Tag Archives: Latvia

Latvia is a Democracy: So Why Fear Critique of Annual Riga Worship of Hitler’s Waffen SS?

Posted on 16 March 2023 by Defending History

OPINION  |  LATVIA  |  RIGA MARCHES  |  ROLAND BINET’S DECADES OF PEACEFUL AND MUSICAL PROTEST  |   VILNIUS MARCHES  |  KAUNAS MARCHES  |  PRO-NAZI MARCHES IN EASTERN EUROPE  |  GLORIFICATION OF COLLABORATORS  |  ANTISEMITISM

 

VILNIUS—In the opinion of all in the Defending History community, modern Latvia is a free, democratic, peaceful, tolerant and delightful country that has in little over three decades successfully managed a dramatic transition to the conceptual and spiritual heart of the European Union and the NATO alliance of democratic nations. What a day-and-night contrast with the trajectory of its huge eastern neighbor Russia over these same decades: from the high hopes of the heady Yeltsin years in the 1990s to today’s dictatorial, criminal Russian Federation, led by our century’s most deranged dictator, that has been imprisoning and killing so many of its own people in addition, now, to the mass murder of thousands of innocent civilians in the course of the ongoing barbaric invasion of neighboring, peaceful and democratic Ukraine (Defending History’s statement in support of a rapid and complete Ukrainian victory).

Continue reading

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Events, Human Rights, Latvia, Media Watch, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Riga's Waffen SS Marches | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Latvia is a Democracy: So Why Fear Critique of Annual Riga Worship of Hitler’s Waffen SS?

German Member of Parliament Volker Beck Joins Protest at the Latvian Embassy in Berlin

Posted on 20 March 2017 by Defending History

LATVIA | GERMANY | WAFFEN SS MARCHES IN RIGA | BALTIC MARCHES | GLORIFYING COLLABORATORS

◊

by Monica Lowenberg (London)

Last Wednesday, on 15 March 2017, eve of the annual events glorifying Latvia’s Waffen SS in the very heart of the capital city, Riga, one German member of parliament (the Bundestag), Volker Beck, came to the Latvian Embassy in the heart of Germany’s capital, Berlin, to give a speech of support to the protesters. Beck, a member of the Greens, is president of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group. The following is the text of his speech, which I have translated into English.

Volker Beck speaking outside the Latvian embassy

Volker Beck gives a speech of support to protesters at the Latvian Embassy in Berlin on the eve of the 2017 annual Waffen SS march in central Riga. PHOTO: LOTHAR EBERHARDT.

Continue reading

Posted in Collaborators Glorified, Events, Germany, Human Rights, Latvia, Monica Lowenberg, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Riga's Waffen SS Marches | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on German Member of Parliament Volker Beck Joins Protest at the Latvian Embassy in Berlin

Defending History’s Eyewitness Report of Riga, 16 March

Posted on 16 March 2015 by Defending History

In the East of EU-NATO-Land: Again, Latvian Authorities Grant Riga Old Town and its “Liberty Monument” on March 16th to 1500 Worshippers of Hitler’s Waffen SS Latvian Divisions

All Waffen SS members swore an oath to Adolf Hitler, some were recycled Holocaust killers.  Lithuania’s far-right leaders J. Panka and R. Čekutis, fresh from neo-Nazi march in Vilnius, were on hand as honored guests; British neo-Nazis came for the event. For the second year in a row, the prime minister forbade ministers from attending. The antisemite who went around seeking Jewish observers to “enlighten” them (video).

Top left: Sea of flowers placed at Liberty Monument to honor Waffen SS. Top right: throng marches through historic old town. Bottom from left: heavy police presence; an antisemitic poster distributed by one of the event’s supporters.

Continue reading

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, EU, Events, Human Rights, Latvia, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Riga's Waffen SS Marches | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Defending History’s Eyewitness Report of Riga, 16 March

The Waffen SS in Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine

Posted on 18 September 2012 by Defending History


Campaigns underway to glorify the Waffen SS in 3 countries — for both domestic and international consumption

Estonia (Estonia section)

◊

Latvia (Latvia section; UK connection; Monica Lowenberg’s petition)

◊

Ukraine (Ukraine section; Canada connection; Canada section)

◊
Posted in Boxes | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Waffen SS in Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine

Come and Visit Lithuania & Latvia

Posted on 5 September 2012 by Defending History

Professional Heritage Tour Guides & Genealogists

“The Defending History team thinks that Lithuania (and neighboring EU/NATO countries) are a wonderful place to visit — safe and modern yet rarefied and special, charming Old Europe alongside every modern convenience. The debates with a few gov. agencies over history, the Holocaust, the fate of Jewish cemeteries, contemporary antisemitism and other issues mean that your visit is all the more important. It does mean that when you get here, please be sure (as indeed you would anywhere) to hear all sides of the argument, not just the lavish state-sponsored entities that specialize in  dazzling with “Jewish Hollywood PR sets” while dismissing other opinions as illegitimate. These countries, and their peoples, are absolutely delightful, warm, good-humored and welcoming. Come and visit, all the more so if your own family roots are here!”

◊

Scholar-on-board?

DH can provide scholar-on-board services and Vilnius-based seminars for groups of between 5 and 50 people. Topics offered.  Write to us.

◊

TOUR GUIDES & GENEALOGISTS:

◊

For Online Genealogy:

JewishGen

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

TRANSLATOR

for old family letters and memoirs in difficult Yiddish (/Hebrew) handwriting:

YEYNESN FELENDLER (at: felendlerks@gmail.com)

See also:

LITVAK LINKS PAGE; LITVAK STUDIES; MINI MUSEUM OF OLD JEWISH VILNA; MINI MUSEUM OF INTERWAR JEWISH LITHUANIA

Not for the faint-hearted:

LITVAK AFFAIRS; ALTERNATIVE TOURISM; EXOTIC TOURISM; DARK TOURISM

Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Come and Visit Lithuania & Latvia