2016Sam Sokol, Jerusalem Post

Legionnaires were not Holocaust collaborators. Nor were they collaborators in the furtherance of Nazism. Nor did they collaborate against Latvians or the interests of the occupied Latvian state. Nor are commemoration participants in any manner, per the headline, "pro-Nazi demonstrators".

"Locally raised" implies Latvians formed the Legion themselves. Certainly there was Nazi recruitment propaganda. The fact, however, is that the Nazis established the Legion in 1943 and by 1945 had illegally conscripted every Latvian male born after 1905.

As indicated, Legionnaires did fight against the Soviets, who it should be mentioned, also pressed 100,000 or more Latvians into Red Army service. "Commemoration Day", as was declared in Latvia while an official holiday, was not specific to the Latvian Legion, but, rather, commemorated all Latvians who died in combat in WWII, and whose only dream was for a Latvia independent once again after the war.

We investigate the VVN-BdA and its members in following sections.

It is misleading to "(clarify)" the title of the Latvian Legion by indicating, in German, the apex of the Nazi SS hierarchy. The Legion actually served under Wehrmacht command.

The VVN-BdA factually indicates that the government has issued permits to allow the commemoration to take place. However, the VVN-BdA also accuses Latvian authorities of protecting Nazi admirers while persecuting "anti-fascist protesters".

The leadership of those "protesters", including Josef Koren and Latvia Without Nazis1 are Kremlin-funded agents who Latvian authorities monitor by necessity. Furthermore, Koren & company invite foreign legislators and Holocaust activists who evidently believe at face value and then spread the Kremlin-manufactured outrage over "Latvian fascism" (for example, Richard Brodsky interviewed, and his 2013 article, Brodsky: Latvia's second coming: The world can't afford to ignore a resurgent Nazi movement). One cannot let pass that Russia outlaws NGOs attempting to improve circumstances for the Russian people while it funds its own NGOs abroad seeking to destabilize civil society in their neighbors—when not invading them outright as in Crimean and eastern Ukraine. Or Georgia, prior. Or Moldova, prior, и так далее (and so on).

After parenthetically translating the Latvian Legion as the apex of the Germanic SS, the article now maintains Latvians support not Legionnaires, not the Waffen-SS, but the "SS". This is yellow journalism, not editorial oversight.

We translated an assessment of the "anti-fascists" who invited the VVN-BdA to attend and protest as part of our 2014 review. It is not unreasonable for Latvian authorities to be concerned about potential disturbances.

Even Zuroff acknowledges the Latvian Legion did not participate in the Holocaust. However, he still uses the earlier crimes of collaborators to tarnish the entire Legion, contending "many" Legionnaires participated in killing Jews.

Collaborator (subordinated to the Sicherheitsdienst) units were redeployed on the Eastern Front, made "part" of the Legion, as conditions deteriorated on the Eastern Front. The notorious Arājs Kommando numbered 300-500 during the Holocaust, over 1,000 later operating in Byelorussia and elsewhere west of Latvia. The vast majority of police auxiliaries did not collaborate in the Holocaust. Those who did, did so mostly as guards.

The Latvian Legion was initially formed from "police" battalions of those who had initially volunteered to pursue the Red Army for retribution after a year of brutal occupation which culminated in mass deportations just a week before Nazi Germany invaded. These battalions, ostensibly formed to protect domestic assets, were actually a recruiting reserve for combat at the Eastern Front and did not participate in the Holocaust.

Legionnaires did not fight "for" the Germans or their objectives. Legionnaires wore Latvian flags under their uniforms in hopes of driving both Russians and Germans from their homeland, just as Latvians had after WWI. Those Legionnaires disavow to a man all those who collaborated with the Nazis in any manner against their fellow citizens.

The Legionnaires' historical DNA was informed by the War of Independence, where the Great Powers supported a Germany defeated on the western front against the Russians on the eastern front. Ultimately the Latvians prevailed in ejecting both Russians and Germans to secure their independence. The only "truth" to be measured here is the hopes and aspirations of the Legion, who hoped to repeat the miracle of independence and foresaw themselves as the kernel of the Latvian Army in a Latvia restored to independence.

Zuroff peddles the historical syllogism that only two possibilities were open to the Latvians:

1. side with the Soviets — welcome the return of Soviet subjugation, along with it arrests, murders, and mass deportations, an occupation no one expected to ever end, or
2. side with the Nazis — and fight for no less than the end of Western civilization,

and then denounces them for not choosing #1 as the only moral option. Zuroff denies the lesson every Latvian knows from their own history:

3. leverage allies, "side" with no one — fight for and achieve freedom from both Germans and Russians.

Only in Zuroff's perverse interpretation of Baltic history was half a century of brutal Soviet occupation the only path to Latvian independence. Nazi victory was not required, only support for the restoration of Baltic independence from the Western allies. It was not unreasonable for Latvians to hope against odds others might consider hopeless. Latvia's circumstances had been so precarious after WWI during the Bolshevik occupation that its provisional government had to seek refuge on a British ship docked in Liepāja. The lesson learned was that there was no circumstance so dire that it could not be surmounted.

Last and not least, Germany did hold out possibly restoring Latvian sovereignty for continued resistance against the Red Army. A meeting was scheduled for Dresden but failed to take place when Dresden was firebombed the night before. (Dresden had been chosen for the talks because the Allies had not yet bombed it.) The Latvian delegation escaped because their train overnighted outside of the city. We suspect the Nazi delegation was less fortunate — talks were never rescheduled.

Sokol ends his article with (our representation) "...and if you need evidence Latvians are anti-Semites, here is a member of parliament denouncing 'clever Jews'". Seržants indicates in his interview (in Russian) that he refers to "smart" individuals "engaged in pro-Russian and pro-Putin propaganda", naming Illarion Girs, Aleksandr Gaponenko, Tatiana Ždanoka, and Josef Koren.

The interview also makes mention of a fictional dramatization of Russia invading Latvia, precipitating WWIII and nuclear destruction. This apparently pleased neither Latvians nor Russians.