In 1944, the 17-year-old future actor was drafted into the German army as a “hiwi” (German: Hilfswilliger, meaning “auxiliary volunteer”). But before achieving cinematic fame, Liepins had to survive the war and the Gulag. In his 50-year career, Harijs Liepins, one of the most renowned Latvian actors, played more than 250 theater and movie roles. Vladimir Shevchenko/Dovzhenko Film Studios, 1985 It was only after the collapse of the USSR and Estonian independence that it became public knowledge. Only his closest friends knew about his service in the SS. Kaljo Kiisk carefully guarded the secret of his military past. In 1980, he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the Estonian SSR, second in importance only to the title of People’s Artist of the USSR. He counts 17 films to his name - an outstanding achievement not only in tiny Estonia, but in the USSR at large. Kiisk devoted his entire subsequent life to cinema, proving his worth as both an actor and a director. Deciding that he had fought enough, Kaljo Kiisk did not leave with them, but returned home to Ida-Virumaa County in Estonia.Īfter the liberation of Estonia from the Nazis by the Red Army, the local security services probed Kiisk about his background: What had he done during the war? Why had he, able-bodied and of conscription age, not been drafted into the German army? He was rescued by his father, who was able to show that they had been working together in the oil shale industry in the city of Sillamäe, and thus were not subject to mobilization. In September 1944, the Tannenberg line was broken, and the German forces withdrew from their positions. Kiisk, who served in an air defense squadron, recalled that, for fear of damaging his eardrums in that unbearable din, he was unable to close his mouth, which in any case was always full of sand. The Nazi positions were under constant shelling by Soviet artillery. After completing three months of training at the SS Heidelager military training base in Poland, he was sent to the Tannenberg defensive line in eastern Estonia, where that summer saw a series of bloody battles against the advancing Red Army. In 1944, 19-year-old Estonian Kaljo Kiisk was mobilized into the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian).
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