On 8 May 1945, in Ezere, the command of the German Army Group “Kurland” signed a surrender document with the Soviet command. This effectively ended combat on Latvian territory in the Second World War, in the Courland front pocket, where large Wehrmacht forces remained trapped until Germany’s collapse. For Latvia’s inhabitants, the day was not a simple “liberation” – Nazi occupation was replaced by renewed Soviet occupation.

The Courland front was one of the last military knots of the Second World War in Latvia. The surrender on 8 May ended open warfare, but it did not restore Latvia’s state freedom – the country remained under Soviet rule until the restoration of independence in 1990–1991.