Gustavs Celmiņš
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Gustavs Celmiņš (April 1, 1899 – April 10, 1968) was a Latvian politician and fascist leader.
[edit] Biography
Born in Riga, he was educated at the commerce school of the Riga Stock Exchange, and graduated in Moscow. In 1917, he began studies in Riga Polytechnics Institute which had been evacuated to Moscow. After the October Revolution, he returned to Latvia.
In 1918, Celmiņš enlisted into the newly-created Latvian Army, and was promoted to lieutenant the following year, and was then appointed Latvian military attaché in Poland. In 1921, he was awarded the Order of the Bear Slayer.
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. In January 24, 1932, the Latvian nationalist group Ugunskrusts was founded, and Gustavs Celmiņš was elected as its leader. After Ugunskrusts was banned, he founded the organization Perkonkrusts ("Thundercross"). Following Karlis Ulmanis' May 15, 1934 coup d'état, Celmiņš was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He was exiled in 1937.
Celmiņš moved to Italy, then Switzerland. While in Zürich, he was arrested and then banished from Switzerland. He later lived in Romania, where he had contacts with Iron Guard, and then moved to Finland. In 1938, he became the leader of Perkonkrusts' "foreign contacts office" . After the Soviet Union invasion in Finland, Celmiņš enrolled as a volunteer on the latter's side. When the conflict ended, he moved to Nazi Germany.
In July 1941, after Operation Barbarossa, he, together with Nazi officials, returned to Latvia and regained leadership of Perkonkrusts. On March 14, 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo for underground activities and sent to concentration camps, until being set free by American 5th army.
After World War II, he lived in Italy, where he published the newspaper Briva Latvija ("Free Latvia"). In 1947 he published the autobiographic book Eiropas krustcelos ("At the Crossroads of Europe").
[edit] Quotes
- "We believe, that Latvians throughout the wide world have only one place in which to live - Latvia, whereas other nations have their own home lands. Whether that is according to ethics or democratic principles makes no difference, for us only the good of the Latvian nation is important."
- "Our God, our religion, our reason of life, our goals is the Latvian nation, those who don't facilitate its prosperity are our enemies."
