Uldis Ģērmanis

Historian, Deceased Person

1915 – 1997

32

Who was Uldis Ģērmanis?

Uldis Ģērmanis was a Latvian historian, writer and publicist born in Novaya Ladoga, Russian Empire. His father was Jānis Ģermanis, and his family returned to the newly independent Latvia in 1919.

He taught history at the University of Latvia in Riga from 1943 and obtained his Masters degree. During World War II, he was mobilised in Latvian Legion and served in 19th. waffen grenadier division of the SS as military reporter. A few days before German capitulation, he emigrated to Sweden, where he settled in Solna. In 1974, he received his doctorate in history from the University of Stockholm.

Ģērmanis was, since 1935, a lifelong member of the Latvian student fraternity Fraternitas Livonica. His speciality was modern Latvian history, especially of the Soviet Union and the Latvian Riflemen. His ground-breaking work on Jukums Vācietis and the Latvian Riflemen's role in the Bolshevik Revolution paved the way for further research on this subject by other Latvian émigré historians, notably the early works of Andrew Ezergailis.

His book Zili stikli, zaļi ledi describes his experience researching the story of Vācietis. Ģērmanis was one of the rare émigré Latvians allowed access to primary sources in the Latvian SSR at the time. In the book, he describes the suspicion he was met with by both the Soviet Latvian authorities, and by his fellow émigrés, who questioned his motives for researching the history of pro-Bolshevik Latvians.

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Born
Oct 4, 1915
Novaya Ladoga
Profession
Education
  • Stockholm University
Died
Dec 19, 1997
Stockholm

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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