"Dagger Bunker" with a memorial plaque "The Hawks of Tēvija"
Dunča bunkurs, Otaņķu pagasts
"Dunča Bunkur" with the memorial plaque "Tevijas Vanagi" is located in Otaņki Parish, in the place where the first bunker of the partisan group of the national resistance organization "Tevijas Vanagi" was located during World War II.
1945/46 In the winter of 2014, in the village of Ķiburu, Barta parish, three patriotic guys under the leadership of Alfred Tilib (former 19th SS division legionnaire) founded the national resistance movement "Tēvijas vanagi", which soon had around 200 members from various places: Liepāja, Aizpute, Nīcas, Dunikas, Grobiņas , Bartas, Gaviezes. This movement fought for the liberation of Latvia.
The dimensions of the bunker where the partisans stayed were 4 x 4 m and it was made of thick, horizontally laid logs. The entrance to it was from above, raising a hatch with a small, growing pine tree, under which there were stairs. The boats were on two floors, each one had room for 7-8 men. Unfortunately, Dunca's bunker was found and blown up in 1947.
National partisans throughout the Baltic hoped for English or American help in liberating Latvia. Meanwhile, neither country had such an idea - to start a war with the USSR. The Latvian national partisans were physically defeated, but the occupiers were unable to destroy the idea of a free and independent Latvian state in our people. This is also the main merit of the war of the forest brothers.
Today, you can see a depression in the ground where Dunča's bunker was once located.
The place is located in the forest and anyone interested can freely access it at any time without prior application.
A covered picnic area is available nearby.
The memorial plaque was unveiled on September 9, 2005. The granite stele was installed by the National Partisan Association of Latvia in cooperation with the municipality of Nīcs, the forest department of Bārtas and Rude elementary school.
You can view the model of the bunker and get more information about the bunker at the Otaņki Antiquities Store, Rude, Otaņki Parish.