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Archivierte Meldungen aus den Jahren 1995 - 1999

 

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Ein Beispiel für die Reaktionen der lettischen Presse auf die Ereignisse rund um den Aufmarsch der SS-Veteranen in Riga: Ein Artikel von Valdis Girgensons, Korrespondent der "Lietuvos rytas" in Riga

lietuvos rytas

(With a Reuters picture of last year’s SS legionnaires’ march).

[The 16th of March was declared an official commemoration day, but the highest Latvian officials are not going to participate in the events. President Ulmanis, the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Valdis Birkavs and the Saeima (parliament) Chairman Janis Straume will spend this day outside Latvia. Last year there had been an incident when the police dispersed an unsanctioned demonstration of pensioners; this had negative consequences on the Latvian relationships with Russia.]

Latvian Politicians Avoid Contradictory Holiday:
Half of the Government left

Many socially active people said the leading politicians committed betrayal vis-a-vis the Latvian people. It was officially announced that more than half of the Cabinet of Ministers and a third of the Saeima deputies were outside Latvia.

Regrets for decision

Ulmanis officially declared he regretted last week that he had announced March 16th the Latvian Soldiers’ Commemoration Day. The National Soldiers’ Council was very astonished at this statement. A part of the former soldiers think that if there was such an opinion, the fighters may never hear a firm statement from the government about the SS Latvian legion. In the beginning of the national rebirth, many Latvian politicians actively participated in the events organized by the legionnaires and so earned the confidence of a part of the voters. The National Soldiers’ Council considers the Latvian legionnaires have been once more betrayed. According to the soldiers, the difficulties in explaining the complicated newest history of Latvia caused the capitulation of the present politicians.

It’s worth to remember the soldiers

After the re-establishment of independence, nobody in Latvia doubted that the legionnaires deserved attention from the state. [Ulmanis was one of those who supported the former soldiers. - Last year before March 16th the high-ranking officials were told not to participate in the events for the SS Latvian legionnaires. The head of the Armed Forces Juris Dalbins lost his post last year after violating this order. ...]

Now in Latvia March 25th is approaching, the day to honor those who were tortured to death by the Soviet regime. The Latvian legionnaires were among those who fought this regime. So far no Latvian politician has refused to participate in the events organized on this day.

Latvians are no SS-men

The SS Latvian legion was the largest military formation in the Latvian history. About 70,000 soldiers fought for the Latvian independence after the First World War. When Germany occupied Latvia for the second time, more than 100,000 Latvian youngsters were taken into the German army. After the cruel Soviet rule, some of the young men followed the German propaganda and joined the Latvian legion as volunteers. As the volunteers were not numerous enough, the service in the German army was declared compulsory. Almost half of the legionnaires was killed in battles or tortured to death in Siberia. About 10,000 continued the hard battle against the Soviet regime after the war.

The Western allies in principle acknowledge that the Latvian legion did not belong to the SS army, so the legionnaires could emigrate to other countries without obstacles and obtain the status of refugees. However, this fact is often forgotten, and the Latvian legionnaires are being called SS-men.

"Lietuvos rytas" March 16 (No 60)

haGalil onLine - Donnerstag 18-03-99

Die hier archivierten Artikel stammen aus den "Anfangsjahren" der breiten Nutzung des Internet. Damals waren die gestalterischen Möglichkeiten noch etwas ursprünglicher als heute. Wir haben die Artikel jedoch weiterhin archiviert, da die Informationen durchaus noch interessant sein können, u..a. auch zu Dokumentationszwecken.


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