Latvian freedom fighters march through Riga

[Stegura]

Latvian freedom fighters march through Riga

Veterans of the dreaded Nazi Waffen SS marched in freezing temperatures in the Latvian capital Riga today cheered by locals who view them as heroes.

A city council ban on the march was overturned at the 11th hour by a court.

That meant that men who once wore the double S-flashes of the Nazi party's elite combat unit were honoured among the 2,000 who took part as freedom fighters from Communism.

All in their late 80’s and 90’s, the 30 odd Latvians who took up arms for the Third Reich against the Soviet Union in WW2 were the heroes of the day in the tiny Baltic state where Stalin was considered worse than Hitler.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/3/16/1268757315623/People-march-in-a-process-035.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/16/article-1258331-08BCDFDC000005DC-811_468x311.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1258331/Nazi-SS-veterans-march-Riga-event-organised-right-wing-party-linked-Tories.html

[Beorn]

"One man's freedom fighter, is another man's terrorist"

[Eldritch]

"One man's freedom fighter, is another man's terrorist"

And of course also the other way around.

[Inese]

True heroes are true heroes and we can be very proud of them! In one generation there will no one be alive of that time to talk about it to the children. Only books, photos and films!! :(

[Murphy]

Nazi Germany, or Soviet Russia? I know which I would have chosen.

[Inese]

Nazi Germany, or Soviet Russia? I know which I would have chosen.
Soviet Russia is no option, ask every Latvian!:rolleyes:

[Megrez]

Nazi Nostalgia: SS veteran march sparks public outrage in Latvia

[Sol Invictus]

Nazi Freedom Fighters.. lol

[Äike]

Nazi Freedom Fighters.. lol

If some regime would send your entire family to Siberia then you would probably not want that regime to return. National Socialists didn't do genocide on Latvians, while the Communists did.

[RoyBatty]

Nazis lol :D

[RoyBatty]

Soviet Russia is no option, ask every Latvian!:rolleyes:

Like the Cheka's Jēkabs Peterss? :thumb001: :D

[W. R.]

If some regime would send your entire family to Siberia then you would probably not want that regime to return. National Socialists didn't do genocide on Latvians, while the Communists did.Is it common in Estonia to use the word "genocide" in the way you do? In the same context? :icon_ask:

[Äike]

Is it common in Estonia to use the word "genocide" in the way you do? In the same context? :icon_ask:

Yes, ~20% of our population perished because of direct genocide(+people fleeing Estonia) and it adds up to 1/3 if you read, for example, RoyBatty's post (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showpost.php?p=245741&postcount=85). The majority who were sent to Siberia were women and children.

The Estonian president has used the word genocide, most of the members of the parliament also use the word genocide to define what the USSR did to us. The EU also defines those actions as genocide.

Estonian man on genocide charge (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6959632.stm)


A former Soviet Communist Party official in Estonia has been charged with genocide for his alleged role in deportations to Siberian labour camps.

Arnold Meri, who is now 88, was a highly-decorated soldier in the Soviet Red Army, and is a cousin of the Baltic state's late President, Lennart Meri.

He is said to have organised the 1949 deportation of 251 civilians from Hiiumaa Island, off the west coast.

Mr Meri has admitted participating, but says he played only a minor role.

Estonia's security police say more than 40 of those deported either died on the way to, or in, the Siberian camps.

[Furlan]

Like the Cheka's Jēkabs Peterss? :thumb001: :D

Rotten apples are eveywhere :p

However the Soviets deported I think around 15% of the adult male population, guerrillia fighting againts the Soviets (Forest Brothers if I remeber right) lasted till the end of the '50s.

[W. R.]

Like the Cheka's Jēkabs Peterss? :thumb001: :DOr like might-have-been saviour of the USSR Boriss Pugo.

http://picsorshens.com/forum/Smileys/default/cf.gif

[Osweo]

Or like might-have-been saviour of the USSR Boriss Pugo.

http://picsorshens.com/forum/Smileys/default/cf.gif

Indeed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Pugo)..

[Inese]

They are heros of our country who were fighting for the right thing and for our freedom of Russian domination!! :thumb001: If you ask me i say that they should be honored with monuments ---- the last living witness of the time are dying soon! :(

[poiuytrewq0987]

Latvian freedom fighters march through Riga



http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/3/16/1268757315623/People-march-in-a-process-035.jpg




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1258331/Nazi-SS-veterans-march-Riga-event-organised-right-wing-party-linked-Tories.html

Oh my goodness, I see people with black and brown hair. They must have some Southern European ancestry in them.