Day of Occupation of the Republic of Latvia

Day of Occupation of the Republic of LatviaThe Red Army began an occupation operation in the early morning of June 17, 1940. Around noon Soviet tanks entered Riga.

The borders of the Baltic countries were crossed by 10 Soviet rifle divisions and 7 tank brigades. The organs of the NKVD prepared camps for 50-70,000 prisoners of war. Vyszynski was appointed Extraordinary Commissioner in Latvia.

The military coup took place three days after the capture of Paris by Nazi Germany, and the world’s attention was focused on the defeat of France.