Legionnaires' march will go ahead

Mar 07, 2008
Mike Collier in association with BNS

HERE WE GO AGAIN: the regular round of flag waving is set to increase tensions.

RIGA 's March 16 will see tensions rising in Riga after the city council Meetings, Demonstrations and Pickets Committee authorized an annual march commemorating the Latvian Legionnaires, soldiers who fought in Waffen SS units for the Germans during the Second World War.

Permission to hold a commemorative event on March 16 has been given to Daugavas Vanagi (Daugava Falcons), a patriotic organization founded by exiled Latvians after the World War II, including veterans. This year's march will follow its traditional route from the Freedom Monument to Dome Cathedral, commencing at 11 o'clock and followed by a church service.

Riga City Council executive director Andris Grinbergs said that additional march applications received from left-wing opponent Jurijs Kotovs and radical nationalist Igors Siskins, had been refused. He did not rule out the possibility that unauthorized marches might take place, raising the possibility of violent clashes between pro- and anti- demonstrators.

Siskins vowed that he would join the main march, saying, "These events will be held as long as Latvian land is trodden by hostile boots."

The Latvian antifascist committee was forbidden to organize a counter-demonstration due to security reasons.

Vladislavs Rafalskis from For Human Rights in United Latvia party said that the main aim of applying for a permit to march was to focus attention on the idea that marches, including the main parade itself, should not be permitted.

Last year five public events, organized both by supporters and opponents of the legionnaires, were held in downtown Riga on March 16, and a dozen of people were arrested.

The annual commemoration of Latvian Legionnaires is guaranteed to draw criticism from around the world, with many people expressing shock that members of Waffen SS units should be so honored. However, few critics realise that because only 'racially pure' Germans were allowed to join the Wehrmacht (German Army), Baltic volunteers and conscripts fighting against the occupation of the Red Army were formed into local SS units with a separate structure and chain of command.

Around 140,000 men were called up to form the Latvian Legion and about 50,000 of them died in the war or deportations following the reimposition of Soviet rule.

Denunciations by Russia, Israel and other countries are likely in the days leading up to March 16.

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