Why did about 100,000 Latvians flee to Sweden and Germany near the end of World War II?

Near the end of World War II, approximately 100,000 Latvians fled to Sweden and Germany to escape the advancing Red Army as it reoccupied the country in 1944.12

This mass exodus was driven by the fear of renewed Soviet control, which had previously resulted in the "year of terror" following the 1940 occupation. During that initial period, thousands of Latvians—particularly members of the intelligentsia—were deported to prison camps in Siberia. The subsequent Soviet era brought severe political repression, mass deportations, and radical socioeconomic changes, confirming the grave risks that many sought to avoid by fleeing the country before Soviet forces arrived.12