This message is being written on February 16, a month before the date of the annual march of veterans of the Latvian S.S. in the heart of Riga. A somewhat similar march, one of neo-fascists and Lithuanian nationalist extremists, was scheduled to take place today, which is one of the country's two independence days. February 16 marks the independence achieved in 1918, which is "celebrated" by a march in Kaunas (Kovno), which was the interwar capital of Lithuania, whereas on March 11, the local neo-Nazis and sympathizers march in the current capital Vilnius (Vilna) to mark the independence achieved in 1990. Hopefully, none of these events will be taking place this year as scheduled due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The reason that I am mentioning the marches in Lithuania, in conjunction with the S.S. veterans march in Riga, is because all three are inspired by the same misguided extremist patriotism and sustained by the fake historical narratives created and promoted since independence by the Lithuanian and Latvian governments. They are ostensibly held to honor the brave patriots who volunteered to fight for independence against the oppressive Soviet regime, but in reality glorify anti-Semites, some of whom were active participants in the annihilation of their Jewish citizens and other Jews.
So let's present the facts. The Latvian Legion fought in the framework of the Waffen-SS, Heinrich Himmler's army, for a victory of the Third Reich, the most genocidal regime in human history. Its defenders prefer to ignore that cardinal fact, and insist that all the men were fighting only for Latvian independence. The problem with that contention is that the Nazis had absolutely no intention of granting independence to any of the Baltic countries, regardless of whatever assistance they provided, whether it was in murdering Jews or joining the battles against the Red Army.
A second argument is that the Legion did not participate in the murder of Jews. That is partially true, since the units were established after most Latvian Jews had already been murdered. Yet what is always omitted by the Legion's defenders, is that among the men who joined the Latvian Legion, were many mass murderers of Jews from the notorious Arajs Kommando mass murder squad and the Latvian SD, hardly individuals worthy of any honors.
A third argument is that the men who served in the Legion paved the way for Latvian independence in 1990, but that too is of course totally baseless, since their service for the Nazis did not achieve any progress towards freedom, which was only obtained when the Soviet union crumbled. In fact, had the Nazis won World War II, the Latvians would most likely still be subjugated, but by the Germans not the Soviets.
All of the above are good reasons why we should be very glad that such events will not be held this year or ever after.
Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff is the chief Nazi-hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Director of the Center's Israel Office and Eastern European Affairs.
Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Director, Simon Wiesenthal Center – Israel office and Eastern European Affairs
Coordinator, SWC Nazi war crimes research worldwide
www.operationlastchance.org
UPDATE 09.03.2021
Organisers of March 16 events have withdrawn their applications due to epidemiological situation- the organisers of this SS glorification march should withdraw due to historical facts, recognising that glorifying any SS detachment in the 21st century is unacceptable. To maintain that anyone who protests against this march is working together with the Russian government is ridiculous. Thousand s of people worldwide protest each and every year against the SS march in Riga, they are ordinary people who come from all over the world, they have two things in common: historical truth and common sense.
Flemish town erects monument honouring Latvian SS!
UPDATE 17.03.2021
No march went ahead.
For further reading please see:
Formation of a New Historical Memory or the Whitewashing of Nazism in Latvia with photographs of the marches
by Victor Gushchin The Baltic Centre of Historical and Socially Political Studies
March of the Latvian Legionnaires 2012- Roland Binet 8 March 2021
UPDATE 24.05.2021
Latvian Legionnaries celebrated in Riga and, now also in Belgium, in Zedelgem
Article by Michel Bouffioux Paris Match Belgique published 20 May 2021
https://dossiers.parismatch.be/ruche-de-zedelgem-des-ss-lettons-commemores-en-flandre/?fbclid=IwAR1Vite4w6FXPaC3d1eitPw8DHWynsOyzUSZR3l1WkxtTnbw7xD6-vk8fZI
Important excerpt from the Bouffioux's article translated here into English:
Dr Leanid Kazyrytski teaches criminal law and criminology at the
University of Girona (Spain). His work focuses in particular on genocides
and contemporary forms of Nazism glorification. In 2016, this researcher
published a legal
study devoted to the Latvian legionaries celebrated in Riga
and, now also in Belgium, in Zedelgem.
This scientist draws attention to a period of history not very present
in the Latvian nationalist version: what happened between the German invasion
in the summer of 1941 and the formation of the Legion in the early winter of
1943: " From the first days of the
German occupation, Latvian police battalions (Lettische
Schutzmannschafts-Bataillone) made up of volunteer civilians were
born. They will be the devoted accomplices of Nazi war criminals in
punitive operations, especially in Belarus, against partisans and against
civilian populations. These Latvian collaborators also took part in
pogroms, in the genocidal mechanics of the Riga ghetto, in the `` management ''
of the Salaspils concentration camp (near the Latvian capital) where tens of
thousands of people, many of them 'children, lost their lives in horrible
conditions (hunger, cold, ill-treatment). These battalions of
collaborators played an active and very important role in the extermination of
the Jewish community in Latvia. "
We can, for example, mention the “Sonderkommando Arājs”, a back-up for
the SS Einsatzgruppen who carried out mass massacres of the Jewish
populations. Latvian collaborators were notably present in the forest in
Rumbula, near Riga, when in three unspeakable days in the winter of 1941,
26,000 Jews were shot and executed. "In this
debate, it is important to understand that these early 'volunteers' will constitute
the hard core of the Latvian legion from 1943," Kazyrytski
underlines. Thus Viktor Arajs will join the 19th Latvian
division in 1944, while the collaborative Latvian government supported the
recruitment of legionaries.
During his research, Karyrytsky also unearthed an order from Himmler
dated May 26, 1943. Important in terms of legal responsibility, “ this document establishes that the Latvian Legion was an entity which included all Latvian units
subordinate to the SS in this regard. including the Latvian police
battalions. "
For this researcher, the Latvian discourse on the “conscription” of
legionaries must be put into perspective: “Those who joined the Waffen-SS made a choice: the Germans also offered
the alternative of a labor service in their war industry. Also, they could
desert: in 1944, 32.2% of Latvians invited to join recruiting offices did not
show up there… Joining the SS in 1943 was very significant while this criminal
organization was at work. in Latvia, in full view of everyone, since 1941. In
addition, there is a contradiction in the Latvian novel which describes
legionaries who were both “in spite of us” and “fighters for
freedom”. Should we be forced to fight for our freedom? Hitler never
promised any autonomy for Latvia and therefore we do not see how wearing the SS
uniform led to "freedom" ... "
Kazyrytski further asserts that " there is strong evidence, not only of the participation of Latvian
police battalions in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity,
but also of the engagement of the Latvian SS Legion as such in the commission
of these crimes. Among other examples, between December 1943 and April
1944, the 19th Waffen-SS divisions participated in punitive operations in Russia and
Belarus during which villages were set on fire, many civilians were killed,
sometimes burned alive in their homes. "
Regarding the Nuremberg judgment, this researcher explains that
“ this element cannot be used as proof
of the non-involvement of the Legion in the commission of war crimes. These
were documented after this pronouncement which, in any case, never had the
legal or political significance of absolving the perpetrators of such
facts. "
Moreover, he further specifies, this affair must be approached taking
into account the geostrategic context of the immediate post-war period:
“ After having surrendered to the
allies to escape the Red Army, Latvian legionaries have been detained for a
short time. Released, they remained in the West because Latvia had become
Soviet again. They created various organizations used for propaganda
purposes against the USSR. It is in this context of the Cold War that we
must read certain Western positions - especially American - which made a
distinction between Latvian SS units and other Waffen-SS formations."
Rendez-vous manqué entre histoire et mémoire | Cairn.info
Le camp de concentration de Salaspils en Lettonie
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Centre Photo
From left to right Monica Lowenberg (UK), Helmut Scholz, (Germany, MEP), Joel Rubinfeld, president of the European Jewish Parliament (Belgium), Efraim Zuroff, Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (Israel), Tatjana Ždanoka (Tatyana Zhdanok), EP deputy (Latvia), Janis Kuzins, Chairman of the Board for Associated Diversified Trade Unions ( Latvia) , Joseph Koren, president of the association "Latvia without Nazism" (Latvia), Hermann Dvorzak, leader of the European Social Forum (Austria), laying down a wreath to the victims of Nazism 16 March 2012 , Riga Latvia PHOTO: COURTESY OF DEFENDING HISTORY.COM
http://defendinghistory.com/1500-honor-the-waffen-ss-at-rigas-liberty-monumuent-event-is-praised-by-latvias-president-condemned-by-the-european-commission/32654
