[Eleutheria5]

Well, isn't that special.

[Leaning Right]

> Police arrested a man for displaying a poster of soldiers killing Jews at the annual march by local veterans of two SS divisions... <

They arrested the wrong guy. They should have arrested whoever was leading the march.

[TallahasseeConservative]

I guess I’m going to say something unpopular. But if these men, served honorably and the community wants to honor them and their comrades sacrifice, shouldn’t they be able to? Because Germany lost the war, they don’t deserve to be honored? The Israelis honor the Haganah and the Irgun, which committed terrorist acts against the British when they occupied the area.

[Cronos]

The Latvian legions cannot be considered in the same context as SS volunteers from Germany

Latvia was occupied by Russia until 1918 and in the latter 1800s experienced intensive attempts at Russification.

But this was nothing compared to when the Soviets occupied Latvia from 1940 to 1941

The Latvians were caught between two evils and instead of fighting against both, they chose the Germans to fight the Russians

The Latvian legions

The Latvian Legion was created in January 1943 on the orders of Adolf Hitler following a request by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. The initial core of the force was populated by Latvian Schutzmannschaft auxiliary police battalions, which were formed several years earlier and had been previously engaged in battles in Eastern front and anti-partisan duties. Also some who had previously served in the notorious Arajs Kommando commando unit,[8] responsible for atrocities committed against Jews, Roma, and civilians along Latvia's border with the Soviet Union were transferred to the Latvian Legion.[9] One month after the unit was founded, German occupation authorities in Latvia started conscripting military age men. Draftees were given a choice between serving in the Waffen-SS Legions, serving as (German Wehrmacht) auxiliaries, or being sent to a slave labour camp in Germany. Those who tried to avoid one of those options were arrested and sent to concentration camps.[10] As a result, only 15-20% of the soldiers serving in the legion were actual volunteers

With Nazi Germany losing the war, conscription was extended to larger and larger numbers of Latvians. The first conscription, in 1943, applied to all Latvian men born from 1919 to 1924. The subsequent conscriptions extended to Latvians born between 1906 and 1928. The division commanders and most of the staff were German SS officers. The individual combat regiments were typically commanded by Latvian officers

Oberführer Adolf Ax, commander of the 15th Division, reported on 27 January 1945: "They are first and foremost Latvians. They want a sustainable Latvian nation state. Forced to choose between Germany and Russia, they have chosen Germany, because they seek co-operation with western civilization. The rule of the Germans seems to them to be the lesser of two evils."[

Legion command emphasized that the Latvians were fighting against Soviet re-occupation. Conscripts promised in the name of God to be subservient to the German military and its commander Adolf Hitler, to be courageous and to be prepared to give up their life in the fight against Bolshevism

Known Holocaust collaborator police battalion units such as Arājs Kommando were joined to the Legion late in the war as conditions deteriorated on the Eastern Front. That circumstance has been used to accuse the entire Legion of anti-Semitism, Nazi sympathies, and Holocaust war crimes—and modern Latvians of glorifying Nazis

[CaptainMorgantown]

Ugly stuff.

I get that there was some moral ambiguity in the Baltic republics during World War II, because many Latvians saw the Germain invaders as their best hope for freedom from Stalin’s brutal tyranny. However, 70 years later it should be clear that Nazis and their actions against Jews and others were evil.

Hold a parade to honor Latvian veterans who fought against the Soviets, but no Nazi uniforms or symbols.

[Jewbacca]

Reminds me of the old Ukrainian joke:

Q: Who do you kill first: a Russian or a Nazi?

A; The Russian; business before pleasure.

Obviously this march is bad and support of Nazis inexcusable, but it does tell you how foul the Soviets were that otherwise reasonable people could tolerate this.

[Uncle Miltie]

Millions of Americans support COMMUNISM which murdered far more people than did Nazism.

[mosesdapoet]

As the war came to a conclusion and the Czechs were facing a Russian occupation. Vasoff’s million man, Army Russians and Ukrainians fighting for Germany on the eastern front supplied by Himmler fought the SS now in control of Prague and chased them out and liberated Prague which kept the Russians from doing so.

[Rappini]

They probably would have been arrested if they had displayed the CSA flag.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Europe hasn't changed. And unfortunately, while Eastern Europe may be very conservative compared to Western Europe, this is European conservatism, which is very different from the American brand. The Eastern European nations have been very virulently anti-Jewish throughout history, including the Poles on whom so many American conservatives are now hanging their hopes.

Be careful whom you choose as friends.