On this day in 1941 Latvia, occupied by the Soviets since 1939, declared independence in hopes of having that supplied by the advancing German army. It would not receive it, instead being part of the German Reichskommissariat Ostland. This was addressed somewhat in yesterday's post, but the overall plan in regard to Lativia was to kill its Jewish population, expel some of its population and "Germanize" the remainder. The Germans considered the Latvians suitable for the latter as the country had been influenced by the Danes and Swedes in prior centuries and therefore were Europeanized, in the view of the Germans. That Latvians, a people closely related to the Finns but with a unique history, didn't see themselves the same way.
On the same day, crowds in Madrid turned out to demonstrate in supporter of the German invasion of the USSR, something noted here:
Today in World War II History—June 24, 1941
As these entries show, not all peoples everywhere were in June 1941, of the same mind as the Allies. Of course, what the German invasion would mean wasn't fully appreciated at the time either.
Elsewhere, British officials confirmed that the United Kingdom would provide aid to the Soviet Union. And the Franklin Roosevelt publicly confirmed the same.
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