Originally occupied by the Soviets in 1940 as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the nation of Latvia was swept up by the Nazis in 1941 during their Eastward offensive. When the Latvian Legions were formed, the men were a mixture of hardcore Nazi supporters, including participants in Holocaust-related activities, Latvian patriots who saw the Germans as either the lesser of two evils or a convenient source of arms and training for a future Latvian revolution, and draftees who were given the choice to "volunteer" for service or get put in a concentration camp. Organized around division-level command and staff officers from the Waffen-SS, most of the combat officers and enlisted men were Latvian. Latvian troops were among the last Axis forces in Europe to remain in the fight, participating in the Defense of Berlin and holding out on the Courland Peninsula until V-E Day. Afterwards, many of them escaped the Soviets to engage in partisan activity for several years after the war. Heavy "feldgrau" wool construction, with the left sleeve bearing the SS variant of the Party Eagle over the red and white "LATVIJA" volunteer shield. White waffenfarbe trimmed Haptsturmfuherer shoulder boards. A green collar with matching rank tab on the left side and the three stars in a burst on the right, associated with the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian). Tucked through one of the button holes is the ribbon for the Second Class Iron Cross. With a green cloth liner and a suspension piece for a dagger on the interior.

Very fine, with some minor handling marks overall. A superb artifact from one of the fighting forces that saw the War in Europe right down to the bitter end.