The ruling National Association in Latvia condemned the “discrediting” of the role of Latvian legionnaires during World War II, as well as the intention to dismantle the monument he had erected in Zedelgem, Belgium. This was stated by the representative of the party Laima Melkina, Delfi reports.
“Those guilty of crimes deserve condemnation. However, not everyone who fought in the legion can be accused of crimes committed, ”the statement said. It argues that the inclusion of the Latvian legion in the Waffen SS did not depend on the wishes of the citizens of Latvia.
The position of the National Movement was also supported by the Ministry of Culture. According to the head of the public relations department of the department, Lita Kokale, Latvia condemns the Holocaust and those Latvian citizens who participated in it, but she believes that it is unacceptable to make legionnaires responsible for it. She claims that the legionnaires themselves “were victims” who were involved in the fighting on the German side.
A proposal to demolish the monument, erected in 2018, appeared in several Belgian media outlets. The authors of the initiative believe that the monument glorifies 12 thousand Nazi comrades-in-arms who were placed in a camp near Zedelgem after the war.
The Latvian SS Volunteer Legion was created in early 1943. Its members took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler personally. Later, on its basis, two Waffen-SS divisions were formed. For the first time, they took part in hostilities against the Red Army on March 16, 1944, near the town of Ostrov in the Pskov region. Earlier, the 19th Latvian SS Division took part in punitive actions in the territories of the Leningrad and Novgorod regions.
Source: Rosbalt
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