Latvian Auxiliary Police

Latvian Auxiliary Police
Members of the 21st Latvian Police Battalion assemble a group of Jewish women for execution on a beach near Liepaja, December 15, 1941.
Active	from July 1941
Country	Nazi Germany
Engagements	Holocaust in Latvia, Anti-partisan operations in Belarus
Commanders
Notable commanders	Viktors Arājs Roberts Blūzmanis

Latvian Auxiliary Police was a paramilitary force created from Latvian volunteers by the Nazi German authorities who occupied the country in June 1941. Composed of local fascists, rightist members of the former military and police, and nationalist students, the organization participated in the Holocaust, looting and killing the local Jewish population. One of its units, the Arajs Kommando, was notorious for killing 26,000 civilians during the war, mostly Jews, but also Communists and Romas.

The auxiliary police force consisted primarily individuals of police, army, and militia organizations which had been disbanded upon the prior Soviet occupation. Within the first week of the German occupation, the leader of Einsatzgruppe A Franz Walter Stahlecker tasked Lt. Colonel Voldemārs Veiss with organising a police force to operate under the command of the SS.

The first Latvian Schutzmannschaft (Police) Battalions were formed, most to serve as combat units, some to carry out raids against partisans and to discharge ghetto guard duties. One of the earliest units formed was in Daugavpils, which German forces reached on June 28, 1941, six days after launching Operation Barbarossa. Roberts Blūzmanis was appointed chief of the Latvian Auxiliary Police in Nazi-occupied Daugavpils. An auxiliary police force was in Riga under Nazi ausipces on July 3, 1941, headed by Latvian captain, Pētersons.