Dzelzkalnu cemetery of Latvian rebels who fought against Russian occupation 1945-1957

Mass grave of Latvian Partisans was firstly made in 1946, when Soviet Occupation forces killed 6 independence fighters here in the forest. Later other partisans, killed by Soviet occupation forces were reburried here 

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Latvian "forest brothers" were the Latvian national partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule during and after Second World War. Armed actions against Soviet invaders were more active in years 1940-1941 and 1944-1957 and up to 40,000 armed men and supporters were involved. Most of guerilla fighters did not survive- they were killed in action, many executed, but the rest - arrested and deported to prisons and GULAG camps for the 25 years.

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Preparations for partisan operations in Courland were begun during the German occupation, but the leaders of these nationalist units were arrested and executed by Nazi authorities.

 Longer-lived resistance units began to form during the last months of the war; their ranks were composed of a good number of Latvian Legion soldiers as well as civilians.

The partisan operations in Latvia had some basis in Hitler's authorisation of a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid-September 1944—and in the fate of Army Group Courland, among the last of Hitler's forces to surrender after it became trapped in the Courland Pocket on the Latvian peninsula in 1945.

After the capitulation of Germany on May 8, 1945 approximately 4000 legionaries went to the forests, later they were supported by more than 20,000 civilians. Others, such as Alfons Rebane and Alfrēds Riekstiņš escaped to the United Kingdom and Sweden and participated in Allied intelligence operations in aid of the partisans.

The ranks of the resistance swelled with the Red Army's attempts at conscription in Latvia after the war, with fewer than half the registered conscripts reporting in some districts. The widespread harassment of disappearing conscripts' families pushed more people to evade authorities in the forests. Many enlisted men deserted, taking their weapons with them.

The number of active combatants peaked at between 10,000 and 15,000, while the total number of resistance fighters was as high as 40,000. One author gives a figure of up to 12,000 grouped in 700 units during the 1945–55 decade, but definitive figures are unavailable.

 Over time, the partisans replaced their German weapons with Russian ones. The partisan organizations which attempted to unite and coordinate their activities were the Latvian National Partisan Association in Vidzeme and Latgale, the Northern Courland Partisan Organization, Latvian National Partisan Organization in Courland, Latvian Defenders of the Homeland (partisan) Association in Latgale and the "Fatherland Hawks" in Southern Courland.

 In some 3,000 raids, the partisans inflicted damage on uniformed military personnel, party cadres (particularly in rural areas), buildings, and ammunition depots. Communist authorities reported 1,562 Soviet personnel killed and 560 wounded during the entire resistance period.

To destroy the partisan base of support major deportation took place in March 1949. Most part of supporters were deported and others were forced to join kolkhozs.

By the early 1950s, the Soviet forces had eradicated most of the Latvian national resistance. Intelligence gathered by the Soviet spies in the West and KGB infiltrators within the resistance movement, in combination with large-scale Soviet operations in 1952 managed to end the campaigns against them.