The charges that the Latvian Legion were Nazis, that those who commemorate them are part of the rise of neo-Nazis who glorify the Holocaust, have been unremitting for the past two decades ever since the Kremlin launched its successful hijacking of the anti-Nazi cause and declared Latvians “Nazis.”
Carefully cropped photograph published in Der Spiegel purports to portray Nazis marching in Rīga. It is actually a photo of the annual Latvian Legion commemoration procession having arrived at the Freedom Monument (not visible) at the heart of Rīga and witnessing the changing of the guard at the monument.
Unsurprisingly the topic came up in conversation on Twitter that originated with “Ukrainians are Nazis.” A 2018 Haaretz article was cited in conversation as typical of the ubiquitous coverage regarding Latvian Nazis.
In response, the Haaretz article was subsequently reviewed in detail, rebutting its contentions and providing additional historical background, on latvianlegion.org.
Contentions rebutted and key content include (links active):
- Lie #1 — The Latvian Legion were part of Hitler’s genocidal elite Nazi SS
- Lie #2 — The annual Legion commemoration is fully intended to glorify the murder of Jews.
- Lie #3 — Even were we to believe that the Legion was blameless in the Holocaust, they nevertheless fought against the Red Army, and therefore fought for Nazi victory and the end of Western civilization.
- Lie #4 — The Legion was involved in war crimes and the Holocaust.
- Failure to prosecute
- Additional reading
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