Generalbezirk Lettland

Generalbezirk Lettland (General District Latvia) was one of the four administrative subdivisions of Reichskommissariat Ostland, the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany for the administration of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), and the western part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Generalbezirk Lettland was originally organized on 25 July 1941 on the territory of the then German-occupied Latvia, which had until then been under the military administration of the Wehrmacht's Army Group North.

[1] Civil administration was led by a Generalkommissar (General Commissioner) directly appointed by Adolf Hitler, and who reported to Ostland Reichskommissar Hinrich Lohse, headquartered in Riga.

Generalbezirk Lettland was the site of the Rumbula massacre, one of the most notorious mass executions in the eastern occupied territories.

On 14 September 1944, the Red Army launched its Riga offensive and Generalkommissar Drechsler departed for Lübeck in Germany.