At first glance, the Jerusalem Post appeared to have jettisoned reportage for incitement. Their headline, "German anti-fascists face down pro-Nazi Latvian demonstrators in Riga," screamed that the Germans are now the good and the brave, and it is, instead, the Latvians who are the real Nazis. The first indication that something isn't quite right is that the photograph which accompanied the article showed Latvians saying "NO" to both Hitler and Stalin. It's unlikely those signs are carried by "anti-fascists," since Josef Koren & Company work for the Kremlin, which is rehabilitating not only Stalin, but Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of the murderous NKVD.1 (Nor can we fail to mention the Stalin memorial calendar first published by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2014.)
As we researched the story of German anti-fascists detained—their choice, they had the option to simply turn around and go home—attempting to enter Latvia at the invitation of Koren & Company, we found a common thread: Frank Brendle's by-line featured
- in the Jewish press,
- across multiple Kremlin state propaganda channels (Sputnik, RT,...),
- on Dovid Katz's respected Defending History site,
- on the Junge Welt Marxist web site,
- on the VVN-BdA web site, und so weiter.
Who is Frank Brendle to be so widely featured? A recognized reporter covering the rise of neo-fascism? Covering Holocaust scholarship and issues? Not quite:
Frank Brendle
Employee
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin
Phone: (+4930) 227-71253
Fax: (+4930) 227-76751
Email: ulla.jelpke.ma02@bundestag.de2
Frank Brendle is an employee of the German far-left Die LINKE political party.
What to make of Brendle's "news" reports? A leftist Kremlin-favoring political party cross linked through common membership with a Kremlin-Koren supporting "anti-fascist" organization writes a Latvian-authorities-are-oppressing-us press release after its members intentionally chose detention rather than return to Germany. The report of their "detention" is subsequently picked up as legitimate reportage.
Did anyone check the pedigree of these "German anti-fascists" or the "reporter" who broke the story of their detention? Of course not. "No surprise" Latvian authorities arrested individuals coming to Latvia with purely "peaceful" intent to protest against Latvia's "Nazi glorification", Latvia has no intent to face its "Nazi past," and so on. Meanwhile, Jelpke, co-orchestrator—Frank Brendle is in her employ—of the incident with Koren, has worked for and is still closely tied to Junge Welt, a Marxist publication so left-leaning that German authorities have declared it a threat to constitutional order. Per Wikipedia:
- Die LINKE — "Some of its internal factions are under observation by some states' or the federal Verfassungsschutz (constitutional protection) authorities on account of suspected extremist tendencies. In Bavaria, the entire party is under surveillance."
- Junge Welt — "German authorities categorize it as a far-left medium hostile to the constitutional order."
- VVN-BdA — "The Bavarian intelligence agency regards the VVN-BbA's use of the term 'anti-fascism,' as meaning not just the fight against right-wing extremism, but also to mean agitation against the democratic state and its institutions."
What should we conclude?
This appears to be a planned provocation to generate fodder to flog Latvian authorities.
Koren's VVN-BdA "German anti-fascist" invitees raise legitimate security concerns among German intelligence—in a country with 40 times the population of Latvia. Of course the German "anti-fascists" would be blacklisted and barred entry. Let us review the sequence of events:
- Germans denounce Latvian authorities the day prior for repressing anti-fascist protesters as enemies of the Latvian state, referring to Koren's Kremlin-subservient "Latvia Without Nazism";
- Germans intentionally chose to be detained rather than turn around and go home;
- their Die LINKE employee subsequently reports it as their being detained;
- their incredulous chairman calls from detention on his cellphone to complain: “It is just plain unbelievable that such a thing can happen in the European Union”;
- their "news" release culminates in Koren's complaint and admires his "style" contending Latvian authorities seek to make Latvia anti-fascist free—demeaning the Holocaust for politics with Koren's word play on "Judenfrei".
This has all the hallmarks of planning and coordination between the German left's Ulla Jelpke and the Kremlin's errand-boy Josef Koren. That Brendle's reports were carried as written, including on Dovid Katz's Defending History site, and that Efraim Zuroff recounted the incident in his 2016 opinion piece as Brendle portrayed it, confirm the success of their propagandist endeavor. Whether or not Katz and Zuroff were aware of the Kremlin's involvement is irrelevant: they promoted the Kremlin's anti-Latvian agenda.
Russia's Choreographed Anti-Baltic Ballet
For additional background on the Kremlin's annual denunciations, and on the true role of Russian "NGOs" in the Baltics, we offer the following articles.
- On "Russkiy Mir" ("Russian World", a Kremlin-sponsored "foundation" created in 2007), Koren & Company complain of persecution:
Coordinator of Latvia Without Nazism movement Joseph Koren, Chairman of the Latvian Antifascist Committee Eduard Goncharov and Chairman of the Latvian Anti-Nazi Committee Aleksei Sharipov express their concern by the campaign launched by the Security Police in order to discredit the antifascist movement in Latvia, misrepresenting its true aims.
Anti-Fascists Petition President of Latvia for Protection, retrieved 20 March 2016.
- On "Stop Fake," launched to counter fake news promulgated by the Kremlin's media channels:
The investigation by Re:Baltica shows that there are more than 40 such [Kremlin-funded "NGO's"] organizations in the Baltic states that have received at least 1.5 million euros through legal means in the last three years, according to the most conservative calculations. That excludes cash transactions and financing through Russia-friendly enterprises and individuals. It is impossible to say precisely how much of their income is from the Russian government funds, because part of the recipients do not declare it in their annual reports.
Kremlin's Millions, retrieved 21 March 2016.
Russo-Baltic “NGOs” Suckling at the Kremlin’s Udder
From the Kremlin's Millions article. Conservatively, the Kremlin spends in excess of €500,000 annually on its anti-Baltic NGOs.
Investigating the VVN-BdA
| 1 | In 2005, Dzerzhinsky's bust was restored to its place of honor in the courtyard of the Moscow police. In 2014, Putin restored by executive order the title of the "Dzerzhinsky Division" of an elite Moscow police unit. |
| 2 | At www.linksfraktion.de/ |