The illegally conscripted draftees from Vidzeme and Latgale were sent as ‘cannon fodder’ in a direct attack against the superior opponent. This battle took place near the homestead Kambari from 23 to 25 January 1945. According to the eyewitnesses (sent as waggoners to collect the bodies several months later), in the spring and summer of 1945, the mound of bodies near the homestead Kambari had reached human height. At least 600–800 bodies had been scattered over two fields towards the homestead Īlēni. However, the Russian officers had not allowed them to collect those bodies saying, ‘They were from the penal battalion! Let them rot!’ The number of the Red Army soldiers who died in the battles in January 1945 could reach 2000–3000 people.
