Oskars Dankers (March 26, 1883 – April 11, 1965) was a Latvian general. He participated in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and in the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

. He was a recipient of the

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, ), 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 the Latvian War of Independ ...

, 2nd and 3rd class. During the

occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany The military occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on 10 July 1941, by Germany's armed forces. Initially, the territory of Latvia was under the military administration of Army Group North, but on 25 July 1941, Latvia was in ...

, Dankers was appointed head of the German-controlled Latvian Self-Government.

Biography

He was born in Irlava parish,

Courland Governorate Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland or Governorate of Kurland, and known from 1795 to 1796 as the Viceroyalty of Courland, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The first education he received was in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

, where he studied at the Alexander School. He continued his education in Jelgavas

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

and graduated in 1902. Dankers joined the 180th infantry regiment of the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, which was deployed in Jelgava. He graduated from the Vilnius Military Academy in 1906 and continued service in the 197th infantry regiment of the Russian Army, deployed near

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. In 1913 Dankers received the rank of

Stabskapitän ''Stabskapitän'' (English: staff captain), in the cavalry also ''Stabsrittmeister'' ("staff riding master" or "staff cavalry master"), or ''Kapitänleutnant'' (captain lieutenant), was a historic military rank in the Prussian Army. In referen ...

. Dankers participated in World War I with the 197th infantry regiment. He initially commanded a company, and later a battalion. On February 4, 1916, he was promoted to the rank of podpolkovnik ( Lt. colonel). During his service, Dankers was shell-shocked and was wounded several times. Dankers was repeatedly awarded decorations. He was captured by the enemy in July 1916 and was released in 1918. He returned to Helsinki and remained there until May 1919. On May 31, 1919, he joined the Latvian Army in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. He started as an officer of special tasks at the headquarters of

Jorģis Zemitāns Jorģis Zemitāns (23 February 1873, Skrīveri parish – 16 January 1928, Riga) was an army officer and commander of the Latvian Northern Brigade during the Latvian War of Independence. Biography Jorģis Zemitāns was born on 23 February 18 ...

and participated in the formation of new Latvian troops. In June, he became a commander of the 3rd Jelgava Infantry Regiment (soon afterwards, the regiment was recalled to the 7th Sigulda Infantry Regiment). He and his troops were transported via the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, where in August, he was appointed commander to the highest Latvian troop in Liepāja.Biography in Order of Lāčplēsis home page
In battles of November 1919, he defended Liepāja against the Bermontian Army. Later that month, he was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. At the end of 1919 Dankers became commander of the 4th Zemgale Infantry Division. Serving as a commander in the Zemgale Division, he participated in several battles at the

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

front. On June 22, 1926, he was promoted to general. After the

, he continued his military education. He was commander of the Zemgale Division until 1933. Afterwards, he commanded the 1st Kurzeme Infantry Division. Oskars Dankers at the Nuremberg Trials

In January 1940, he left the post as commander of Kurzeme Division and in June (two days after the Soviet occupation), he went to Germany with his family. When Germany initiated war with the USSR in 1941, he returned to (

Reichskommissariat Ostland The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...

), Latvia, where he held several high posts in the German-made .Biography of Dankers
In September 1944 he and his family left Latvia for Germany, where he was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

in 1945 by the United States forces. He was the subject of suspicions because of his posts in German occupation institutions, however, there was no evidence of war crimes.OFFICE OF CHIEF COUNSEL FOR WAR CRIMES APO 696 A, memo dated July 26, 1948, from Arthur I. Peterson, War Crimes Attorney, reproduced in Dankers, O. ''Lai Vēsture Spriež''. Apgāds Latvis, 1965. After his release in 1947, he lived in an

UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, pronounced ) was an international relief agency founded in November 1943 on the joint initiative of the United States, United Kingdom, USSR, and the Republic of China. Its purpose ...

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...

in Germany. In the 1950s, Dankers lost his eyesight. In 1957, he moved – this time to United States – where he published two books about his life. He died in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

on April 11, 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dankers, Oskars 1883 births 1965 deaths People from Tukums Municipality People from Courland Governorate Latvian generals Russian military personnel of World War I Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Latvian people of World War II Latvian World War II refugees Latvian collaborators with Nazi Germany Latvian emigrants to the United States Latvian prisoners of war Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class World War II prisoners of war held by the United States

Biography

See also

References