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Posted on 10/11/2026 12:24:24 PM PDT by delta7
The Sinimäed Hills memorial, erected in 1999, has become the site of annual gatherings to honor the SS
monument, erected in 1999, has become the site of annual gatherings to honor the SS. (See report in the Jerusalem Post ). Due to the participation of local collaborators, Estonia’s Jewish population was virtually eradicated within months of Germany invading the country in 1941.
The two other memorial stones in the main Sinimäed Hills complex honor the 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade “Wallonien” aka the Walloon Legion (French-speaking volunteers from Belgium) and Dutch soldiers, nurses and auxiliaries who volunteered to fight against the USSR.
Close to the main complex is another set of three memorial stones (below left) which honor Flemish volunteers (Dutch-speaking soldiers from Belgium), Regiment “Danmark” (SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 Danmark – Danish SS volunteers) and Regiment “Norge” (SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 “Norge” – Norwegian SS volunteers). Nearby is a single memorial stone dedicated to III (Germanic) SS-Panzerkorps, the larger military unit comprised, in part, of the Scandinavian, Dutch and Belgian volunteer formations honored by the other stones. Below right, a recruitment post for Estonian SS volunteers, September 1942. (Thanks to Kevin Prenger and Kaj Metz of Traces of War for information on the monument complex.)..
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Keep an eye on Estonia. They are sympathetic to the Ukrainian Bandera Neo Nazis, and will perpetuate this war on Russia.
Pretty complicated situation there. Your favorite communist dictator, Stalin, started it.
“ The USSR invaded the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) on June 15, 1940, and invaded Finland on November 30, 1939 during the Winter War.”
“… within months of Germany invading the country in 1941.”
The Estonians hated the Soviets.
The Nazis hated the Soviets.
Therefore, many Estonians (and others) adopted a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” position.
I guess that was somewhat understandable at the time. But in retrospect, it was a moral failure, a huge moral failure. Because as bad as the Soviets were, the Nazis were much worse.
“ The USSR invaded the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) on June 15, 1940, and invaded Finland on November 30, 1939 during the Winter War.”
That said, I don’t listen ( and laugh) to those that have never been there. The Russian Federation is not Soviet Russia, those thinking so are victims to western MSM.( and inability to realize the Cold War ended decades ago).
Go visit both the Baltics and Russia, and you will be qualified to engage in educated conversation.
The Estonian Waffen SS units were a substitute for the Estonian Army which didn't exist. The Germans had no other mechanism for incorporating foreign soldiers into their army apart from the Waffen SS.
While the Scandinavian and Dutch Waffen SS units did participate in atrocities, their resistance with the Estonian units at the battle of the Blue Hills in 1944 is legendary. With almost no artillery and armor and outnumbered 10:1 they held off a Soviet offensive for a week. They were only forced to withdraw when Soviet advances in Bagration threatened to cut them off.
The Estonian Waffen SS units retreated to Germany and surrendered to the US. They were not sent back to the Soviet Union because the US never recognized Stalin's annexation of the country. Ironically, they were re-armed and used as a civil guard in the US occupation zone. Some even helped guard the prisoners at Nuremberg.
Somehow you also failed to mention the tens of thousands of Estonians murdered by the NKVD and tens of thousands of others deported by the USSR.
For what it’s worth, Russia/USSR/Russia has had a habit of wanting back what used to be ‘theirs’. The Baltics, Finns, and Poles all got a taste of this after their independence from Russia after WWI. The Baltics and the ‘Russian part’ of Poland was handed over to Stalin in the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. Ironically, Stalin/USSR got to keep the part of Poland Hitler granted him.
For whatever reason, and I can’t imagine why, people/nations conquered by Russia/USSR didn’t seem to like it very much and welcomed help from anyone who would help kick the Russians out—even Hitler.
There is a lot of recent bad blood on everyone’s hands in that part of the world and I seriously doubt the memories and resentment of it will go away soon.
World War I is still kicking the world in the butt well over a century after it ended.
In eastern and central Europe during World War II, if you were a combatant or a partisan, you were typically either a Nazi collaborator or a Communist collaborator, because anything in between or to the side was either non-existent or politically and militarily irrelevant in that time and place. So those who saw Hitler as the greater evil/threat became Communist collaborators, those who saw Stalin as the greater evil/threat became Nazi collaborators.
Laar had read Milton Friedman because the Soviets cast Milton as the bad guy. Following Milton's advice he brought prosperity to the little ex Soviet colony.
Molotov-Ribbentrop. It’s what socialists do when they make and break deals. The moral is, stop the Socialists before they can make and break deals. If you can’t stop them, get out of the way and let them kill each other.
I had a teacher in 3rd grade back in 1962. She was a refugee from Estonia. She said the Estonians hated the russians and put flowers under the feet of german soldiers as they entered estonia. Then the Nazis killed them.
I knew an Estonian man who fought for the Germans against the Soviets. He later made it to the USA. He refused to watch Hogan’s Heros. He said there was nothing funny about WWII.
When I was in Tallinn, Estonia in 1972, I visited a naval museum. Interestingly, the staff greeted me in Russian, and it seemed that all of the other visitors were Russian (I knew enough Russian to get around, but no Estonian).
One exhibit that I remember especially was a huge painting of Soviet soldiers, sailors and civilians heroically defending Tallinn as German troops closed in during the late summer of 1941. With the museum’s emphasis on Soviet accomplishments, I could understand why there were no Estonian visitors.
They had a choice...fight for Germany or fight for Soviet Union. Your call.
Ask the Serbs what they think of Clinton and the US.
Ironically, Prior to Molotov-Ribbentrop, Poland was approached by Hitler to ally against Stalin. Poland, having non-aggression pacts with both Germany and the Soviets, declined to join the Anti-Comintern Pact. Had they joined, we might have had the Ribbentrop-Lipski pact instead. No invasion of Poland means the primary trigger for UK and France declaring war on Germany doesn’t happen (at least in 1939) and there is no Hitler-Stalin alliance. In the end, Poland was screwed no matter what they did. They are wise to be arming themselves now.
After the Holodomor, Ukrainians would have allied with anyone against Stalin. That doesn't excuse the atrocities they committed, but when you have suffered through genocide and watched millions of your people die, your moral compass can be askew.
That's changing.
I just watched a news report that mentioned that Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania have all stopped offering Russian language instruction in schools.
The report focused mainly on Latvia, which has stopped Russian language courses, and banned the speaking of Russian in government buildings and universities.
This is causing some friction, because 25% of Latvians still speak Russian. They feel like they are being targeted by the government.
I’m not sure that last is true. They both sucked badly. The Soviets murdered many more. I can’t see that they were “better”.
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