On Friday in Latvia, nationalists, neo-Nazis, and other right-wing groups will join an annual veterans parade in the capital city of Riga for Latvian Legion Day, which honours soldiers from the nation's former Waffen-SS legion. Anti-fascist and human rights groups across Europe oppose the march. European Jewish Parliament Co-President Joel Rubinfeld will be among those visiting the Baltic state this week, where he will talk with Latvian politicians and voice his opposition to the event.
Co-President Joel Rubinfeld had this to say, "My colleague Valery Engel, who represents Latvia in the European Jewish Parliament, is concerned about this issue and is very involved in fighting against any attempts to rehabilitate and honour the Nazis and the soldiers of the Waffen-SS. They are organising a round table, and the European Jewish Parliament will participate in the debate. There is too little time left to actually block this year's Latvian Legion parade, but we can at least send a clear message that we do not accept it. We must reject those who are honouring the fascists of World War II. The European Jewish Parliament will not remain silent in Latvia, nor will we stand by impassively in other European countries while those who are honouring the memory of people who butchered 6 million Jews are marching in the streets."
The parade is not an officially sanctioned event, but despite its controversial nature, it has been supported by many Latvian officials and MPs. Latvian President Andris Berzins also supports the parade and insisted that Latvian Legion soldiers are not war criminals, but instead national heroes.
Rubinfeld said, "I think the opposite is true. Those who are supporting this march are actually humiliating and degrading the image of Latvia in the international arena. Supporting the Waffen-SS is not a European value. Modern Europe was founded on principles directly opposed to fascism, racism, and anti-Semitism. Public figures like President Berzins who support the Latvian Legion are humiliating the Latvian people as a whole. We will go to Riga and extend the hand of friendship to the Latvian people. The message which we will carry to them as fellow European citizens is a simple one: those who support the rehabilitation of SS soldiers are taking the wrong path."
The Waffen-SS was a multinational military force for Nazi Germany which recruited soldiers from within the Reich and occupied Europe. In eastern Europe, many Waffen-SS divisions were formed along national lines incorporating troops from countries which had been occupied by Stalin's Red Army. Since the collapse of Soviet communism, there have been concerted efforts throughout the former Eastern bloc to portray Waffen-SS veterans as nationalist heroes, and this has led to allegations of neo-Nazism and historical revisionism.
