Latvia gives go ahead for Nazi march


18:06|07/ 03/ 2008
RIGA, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - Authorities in Riga gave the go ahead for a Latvian Legion group to hold a public event to commemorate Latvians who fought for the Nazis during WWII, a parliamentary official said Friday.
Riga authorities turned down four applications by other groups but agreed to allow the Daugavas Vanagi organization, a Latvian veteran group, to hold a short street march on March 16 in the country's capital to honor former Latvian soldiers and members of the Waffen-SS.
The authorities denied the requests by other groups due to previous public order violations.
A Latvian Legion march in 2005 through Riga resulted in dozens of arrests after clashes with Russian activists. The march involved WWII SS veterans and young nationalists.
Latvian Legion day commemorates a historic battle in March 1944 between the Soviet and German armies on the banks of the Velikaya River, northwestern Russia.
Soviet troops began their assault on March 16 forcing German Waffen-SS divisions to withdraw, however Latvian troops held their lines and prevented the Soviets from advancing further.
Although Latvian Legion day, which was revived in the 1990s, does not specifically celebrate the SS by name, claiming to honor all those who fought in the war, the holiday was subsequently cancelled after international pressure.
Relations between Russia, Latvia and Estonia have been marred in the past few years by what Moscow calls the unequal treatment of ethnic Russians, the alleged persecution of Soviet WWII veterans, and the apparent revival of nationalism and fascism in the Baltic States.
Latvia has been criticized by Amnesty International for its treatment of its 400,000 Russian-speaking population who continue to live in the country without citizenship.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080307/100934937.html

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman

No surprise here....

__________________
The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

They were occupied by the Russians, but they were also occupied by the Germans: occulting either side is not good for democracy. Had they not fought with the Germans, their march would have been acceptable, but even if they consider themselves as liberty fighters they fought with the Nazis. On the other hand these men were fighting for their country, so I suppose it was't an easy decision.

__________________

Depends how you look at it. The Russians invaded first and occupied them. On October 5, 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station 25 000 troops on Latvian territory. On June 16, 1940, Vyacheslav Molotov presented the Latvian representative in Moscow with an ultimatum accusing Latvia of violations of that pact.

On June 17 the Red Army occupied the country. Rigged elections for a "People's Saeima" were held, and a puppet government headed by Augusts Kirhenšteins led Latvia into the USSR. The annexation was formalized on August 5, 1940. The ensuing months would become known in Latvia as Baigais Gads, the Year of Horror. Mass arrests, disappearances, and deportations culminated on the night of June 14, 1941. Prior to the German invasion, in less than a year, at least 27 586 persons were arrested; most were deported, and 945 persons were shot.

Then the Germans came forcing the Russians to leave. While under German occupation, Latvia was administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland. Latvian Einsatzgruppen and police participated in the Holocaust. 80 000 to 100 000 Latvian citizens were killed during the Nazi occupation, including 70 000 Latvian Jews; 20 000 Jews brought from Central and Eastern Europe were also murdered in Latvia. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict, including in the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS, most of them conscripted by the occupying authorities.

Difficult to judge and probably dependant on who treated them the best.

__________________

American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

agreed. I think this is also a way for Latvia to tell the Russian "Big Brother" that they are independent and that this is an internal affair to show they exist. The politically correct thing is another matter.

__________________

I´d say ok to a public event but no to a march.

Anyway, a difficult thing to solve there...

__________________

Latvian court prohibits Waffen SS march


A court in Riga, Latvia, has ruled a Latvian ultra-loyalist group will not be allowed to march Sunday in a tribute to Waffen SS veterans of World War II.
Riga authorities earlier rejected three applications by several organizations to hold the event, Novosti reported Wednesday.
It is reported that the only group permitted to stage a brief street march Sunday is a WW II veterans organization, Daugavas Vanagi.
A Riga march in 2005 held by the Latvian Legion, involving WW II SS veterans and young loyalists, reportedly ended in several arrests after fighting with Russian activists.
The event honored a March 1944 battle between German and Soviet soldiers on the Velikaya River banks in northwestern Russia.
Communications among Russia, Latvia and Estonia have been troubled during recent years by what Moscow says is the unfair manipulation of ethnic Russians, the alleged assault of Soviet WWII veterans and the rebirth of fascism and nationalism in the Baltic States.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International


Publication date: 13 March 2008

Source: UPI-1-20080313-00074900-bc-latvia-nazimarch.xml

Latvian court prohibits Waffen SS march

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman

Same problems in Latvia as we have discussed in other threads about Estonia, this is a situation that is going to go on and on !!!!

__________________
Nikto ne Zabyt . Nichto ne Zabyto.

Let no one forget . Let nothing be forgotten.

Do you think so ? I thought the relations with the Russian speaking Balts were improving these last months. I don't think it would be as bad as the Balkans for example.

__________________

The Balkans is a different situation their problems are based on centuries of religious and cultural differences.

With the Baltic states they are still pretty much in the infancy of their independance from Russia and much still needs to be done politically before all can live in harmony , particulary regarding citizenship for the Russian minorities.

Fascist and communist are still words commonly used and it will take time to iron out these problems. Most of the community live in harmomy both in Latvia and Estonia ( can't comment on Lithuania as i've never been ) but the problems are still there below the surface.

Paul

__________________
Nikto ne Zabyt . Nichto ne Zabyto.

Let no one forget . Let nothing be forgotten.

I personally think that a country like Latvia would do better to think to the future and concentrate on becoming a successful democracy.

OK they did suffer under the Soviets but I'm sure that it wasn't that much better under the Nazis, they were only treated (some of them) better in order to carry out their dirty work.

Whats the point of winding up the Russians (they are becoming increasingly nationalistic) and getting little respect from the west.

A country such as Latvia, which has nothing but needs everything, will always be dependent on a "big brother"..........

The only reason that Riga has forbade the march is due to international pressure and not from personal beliefs.

__________________
The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Marchers honor German combat unit from World War II

The Associated Press
Published: March 16, 2008



RIGA, Latvia: Thousands of people marched through this capital Sunday under heavy police protection to honor countrymen who fought in a German combat unit during World War II.
Protesters jeered as the procession of about 3,000 people - a few surviving members of the Waffen SS unit, known as the Latvian Legion, among them - arrived at the Freedom Monument in central Riga.
Participants in the march sang patriotic songs and waved Latvian flags before laying roses at the base of the monument as protesters chanted "Disgrace!" and "Hitler is dead!" in Russian and blew whistles to drown out the singing.
Thousands of police officers deployed to prevent unrest kept the two sides apart. No violence was reported.
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in June 1940, but were driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the Baltics in 1944 and incorporated them into the Soviet Union. About 250,000 Latvians ended up fighting alongside either the Germans or Soviet forces in World War II. About 150,000 Latvians died in the fighting.
Veterans who fought on the side of Nazi Germany say they were simply fighting for their freedom against the Soviet menace. But many ethnic Russians, who make up approximately one-third of the country's 2.3 million people, claim that the Soviet army liberated the Baltic state from fascism.
"We have to honor the dead," said Janis, 64, who laid a flower at the monument and declined to give his last name. "Unfortunately, there are some people who want to prevent us from doing that."
Protesters said they were angry the march was being held in the city center. "Let them go to the forest and lay flowers at the graves - not here," said Alexander, 67, an ethnic Russian who also declined to give his last name.
Nearly 80,000 Jews in Latvia - 90 percent of the prewar Jewish population - were killed during the Nazi occupation. Thousands of Russian prisoners of war also died in Nazi prisoner of war camps.
Most Latvian Jews were killed in 1941 and 1942, two years before the formation of Latvia's Waffen SS - which some Latvians claim shows the unit could not have played a role in the Holocaust. But an unknown number of Latvian Waffen SS soldiers may have been involved in the murder of Jews as auxiliary police, years before they entered the front-line unit.

Marchers honor German combat unit from World War II - International Herald Tribune

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman