Kārlis Goppers

General Kārlis Goppers (April 2, 1876, Plāņi parish – March 25, 1941 at Ulbroka) was a Latvian military officer and the founder and President of Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija. He was the commander of the 7th Bauska riflemen regiment during World War I and commander of the Vidzeme division of the Latvian army, from 1924 to April 1934, when he retired.

Goppers in Latvian Scout uniform

Background

In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Latvia, a special officer was appointed by the communists to abolish Scouting. "The Soviet repressive authorities regarded all organizations and parties of independent Latvia, including the Boy Scouts, as fascist or counterrevolutionary", concluded a University of Latvia study in 2005.[1] Scouting continued unofficially and underground, operating without uniforms and in the forests to avoid detection. Shortly before Goppers' arrest, he said farewell to his Scouting colleagues:

"I am totally calm, as you should be also. It is certain that I will need to disappear, maybe also a few of you, but there will be others left — those we have mentored — and they will continue the work they have started for the benefit of our homeland and people." — Kārlis Goppers

On 30 September 1940, the NKVD arrested General Goppers. He was sentenced to death after a show trial and on 25 March 1941, he was shot on KGB premises 61 Brivibas street, buried in the mass grave in Ulbroka (Stopiņi) together with other victims of the shooting. In May 1944, he was reburied in the Riga Brothers Cemetery, but his heart was buried in his native Trikata (Trikāta Cemetery).

Goppers is recipient of the Latvian military Order of Lāčplēsis, 2nd class.[2] In 1939, he received Scouting's Silver Wolf Award from the movement's founder, Robert Baden-Powell, for his leadership in Latvia.

See also

References
  1. Nollendorfs, Valters; Oberlander, Erwin (2005). "The Hidden and Forbidden History of Latvia under Soviet and Nazi Occupations 1940–1991" (PDF). Institute of the History of Latvia, University of Latvia: 58 and 311 (footnote 39). Retrieved August 27, 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Priedītis, Ērichs Ēriks (1996). Latvijas Valsts apbalvojumi un Lāčplēši (in Latvian). Riga: Junda. ISBN 9984-01-020-1. OCLC 38884671.


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