A memorial procession involving around 250 people took place in Rīga. Participants of the march carried flags and laid flowers at the Freedom Monument. The event took place from 9:45 to 11:45, and was organized by the association “VK Vilki”.
The march was monitored by a large police presence, as usual.
To learn more about the complex historical events that brought the Latvian Legion into existence, LTV has a short documentary film available, which can be viewed below. The year is 1943 and the Nazi occupation of the country is complete, following the earlier Soviet occupation of independent Latvia in 1940. This led to the formation of the Latvian Legion as combat units of the Waffen-SS.
“Should we honor or condemn them, keep silent or search for excuses?” the documentary asks.
To learn what happened to the Legionnaires after the end of WWII, we offer this article from our archives.
For those wishing to understand the various viewpoints concerning this annual happening, Latvian military and defense news portal sargs.lv has an article by Jānis Tomaševskis, head of the World War II History Department of the Latvian War Museum explaining some of the controversial aspects of the Latvian Legion’s history.
The Latvian government’s position on the March 16 events is available at the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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