President of Latvia Egils Levits has urged the Saeima to designate 17 March as the as National Resistance Movement Day: ‘Given the notable diversity, size and active years of various forms of national resistance movement, this would be the day to commemorate and honour all those who held independent and democratic Latvia dear, fighting against both occupation powers, the Nazi Germany and the USSR. I invite everyone to honour and commemorate all national resistance movement members on 17 March each year. In today’s world, we need to remember and honour our heroes, to remind ourselves that freedom, independence and democracy of Latvia are values worth dying for, to remind ourselves that we too have the duty to protect and defend these values in the future.’
17 March is a symbolic date. On 17 March 1944, Latvian Central Council led by Professor Konstantīns Čakste collected almost 200 signatures for memorandum demanding the restoration of independent and democratic republic of Latvia based on Satversme (Constitution) on behalf of the Latvian people. It is also the day when despite being outnumbered, joint Latvian-Lithuanian partisan group won its last battle in Īle Forest in 1949.
