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Vilis Janums (7 January 1894 – 6 August 1981) was a Latvian officer in the
First World War 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 later also in the
Second World War 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 awarded with the
Order of 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 ...
(IV class),
Order of Viesturs The Order of Viesturs () is a Latvian state order (honour), order founded in 1938, which was temporarily discontinued in 1940 by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Soviet occupation of Latvia, but was re-established in 2004. The order is nam ...
and
German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...
(in gold).


Early life

Vilis Janums was born on 7 January 1894 in Code 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 ...
. His father was a
mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...
. He studied in a
Bauska Bauska () is a town in its Bauska Municipality, eponymous municipality, found in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. Bauska is located from the Latvian capital Riga, 62 km (38.5 mi) from Jelgava and from the Lithuanian border on t ...
city school and graduated shortly before the First World War.


First World War

In October 1914 Janums was mobilized in 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 ...
. He served in
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
units. In 1916 he graduated from the school of the
praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...
s in Orianenbaum and was transferred to the 198th reserve infantry regiment. In April 1916 he was transferred to
Latvian riflemen The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were forme ...
reserve regiment where he was a junior officer. Since February 1917 he served in the 4th Vidzeme Latvian riflemen regiment where he was a junior officer in a machine-gun unit. Together with his unit he participated in the
Battle of Jugla The Riga offensive (), also called the Jugla Offensive or the Battle of Riga (), took place in early September 1917 and was the last major campaign on the Eastern Front of World War I before the Russian Provisional Government and its army bega ...
. In February 1918, when riflemen units went to inner Russia, he was demobilized from military service and stayed in German-occupied
Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...
. Later he traveled to his native Code parish. In January 1919 in
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
he was drafted into the Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and served in the 4th Soviet riflemen regiment. In June he deserted from the Red Army and joined the Latvian army.


Latvian War of Independence

In June 1919 he started his service in the
Latvian army The Latvian Land Forces () together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. From 2007 to 2024, the Land Forces were organized as a fully professional standing army until the re-introduct ...
as a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
. He was a communication officer in the Cēsis regiment. He took part in Battle of Cēsis. In August he was transferred to the 2nd Ventspils infantry regiment where he was a junior officer in a machine-gun company. In January 1920 he participated in liberation of Latgale (Most notably: Battle of Rēzekne). After the battle he became commander of a machine-gun company and was promoted to
First lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...
.


Republic of Latvia

After the War of Independence Janums stayed in the military. In 1921 he was promoted to captain and in 1924 graduated officer courses. He studied in the
Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...
military academy which he graduated in 1930. In August he was transferred to the general staff of the Latvian army and promoted to lieutenant-colonel in November. In 1937 he briefly became a
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
commander in the 6th Riga infantry regiment. In 1938 he became a lecturer in the Latvian military academy. In November 1939 he became chief of staff for the 1st Kurzeme infantry division. In this post he witnessed the
Occupation of Latvia Latvia has been occupied by military forces from other nations from time to time. Military occupations of Latvia have included: * Livonian Crusade (13th century) * Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 * Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany (1941� ...
by the Soviet Union on 17 June 1940. In the autumn of the same year he was demobilized shortly before being promoted to colonel. In the spring of 1941 he managed to travel to
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.


Second World War

Janums returned to Latvia soon after
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
was launched. Until 1943 he was a clerk in the Latvian self-government. In June he was appointed a regiment commander in the 15th Waffen Grenadier division of the SS with the rank of Waffen-Standartenfuhrer. In February 1944 he was awarded the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
(2nd class) and in August with the 1st class. For successful defensive battles in
Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
he was awarded the German Cross (in gold) on 1 March 1945. In April Janums receives an order to form a battle group from units of his regiment and send it to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Battle group (Kampfgruppe Janums) was formed but instead of sending it to Berlin where it most likely would perish in the senseless
battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...
, Janums disobeyed orders and led his group (more than 700 men) to the west. They bypassed Berlin from the south and safely reached the allied lines on 26 April near
Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...
. After communication with Americans Janums and his whole battle group on the next day crossed the front line near Gutergluck village and surrendered to the
American army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
.


Post war

From May 1945 Janums was in allied captivity. He was released in 1946. Janums actively participated in the exile Latvian community. In 1946 he was one of the founders of the '' Daugavas Vanagi'' (Hawks of Daugava) Latvian military veteran organization and its first president. The rest of his life was spent in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
. He died in
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
6 August 1981. In 2007 his remains were reburied in Brothers Cemetery, Riga.


See also


CIA's File on Vilis Janums
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References

* “Latviešu karavīrs otra pasaules kara laikā”, Stockholm, 1978 * “Latvijas armijas augstākie virsnieki”, Rīga, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Janums, Vilis 1894 births 1981 deaths Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Latvian Waffen-SS personnel People from Courland Governorate Recipients of the Gold German Cross People from Bauska Municipality SS-Standartenführer Latvian prisoners of war Latvian Riflemen World War II prisoners of war held by the United States