Harry Merritt Emerging Scholars Grant Report: Archival Research in Latvia

Thanks to the support of an AABS Emerging Scholars Grant, I was able complete a research trip to Latvia in support of my book project. I spent several weeks in May and June 2023 at the State Archives of Latvia and at the Latvian War Museum (both located in Riga), where I was able to gather archival documents on Latvian national military formations in World War II and on the soldiers who served in them. These documents remain undigitized and unavailable anywhere else. Materials I found included the following: military records from wartime units of the Waffen-SS Latvian Legion; correspondence, petitions, speeches, and organizational documents from Latvian Legion veterans in the postwar period; and wartime and postwar documents from veterans of the Red Army Latvian Rifle Corps. I also visited the National Library of Latvia to view some rare books and periodicals that are unavailable in North America. It was a very productive trip, with my only setback being Latvia’s 3rd place finish in the Hockey World Championship, which closed the archives for a day as an impromptu national holiday.

Crucially, this research trip enabled me to expand my dissertation research by incorporating new materials on the activities of Latvian veterans from both sides of World War II, which illuminate how veterans adjusted to postwar life, narrated their war experiences, and advocated for themselves politically over time. This research has advanced my book project substantially and has already resulted in a peer-reviewed article receiving initial acceptance in an academic journal. Now I am working toward completing a full manuscript for my book over the next few months. I am deeply grateful to AABS for its generous support of my research, without which I would not have been able to achieve this major progress in my publications.

-Harry Merritt, 2024

Harry Merritt