Over 1000 people took part in Europe's only event to honour those who died
fighting for the Waffen SS (Image - Youtube)
fighting for the Waffen SS (Image - Youtube)
On Saturday morning, 16 March 2019, over 1000 people marched through Riga to commemorate the soldiers of the Latvian SS who died fighting for Nazi Germany to free Latvia from Russian occupation.
Around 140,000 people joined the Latvian Legion of the Waffen SS during World War II; about 50,000 of them perished.
The demonstration on 16 March took place in cold, drizzly conditions. There was a large police presence and isolated counter protests. No violence was reported, police said.
March 16, known as "Legionnaire Day", has been held annually since 1990 to mark the anniversary of a battle against the Red Army in 1944. The day has attracted criticism at home and abroad by those who say the events glorify Nazism. But many Latvians view the veterans as freedom fighters who fought against a Red Army occupation.
As well as Latvian SS veterans, other participants included family members of those who died and participants from abroad, including Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. Several participants wore uniforms displaying swastikas and SS Totenkopf (death's head badges).
The "Legionnaire Day" began at 10 o'clock with a service in the St. Johannes church. Then the participants, led by the cleric Gunta Kalmes, went through the old town of Riga to the centrally located Freedom Monument where flowers were laid.
The newspaper, Deokkupation, Decolonization and Debolshevization (DDD) of the Latvian National Front (LNF), was distributed at the start and end of the demonstration. In their newspaper the LNF describe the swastika as an "eternal holy symbol".
Opponents held placards denouncing the march in various languages, with slogans like "They fought on the side of Adolf Hitler" and "The Legion Waffen SS was a criminal organization."
The Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany freed Latvia from Russian occupation in 1941. Forced to choose between Germany and Russia, Latvia chose Germany because it seemed to them to be the lesser of two evils. During the Russian occupation tens of thousands of Latvian families were executed or deported to Siberia.
The Latvian SS Legion on parade, November 1943
(Image - Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J16133 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
The Latvian Legion was created in January 1943 on the orders of Adolf Hitler following a request by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. The initial core of the force was populated by Latvian Police Battalions, which were formed several years earlier for security duties.
The division commanders and most of the staff were German SS officers. The individual combat regiments were typically commanded by Latvian officers.
