Det syns kanske inte så väl på bilden, men det gula är kravallstaket som polisen förberett med. Bakom det vänstra trädet skymtar frihetssymbolen.
Idag kryllar det av människor och poliser här i stan. Speciellt vid kyrkor och frihetsmonumentet. Givetvis är det letternas tragiska historia som ligger bakom. Läs nedan så får du en uppfattning om vad det handlar om.
Those who chose March 16th as a day of remembrance for the veterans of the Latvian Legion did so because on this day in 1944 the 15th and 19th divisions of the Latvian Legion joined forces to battle the advancing Soviet army at the Velikaya River in Russia. This is the only time in the war that these two divisions fought side by side. The surviving veterans who wish to observe this day denounce fascism and Nazism, deny that they ever committed atrocities during the war, and insist that they were fighting, albeit in vain, for the restoration of Latvia’s independence. For them, March 16th is a day to go to church, to cemeteries or the Freedom Monument in Rīga, and honour friends and family members who died fighting with the Latvian Legion during World War II.
But not everyone sees it that way.
It’s understandable why many Jews in the world, especially Holocaust survivors, are troubled by any show of respect for soldiers who fought on the German side during the war. While many will acknowledge that the Latvian Legion itself did not participate in the Holocaust (the Nazi-managed mass murder of Jews in Latvia had ended before the Legion was created), the mere fact that Latvian soldiers fought under German command is enough to prompt distrust and condemnation.
Many Russians also object to any show of respect for the Latvian Legion because the Latvians fought, with great ferocity at that, against the Soviet Red Army. For those Russians who still identify with the former Soviet Union, the combatants of the Latvian Legion were, and still are, the enemy.
One tragedy in all this is that Latvians were forced to fight on both sides of the Eastern Front. During the first Soviet occupation of Latvia, many Latvians were drafted into the Red Army as well. Thus, Latvians on the German side fought Latvians on the Soviet side, although most felt little loyalty to Germany or the USSR. Under orders from Moscow and Berlin, brother fought against brother and father against son. They were victims of overlapping occupations and pawns in the alternating power grabs of Hitler and Stalin. They were young Latvian men caught in the middle, and no matter which way they looked, they saw the enemy.
But not everyone sees it that way.
It’s understandable why many Jews in the world, especially Holocaust survivors, are troubled by any show of respect for soldiers who fought on the German side during the war. While many will acknowledge that the Latvian Legion itself did not participate in the Holocaust (the Nazi-managed mass murder of Jews in Latvia had ended before the Legion was created), the mere fact that Latvian soldiers fought under German command is enough to prompt distrust and condemnation.
Many Russians also object to any show of respect for the Latvian Legion because the Latvians fought, with great ferocity at that, against the Soviet Red Army. For those Russians who still identify with the former Soviet Union, the combatants of the Latvian Legion were, and still are, the enemy.
One tragedy in all this is that Latvians were forced to fight on both sides of the Eastern Front. During the first Soviet occupation of Latvia, many Latvians were drafted into the Red Army as well. Thus, Latvians on the German side fought Latvians on the Soviet side, although most felt little loyalty to Germany or the USSR. Under orders from Moscow and Berlin, brother fought against brother and father against son. They were victims of overlapping occupations and pawns in the alternating power grabs of Hitler and Stalin. They were young Latvian men caught in the middle, and no matter which way they looked, they saw the enemy.
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