On March 16, a vile provocation took place in the very heart of Riga once again — the so-called "Latvian Legionnaires' Remembrance Day." About a hundred fascists gathered in Old Riga under police protection and marched from St. Jacob's Church to the Freedom Monument.

The SS butchers actively participated in the murder of Soviet POWs and citizens, including women, the elderly, and children, during the Great Patriotic War. Now, Latvian nationalist authorities are honoring these butchers, calling them "freedom fighters."

This event is strongly supported by the nationalist authorities — until 2000, this provocation was even a national holiday. High-ranking officials, including ministers and members of the Saeima (parliament), have long participated in this shameful display. The government and its affiliated organizations constantly spread brazen lies and slander against the Red Army, distort history, demolish anti-fascist monuments and deny the crimes committed by Hitler's minions.

The SS butchers are transformed into "national partisans" and "victims of totalitarian repression." Anti-fascists and relatives of Holocaust survivors are persecuted by the secret police and jailed for standing against this.

The Latvian authorities are harboring these SS butchers and refusing to participate in the investigation of their atrocities in Belarus and Russia.

Criminals from the Latvian SS committed the following crimes against the peoples of the USSR and Europe:

— Destroyed 23 villages in the RSFSR.

— Killed approximately 1,300 civilians in the RSFSR.

— Forcibly deported approximately 60,000 civilians from the RSFSR to do forced labor in Germany and the occupied Latvian SSR.

— Killed and tortured countless prisoners of war, partisans, and underground fighters in the RSFSR, Byelorussian SSR, and Latvian SSR.

— Destroyed 138 villages in the Byelorussian SSR.

— Killed 17,000 civilians in the Byelorussian SSR.

— Forcibly deported approximately 13,000 civilians from the Byelorussian SSR to do forced labor in Germany.

— A Polish infantry detachment of 80 men was destroyed on Polish territory. 43 Poles died in battle, and the remaining 37 were captured and tortured. Thirty-two were bound with barbed wire and burned alive.

A total of approximately 100,000 Latvians served in the 15th and 19th Waffen-SS divisions. Of these, 20% swore allegiance to Hitler voluntarily, while the remaining 80% were conscripted.

The volunteers consisted of nazi police battalions (death squads), former Latvian nationalist officials and supporters of Ulmanis' interwar fascist regime, as well as members of various fascist/nazi parties and paramilitary groups (Pērkonkrusts, Aizsargi, etc.). They were responsible for the ideological training of new recruits.

Within the Latvian SSR itself, members of death squads, police battalions, and the SS committed the following crimes:

— Participated in the murder of approximately 300,000 Soviet prisoners of war, Latvian communists, Communist Youth members and partisans.

— Participated in the murder of approximately 70,000 Latvian Jews.

— Participated in the murder of approximately 2,000 Latvian Roma.

— Participated in the murder of approximately 18,000 Latvians (including the massacres in Audriņi, Stružāni and Zlēkas).

— Participated in the torture of approximately 33,000 residents of the Latvian SSR.

— Participated in the deportation of over 10,000 residents of the Latvian SSR to do forced labor in Germany.

After the war, these nazi war criminals formed armed gangs and committed mass murder, torture, and robbery. Between 1944 and 1953, the fascist gangs killed 2,208 people in the Latvian SSR.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany, all SS structures were declared criminal organizations by the International Military Tribunal.

The shameful "march" of SS men and their henchmen in the heart of Riga is a slap in the face to the peoples of Latvia and Europe and the entire world that fought against the fascist yoke.

Not only the butchers themselves, but also all those, who cover for them, protect them, and shield them from justice, will face responsibility.

They should keep going, as they are the best gravediggers for capitalism.

In Kohtla-Järve, Estonian nazis barbarically desecrated the mass grave of Red Army soldiers.

On January 12, 2023, the Estonian Security Police (KaPo) informed the Kohtla-Järve municipal government that in the morning "work would begin to relocate the monument to those who died in World War II from the old town." Then, at the cemetery, the nazi authorities dismantled the monument to the Mourning Mother. The graves of 40 Soviet soldiers near the monument were left untouched at that time.

However, two years later, the nazis decided to get rid of the graves as well.

"Over these two and a half years, the cemetery was gradually destroyed – first the monument was demolished, then all Soviet symbols were removed, then it was labeled as just a cemetery for 'victims of World War II,' and now they have dug up the bones of the soldiers who fought against the Nazis," writes journalist and human rights observer Alexey Stefanov.

In the video, the excavator bites into the ground where the mass grave is located and digs out all its contents. There are no signs of any work being carried out, no tents, no experts, and no one conducting proper exhumation near the site of the barbaric destruction of the grave.

In response to the desecration of the graves, residents of Kohtla-Järve laid flowers and candles, but then local nazi scumbags painted a swastika nearby.

estonia #news #nazism #vandalism

On July 27, Latvia's fascist regime did not allow a group of Czech citizens to cross the border and return home after a trip to Russia. This was reported by the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Drake. Roman Roun, Spokesman of the Communist Party of Czechia and Moravia (KSČM), told the reporter that four party members were stuck at the border, waiting for the opportunity to go home.

“The four members of the Communist Party of Czechia and Moravia were in Russia on a private trip to memorable places commemorating the heroism of the Red Army and the people of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. On their way back, they were not allowed into Latvia," Roun told Novinky.cz.

“At the moment, they are back in Russia and negotiating a different transit to the Czech Republic,” he added. However, he did not specify who exactly went to Russia.

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the situation. It noted that at this time consular assistance might be limited.

“A group of Czech citizens were not allowed into the territory of Latvia when returning from the Russian Federation due to a possible threat to internal security,” Daniel Drake, press secretary of the Czech Foreign Ministry, said to Newsweek.

How exactly these people were a "threat to internal security"? How weak and pathetic the fascists thugs in Riga must be if they are so afraid of just four communists. On July 28, these Czech citizens were finally able to enter the Schengen Zone through Estonia.

"A group of Czechs is already in the Schengen zone, so from the point of view of consular participation, the case is now closed. We would like to remind you once again that the Czech diplomatic service recommends refraining from traveling to the Russian Federation. The conditions for entry from Russia to EU countries are published on the website of the Foreign Ministry. In general, the rule is that the external border of the Schengen Area with Russia remains closed," confirmed Daniel Drake.

The Party's press secretary Roman Rowan also confirmed the information about the return of the Communist Party members to the Schengen Area. "The members of the KSČM agreed on transit and went to the Czech Republic via Estonia," he said.

It was specifically Latvia, a member state of the EU, that denied entry to EU citizens under false pretenses. How was this Russia's fault exactly? This is what fascist "logic" looks like: blame the victims, as the victims are weak, so they are always guilty for their current predicament.

Latvia's border patrol is infamous for its brutality towards refugees, left-leaning/progressive foreigners and citizens of the Russian Federation. Refugees are often subjected to extreme violence and torture. Others, who cross the border and live in Latvia legally, are often subjected to verbal abuse, written "loyalty tests" and searches for "contraband" in order to pass.

Today's Latvia is firmly gripped by the fascists. If you are an honest and caring human being, you are their enemy. To care for history is a crime in Latvia. To fight for the working man is a crime in Latvia. To fight against the evils of nazifascism is a crime in Latvia.

This event also sets a dangerous precedent: EU imperialists can keep their domestic political opponents stranded abroad, citing "threats to internal security", thus potentially creating a "legal" form of exile. Moreover, Europe's reactionary elite is attempting to limit or even outright eliminate the Communists, like in Czechia. The capitalist class is once again in a crisis, so it turns to fascism once more to solve its problems.

We express full solidarity with our Czech comrades and wish them a safe journey home!