Uldis Ģērmanis () was a Latvian historian, writer and publicist born in Novaya Ladoga,

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 ...

. His father was Jānis Ģermanis, and his family returned to the newly independent

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 ...

in 1919. He taught history at the University of Latvia in Riga from 1943 and obtained his master's degree. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was mobilized to the Latvian Legion and served in the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) as a military reporter. A few days before the German capitulation, he emigrated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he settled in

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...

. In 1974, he received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in history from the

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. Ģērmanis was, since 1935, a lifelong member of the Latvian student fraternity Fraternitas Livonica. His speciality was modern Latvian history, especially of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the Latvian Riflemen. His ground-breaking work on and the Latvian Riflemen's role in the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

paved the way for further research on this subject by other Latvian émigré historians, notably the early works of Andrew Ezergailis. His book (Blue glass, green ice; 1968) describes his experience researching the story of Vācietis. Ģērmanis was one of the rare émigré Latvians allowed access to primary sources in the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

at the time. In the book, he describes the suspicion he was met with by both the Soviet Latvian authorities, and by his fellow émigrés, who questioned his motives for researching the history of pro-Bolshevik Latvians. In 1958, Ģērmanis living in exile completed "''The Latvian Saga''", which presents Latvian history, but reads like a novel. As the Latvian Embassy in the USA writes: In 2007, the eleventh edition was issued in an English version and the works of Ģērmanis are becoming increasingly popular in his native country as well. His lecture in Toronto, in 1988, about "current events" in the Soviet Union, is considered by many to be the best analysis of the situation at the time. Uldis Ģērmanis was elected a member of the

Latvian Academy of Sciences The Latvian Academy of Sciences (, ) is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences'' (). It is located in Riga. The curren ...

in 1992 and awarded the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

in 1995.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germanis, Uldis 1915 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Latvian historians Latvian emigrants to Sweden Latvian Waffen-SS personnel Latvian World War II refugees Latvian writers People from Novoladozhsky Uyezd People from Volkhovsky District Stockholm University alumni University of Latvia alumni Academic staff of the University of Latvia