Gustavs Celmiņš (April 1, 1899 – April 10, 1968) was a Latvian based politician, who was the founder of the

Pērkonkrusts Pērkonkrusts (, "Thunder Cross") was a Latvian ultranationalist, Anti-German sentiment, anti-German, anti-Slavic, and antisemitic political party founded in 1933 by Gustavs Celmiņš, borrowing elements of German nationalism—but being unsymp ...

(Latvian pronunciation: , "Thunder Cross").

Biography

He was educated at the commerce school of the

Riga Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Riga, formerly Riga Stock Exchange, is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by Nasdaq, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Established ...

, and graduated in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. In 1917, he began studies at the

Riga Polytechnical Institute Riga Technical University (RTU) ( lv, Rīgas Tehniskā universitāte) is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as 'Riga Polytechnical Insti ...

which had been evacuated to Moscow. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, he returned to Latvia. In 1918, Celmiņš enlisted into the newly created

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces ( lv, Sauszemes spēki, SzS) together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. Since 2007, land forces are organized as a fully professional standing army. Mission ...

, and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

the following year, and was then appointed Latvian military attaché in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. In 1921, he was awarded the

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, lv, Lāčplēša Kara ordenis), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during ...

. Retired from army in 1924, he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1925 to 1927. Celmiņš became the secretary of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and subsequently worked in the Finance Ministry. On 24 January 1932, the Latvian

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

group '' Ugunskrusts'' ("Firecross") was founded, and Gustavs Celmiņš was elected as its leader. After ''Ugunskrusts'' was banned, he founded the organization ''

'' ("Thundercross"). Common for both organisations was that they advocated a national revolution for a radical re-organisation of society, politics, and the economy in Latvia. Following

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from November 1918 to ...

' 15 May 1934 ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

'', Celmiņš was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He was exiled from Latvia in 1937. Celmiņš moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, then Switzerland. While in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

, he was arrested and then banished from Switzerland. He later lived in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, where he had contacts with the Iron Guard, and then moved to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In 1938, he became the leader of ''Pērkonkrusts "foreign contacts office". After the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

invaded Finland, Celmiņš enrolled as a volunteer on the latter's side. When the conflict ended, he moved to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. In July 1941, after

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, he, together with

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

officials, returned to Latvia and regained leadership of ''Pērkonkrusts''. After the occupation authorities once again banned ''Pērkonkrusts'' in August 1941, Celmiņš continued his outward collaboration with the Germans in the hopes that sizable Latvian military formations would be created. From February 1942, he headed the Committee for Organising Latvian Volunteers ( lv, Latviešu brīvprātīgo organizācijas komiteja), the main function of which was the recruitment of Latvian men for the Latvian Auxiliary Police Battalions, known in German as ''Schutzmannschaften'' or simply ''Schuma''. Aside from front-line combat duties, these battalions were also deployed in

anti-partisan operations Axis forces were involved in counter-insurgency operations against the various resistance movements during World War II. During the Second World War, resistance movements that bore any resemblance to irregular warfare were frequently dealt with ...

Latvia and Belarus that included the massacres of rural Jews and other civilians. This situation was not what Celmiņš had hoped for, and so he began to sabotage the recruitment efforts. Because of this, he was later transferred to a job as a minor clerk within the occupation administration. ''Pērkonkrusts'' members working within the SD apparatus in occupied Latvia would feed Celmiņš information, some of which he would include in his underground, anti-German publication '' Brīvā Latvija''. This eventually led to Celmiņš and his associates being arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

in 1944, with Celmiņš ending up imprisoned in

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

. In late April 1945 he was, together with other prominent concentration camp inmates, transferred to Tyrol where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on 5 May 1945. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he lived in Italy, where he published the newspaper ''Brīvā Latvija''. In 1947 he published the autobiographic book ''Eiropas krustceļos'' ("At the Crossroads of Europe"). In 1949 he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. From 1950 to 1952 he was an instructor at Syracuse University's Armed Forces school in New York state, and beginning in 1951 he was also the director of the Foreign Language program for the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...

, and a television lecturer about the USSR and communism. From 1954 to 1956 he worked as a manufacturer in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Between 1956 and 1958 he was a librarian at Trinity University in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. In 1959 he became a professor of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

studies at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. He died on April 10, 1968 in San Antonio, Texas.Celmiņš, Gustavs (01.04.1899.-10.04.1968.)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Celmins, Gustavs 1899 births 1968 deaths Fascist politicians Politicians from Riga People from the Governorate of Livonia Latvian fascists Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Latvian military personnel Volunteers in the Winter War World War II resistance press activists Flossenbürg concentration camp survivors Latvian emigrants to the United States St. Mary's University, Texas faculty 20th-century Latvian politicians Latvian dissidents

Biography

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References