Viktor Lorents - W-Gren-Div.-d.SS 15? Or W-Gren-Div.-d.SS 19?

[Orlov]

Hello! He is Viktor Lorents - well-known Latvian actor, playing role of SS-Stubaf. Dirlewanger in awesome & naturalistic Soviet Belarussian feature "Go and See/ Idi i smotri" (dir. Elem Klimov) about Khatyn massacre (but with fairytale happy-end). Is he earlier fightning as a soldier of Latvian Legion during WWII? Which of the Latvian Waffen-SS divisions is it?
During World War II he fought in the Latvian Legion; after the capitulation of the German units, he was interned in filtration camp in Komsomolsk am Amur. Lorencs survived imprisonment and was able to return to Latvia in 1946, where he finished school. He then wrote for the journal Pionieris and later began studying law at the Latvijas Valsts Universitāte (LVU). When his father was arrested in January 1951 for alleged "anti-Soviet activities" and deported to Taishet (amnesty 1955), Lorencs also lost his job at the journal and was expelled from the university. From 1953 he wrote for the newspaper Darba Balss. From 1954 to 1961 Lorencs studied screenwriting at the State Institute for Cinematography in Moscow.
From 1962 Lorencs worked as a freelance writer in the screenplay department of the Riga cinema studio. In his screenplay "Akmens un šķembas" about three friends who served in the Latvian Legion during World War II, Lorencs processed his own experiences of the war. The screenplay was filmed in 1967 by director Rolands Kalnins, who later filmed other screenplays by Lorencs. Lorencs' screenplay adaptation of C. P. Snow's novel "Murder under Sail" was filmed in 1976 by Ada Neretniece as "Nāve zem bura".
He died at the end of January 1992 in his native city of Riga at the age of 64. Lorencs was married three times and father of one daughter and two sons.

[VJK]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply. Given that he was in Soviet captivity it is almost certain that he fought in the 19th Division - the vast majority of the 15th Division (my father included) were in Western captivity.

Kind regards,

VJK

[Orlov]

[...] he fought in the 19th Division - the vast majority of the 15th Division (my father included) were in Western captivity. VJK

I thought so - thank you for your confirmation VJK.
Regard Orlov