In 1945, on 9 May, after the capitulation of the German army in Courland, a new phase of resistance began: some Latvian Legion soldiers, still armed and organized into platoons and even companies, did not enter the path of Soviet filtration but went into the forests of Courland and joined the national partisans. The writings of the Historians’ Commission mark this date as a watershed—from 9 May, Latvian national partisan units were no longer under foreign command or direct support, but fought against the renewed Soviet occupation.

For Latvia, May 1945 did not bring full liberation: Nazi occupation was replaced by the renewed Soviet occupation. That is why armed resistance in the forests of Courland and elsewhere continued for several more years, forming the core of the postwar national partisan war.