celmiņš wanted, and he started to secretly work against the German recruitment efforts. Because of this, he was given a less important job.

Celmiņš also secretly shared information in an underground newspaper called Brīvā Latvija, which means "Free Latvia." This newspaper was against the Germans. In 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo, the German secret police, and sent to a prison camp called Flossenbürg concentration camp.

In April 1945, near the end of the war, he was moved to Tyrol and later freed by the American army.

After World War II

After the war, Gustavs Celmiņš lived in Italy. He continued to publish his newspaper, Brīvā Latvija. In 1947, he wrote a book about his life called Eiropas krustceļos, which means "At the Crossroads of Europe."

In 1949, he moved to the United States. He worked as a teacher at Syracuse University and later directed a foreign language program for the United States Air Force. He also gave talks about the Soviet Union and communism on television.

He lived in Mexico for a few years, working as a manufacturer. Later, he became a librarian at Trinity University in San Antonio. In 1959, he became a professor of Russian studies at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.

Gustavs Celmiņš passed away on April 10, 1968, in San Antonio, Texas.

His Beliefs

Gustavs Celmiņš strongly believed that Latvia should be a country only for Latvians. He once said that in a "Latvian Latvia," there would be no questions about minority groups. He believed that the most important thing was the well-being of the Latvian nation. He felt that Latvia was the only place in the world for Latvians, and other peoples had their own countries. He wanted a Latvia where only Latvians lived.