Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires

Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires
Flowers being laid at the foot of the Freedom Monument
Observed byFormer members of the Latvian Legion, their relatives and supporters
SignificanceThe 15th (1st Latvian) and the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) fighting alongside for the first and only time against the Red Army in 1944[1]
CelebrationsMemorial service in Riga Cathedral, procession to the Freedom Monument, laying flowers at the Freedom Monument and a cemetery in Lestene
Date16 March
FrequencyAnnual

Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires (Latvian: Leģionāru piemiņas diena), often known simply as the Legionnaire Day (Leģionāru diena) or 16 March (16. marts) in Latvia, is a day when soldiers of the Latvian Legion, part of the Waffen-SS, are commemorated. From 1998 until 2000, it was officially recognized as a "Remembrance Day for Latvian soldiers" by the Saeima.[2]

The day has been controversial as the Legion was a unit of Nazi Germany, and the remembrance day has been criticized by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Russia, Canada, and Jewish organizations such as Simon Wiesenthal Center.[3] Others argue that no one has ever been convicted of committing war crimes as a member of the Legion and hold that it was a purely military unit fighting against the Soviet Union that had occupied Latvia in 1940.[4][5][6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Neiburgs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Pettai, Eva-Clarita; Pettai, Vello (2014). Transitional and Retrospective Justice in the Baltic States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-11-070-4949-9.
  3. ^ Taylor, Scott (12 March 2018). "On Target: No Denying Latvia's Nazi Past". Esprit de Corps. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  4. ^ Rislakki, Jukka (2008). "Why did tens of thousands of Latvian volunteers fight in the SS troops and why are SS veterans still allowed to march on the streets of Rīga instead of being brought to justice?". The Case for Latvia. Disinformation Campaigns Against a Small Nation. Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi. pp. 127–142. ISBN 978-90-420-2424-3. OCLC 237883206.
  5. ^ Kaprāns, Mārtiņš (20 March 2017). "Spring in Latvia—a perfect time for rewriting history". East StratCom Task Force. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  6. ^ Skujiņa-Trokša, Kristīne (15 April 2021). "Who rewrites history? The portrayal of the Legionnaire Day in pro-Kremlin media". Debunk.org. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  7. ^ Zīle, Roberts (2 October 2009). "To call us Nazi sympathisers is absurd". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2010.