An 82-year-missing war memorial turns up in a Sigulda attic

An oak memorial plaque dedicated to soldiers killed in the Sigulda 7th Infantry Regiment has been found in a family home attic, where it had been hidden for 82 years. LSM reported that the plaque was concealed by the finder’s great-grandfather as Soviet forces approached Sigulda.

The plaque was discovered during renovations to the Dimants family home. Dairis Dimants, the great-great-grandson of Alfrēds Dimants, said he asked his former cultural history teacher, Edgars Ceske, what the object might be. Ceske told him it was a nationally significant discovery.

Historian Gunārs Stepiņš, who has spent many years researching the regiment, confirmed that the plaque is authentic. The regiment’s name is its only connection to Sigulda, he said. Formed on June 20, 1919, it defended Ventspils and Liepāja during the Bermont campaign and fought near Riga and in the liberation of Jelgava.

Records said the original plaque had gone missing in 1944. Only its inscription and dimensions were known. Stepiņš said he had paid for a replacement plaque to be installed on the church wall, but that it could not compare with the original.

Alfrēds Dimants was a church caretaker. As Soviet forces approached, he hid church belongings. Churches were often targeted because their towers offered good vantage points, Dairis Dimants said. The front line passed through the area quickly after the Battle of More, and the church suffered little damage.