← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hilaire Belloc
Thread ID: 10074 | Posts: 9 | Started: 2003-09-27
2003-09-27 16:59 | User Profile
[url]http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/372/10978_Latvia.html[/url]
Latvia Opens SS Veterans Cemetery 09/27/2003 15:21 The opening ceremony was very solemn
The ceremony to open the common cemetery of Latvian legionaries - Nazi SS veterans - is taking place in Latvia today. The solemn ceremony started at midday, local time, it was broadcast on the national television and radio. Former legionaries, their relatives and followers are to take part in the ceremony together with a lot of Latvian politicians and leaders of Latvia's largest religious confessions.
Three military orchestras of the Latvian Defense Ministry will be playing at the ceremony. "The whole Latvia will see that an old sanctuary has appeared in the country," chairman of the National Warriors Association Nikolay Romanovskis said.
It is very hard to be unbiased about the current events in Latvia. Nevertheless, today's opening of the cemetery is not the first example to show the Baltic republic's attitude to WWII. Of course, one may recollect that SS divisions had not been formed only in Latvia. Nazis attracted the French, the Dutch, the Croatians. The motto was common for all - to defend Europe from the bolshevik danger. However, the attitude to SS members was the same for all countries after the war was over - people despised them. Monuments or memorials in honor of SS members have never been opened or unveiled in any country of West Europe. However, it became a very pompous ceremony in Latvia. At times, SS veterans organize demonstrations in Germany, although the German government has always tried to stand aloof from marching elderly men, who were lucky to avoid a Soviet, an English, a French or an American bullet. In addition, the German police had to take a lot of efforts not to let antifascists beat SS veterans on such demonstrations.
It is impossible to justify the things which take place in Latvia today. In Latvia, SS veterans are referred to as the military men, who defended their fatherland from the Soviet invasion. That is why one has to honor and respect them. Such a reference is meant for people, whose minds have been fogged with chauvinism, or for silly people, who study history on Latvian text books.
Latvia has recently held the referendum devoted to the country's membership in the EU. The majority of Latvians supported the idea - they already imagine themselves the "residents of the joint European space." One may only congratulate Brussels: the European Union will have the country that praises Nazis' "deeds."
Vasily Bubnov
2003-09-27 17:54 | User Profile
I fail to see why these men shouldn't be honored by their countrymen. They fought well against a regime that hauled off a sizable number of their countrymen in 1940. If I had been a Latvian, I would have joined up as well.
Good for those who opened this cemetery.
2003-09-29 02:34 | User Profile
Sertorius,
Great Post! I see Pravda is still putting out some Marxist Trash.
Bless those Latvia War veterans! They tried to protect Europe from the Soviets.
[QUOTE]I fail to see why these men shouldn't be honored by their countrymen. They fought well against a regime that hauled off a sizable number of their countrymen in 1940. If I had been a Latvian, I would have joined up as well. Good for those who opened this cemetery.[/QUOTE]
I am very sad to see Latvia join the EU. :(
2003-09-29 03:41 | User Profile
I know this news item is old (18 months ago!), but it seems relevant here.
[url]http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/651298/posts[/url]
Commemoration for SS unit causes controversy in Latvia By Adam B. Ellick
Posted on 03/21/2002 8:18 PM PST by gd124 </~gd124/>
RIGA, Latvia, March 15 (JTA) - A soldierôs association in Latvia has decided to ban its annual march commemorating the Latvian Nazi SS legion, saying the international controversy could harm Latviaôs bid for NATO membership. The Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized the motives behind the cancellation. Locally, the move has set off a torrent bickering over how this tiny Baltic nation should handle the sensitive date that one local newspaper called "a hot potato." In 1988 Latvia officially declared March 16 as the day of Latvian soldiers. The holiday commemorates March 16, 1943, when the Latvian legionnaires unit was established. The partially volunteer unit fought alongside the Nazis, hoping to drive out the Soviet occupiers. More than 50,000 of the 140,000 Latvian legionnaires died in the losing cause. Meanwhile, the Riga City Council, which had granted permits to two radical groups to publicly commemorate March 16, reversed its decision this week after the cityôs mayor and the Riga Security Commission warned of possible threats to public order. The Latvian Human Rights office, however, said the cityôs ban is a violation of human rights. Leaders of the two Latvian radical groups, Latvietis and Klubs 415, insist they will honor their heroes on Saturday by placing flowers at the cityôs Freedom Monument and at Tornakalns Railway Station, where Latvians were forced into wagons and deported to Siberia. [B]Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center in Israel[/B], applauded the decision by the Riga City Council. Still, he was outraged that the Latvian National Soldiers Association halted its annual march due to fears of the fallout from NATO, rather than out of good will. [B]"They donôt get it," Zuroff said. "They never reached the obvious and logical conclusion that people who fought alongside Hitler should not be proud of themselves.[/B]
[I]What about people who fought alongside Stalin?[/I]
We praise the decision of the City Council but, to be perfectly honest, [B]a lot of work has to be done in Latvia about World War II lessons and the horrors of Nazism. Many of them were no Righteous Gentiles." [/B]
[I]And what of the lessons and horrors of Communism? How many Righteous Jews were there during this period?[/I]
Zuroff, long a student of Holocaust history in the Baltics, says the Latvian legionnaires were not a murder squad, but many members voluntarily participated in the murder of more than 30,000 Jews in 1941 and 1942 under Arajs, a Latvian Nazi security police squad. [B]Although they joined the Nazi effort out of resentment at the Soviets - who occupied Latvia in 1940 - "they knew who the Nazis were" since more than 30,000 Jews already had been murdered, Zuroff said. "The Fascist spirit was quite strong in Latvia," Zuroff said. "If you get into bed with Nazis, you are supporting them." [/B]
[I]In his memoir, ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, the journalist Donald Day wrote of how Latvian Jews welcomed and aided the Soviet occupation of the country in 1940. Were these Jews getting in bed with the Commies? Were they already in bed with them?[/I]
Latvians were "willing to give their lives so Nazi Germany would win World War II," he said. Nikolajs Romanovskis, chairman of the soldiers association, said Latvians who resisted the Nazi draft either were sentenced to death or deported to concentration camps. Janis Silis, president of Klubs 415, told Latvian TV that the legion was formed as a response to Soviet repression. Latvian Parliament member Yacov Pliner, who is Jewish, said, "Those who were called up into the legion were unhappy people and it is their tragedy, but those who entered the legion voluntarily are criminals." [B]Zuroff caused a stir here earlier in the week when he said: "It is high time that Latvians fully internalize the fact that fighting on behalf of Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II was the moral equivalent of supporting Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaida terrorist network. The Latvian SS Legion should not be glorified, nor should its members be considered Latvian heroes." [/B]
[I]Fighting for your country is the moral equivalent of terrorism?[/I]
[B]Romanovskis called Zuroffôs remark "a continuation of 50 years of Soviet propaganda." "Let them solve their problems with the Palestinians and then mind the business of others," he said.[/B] :clap:
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga refused to comment on the issue. The Latvian Ministry of Foreign affairs released a statement calling Zuroffôs comments "odd." March 16 also represents a sore spot for Latviaôs ethnic Russians, who comprise about one-third of the population. Tensions between the two communities run high, and the bickering has fueled a media war between Latvian and Russian-language newspapers. "Procession On March 16: Provocation Or Stupidity?" asked one headline in the Russian-language press.
2003-09-29 05:29 | User Profile
"In addition, the German police had to take a lot of efforts not to let antifascists beat SS veterans on such demonstrations."
Beating up old men who bravely fought for their country! Now, that's quite an achievement!
These so-called "antifascist" are in fact the scum of Europe. Just a look a these leftist-anarchists, dirty mongrels speaks volumes. They represent everything that I detest.
A little anecdote from uncle Friedrich.
On my last voyage to Europe, one of the cities that I visited on my itinerary was the port city of Danzig (now Polish Gdansk). While I was strolling in the Old Market admiring the architecture, etc. I noticed a group of incredibly dirty and smelly leftist-anarchist anti-fascists (you could make out ââ¬ÅSmash Fascismââ¬Â logos on their filthy t-shirts) punks sitting down at the fountain. Soon I saw another group of young men quickly approaching ââ¬â heads shaven, white t-shirts with a ââ¬ÅWhite Powerââ¬Â cross on them, black shiny jack-boots with white shoe laces, you get the picture ââ¬â what followed was a real massacre; the nationalists pounced on these anti-fascists with remarkable and awe-inspiring ferocity, they proceeded to beat them senseless for a good fifteen minutes (the violence of the assault was impressive, and to this day Iââ¬â¢m surprised that no one was killed). When the said nationalists were done (and they left just as fast as they came ââ¬â this was a well planned and disciplined operation), almost all of these anti-fascist warriors were lying and moaning in their respective expanding puddles of blood. It was a particularly hot day and it took me a few minutes to absorb what happened, needless to say, I wasnââ¬â¢t entirely displeased with the outcomeââ¬Â¦:cheers:
2003-09-29 06:40 | User Profile
Friedrich,
:D :D
Your story reminds me of one the one about Zirkus Krone. It too, had a very satisfactory outcome, if bloody.
[QUOTE]"In addition, the German police had to take a lot of efforts not to let [u]antifascists[/u] beat SS veterans on such demonstrations."
Beating up old men who bravely fought for their country! Now, that's quite an achievement![/QUOTE]
Yes, they are quite the brave ones, aren't they? Too bad the rabble didn't try this some years ago when these veterans were in their 40's. I have no doubt that these men would have beat the living hell out of them.
2003-09-29 15:14 | User Profile
He's right. In this case they were Poles. Usually it is self hating Germans that are running around hollering about "fascism." In any event, no matter who the rabble was it is good that got what they deserved.
2003-09-29 15:28 | User Profile
Here is a [URL=http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=9006&highlight=burzum]thread[/URL] on thumped.com where 'anti-fascists' discuss their desire to stab anti-abortion campaigners in the face (among other things). Sadly this is fairly representative of the reds.
2003-09-30 03:52 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Leland Gaunt]@ Fritz
Do consider that both - "Antifascists" and "Skinheads" were Polaks. Observing such fights would be for me like watching a viper battle a rat. Always remember that polak "Nationalists" were the ones that butchered our ancestors at Bromberg and Lambsdorf. If the leftist scum would have beaten those skinheads senseless, then it wouldn't make any difference for me. Either way - Polaks got their ass kicked. :D[/QUOTE]
My dear friend, yeah, I thought about it...but you're forgetting that whenever an anti-fascist gets the crap beat out of him an angel gets his wings in Heaven! :yes: