RIGA - The official premiere of a documentary that claims the Baltic states voluntarily joined the Soviet Union in 1940 will be shown on Russia's MTVC television despite vociferous protests from Baltic politicians.
The documentary, "Baltic Nazism," which was shown by Latvia's left-wing party For Human Rights in United Latvia to journalists last month, also highlights the role of Latvians in committing genocide against Jews.
Representatives from Russia State Archives and other so-called experts shown in the film claim that Latvia's Parliament in 1939 voted to join the Soviet Union, while the Russian army was greeted with flowers and residents jumped for joy at the fall of the previous "fascist regime."
The documentary declares that the genocide against the Jews in Latvia had been more severe than genocide against the Armenians committed by Ottoman Turkey.
The ruling coalition party Greens and Farmers Union was so shocked by the documentary's content that it sent a request to the prosecutor's office asking for an opinion. The prosecutor's office has handed the request over to the Security Police.
Russian Ambassador to Latvia Viktor Kalyuzhny declined to comment on "Baltic Nazism," which was filmed in Russia but includes interviews with Latvian politicians Ingrida Udre and Vaira Paegle.
"I cannot comment on this film as I have not seen it and do not want to watch it. It is not interesting for me, as this film will give nothing, because we mustn't dig in the past, but must think about the future," Kalyuzhny told the Baltic News Service.
The ambassador pointed out that it is difficult for the present generation to judge the film. "Problems with the past are not the problems of this generation 's it cannot analyze these problems efficiently. If we want to solve these issues it would take a group of historians working with documents and not with fantasies. And then they could turn new chapters in the history of the Soviet Union, but not in Latvia's history. Because Latvia, just like Russia, was part of the Soviet Union," the ambassador said.
