Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires

in 1943 The idea of a Remembrance Day for the Latvian legionnaires was raised in exile by the Hawks of Daugava veterans' organization in 1952. The date of 16 March was chosen because in 1944 both divisions of the Latvian Legion, the 15th (1st Latvian) and the 19th (2nd Latvian) fought alongside each other, for the first and only time, against the Red Army. From 16 to 18 March 1944, heavy battles were fought on the eastern bank of the Velikaya River for "Hill 93.4", a strategically important height, defended by the 15th and the 19th Waffen-SS divisions. On 16 March at 6:40, the Soviet assault began with a massive artillery barrage. At 7:00, the Soviet tanks and infantry launched an attack on "Hill 93.4" and captured it at 11:00 as the defenders withdrew. On 18 March at 17:40, the reinforced and approximately 300-men-strong 15th Division, led by Colonel , recaptured the hill in a counterattack with relatively small losses – seven non-commissioned officers and soldiers killed, 20 wounded and five missing. After that, the Red Army did not try to attack there again. == History ==

1989/90–2000 Remembrance Day of the Latvian legionnaires has been publicly observed in Latvia since 1989/90. In 2000, the Latvian government abolished it as an official commemoration day. and the procession itself was condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. In 2006, the Latvian government tried to bring the situation under control by fencing off the Freedom Monument, with Riga City Council claiming it required restoration. Some later questioned this statement, as politicians named various other reasons for the move, the enclosed area was much larger than needed for restoration, and the weather did not seem appropriate for restoration. The unapproved events took place despite the ban and 65 participants were arrested by Latvian police, two of the arrested participants being citizens of Estonia. In 2006, laws requiring approval to arrange gatherings were ruled out as unconstitutional. On 16 March 2007, the government mobilized the police force to guard the vicinity of the monument and the day went by relatively peacefully. The veterans' organizations Daugavas Vanagi and National Association of Latvian Soldiers have announced that they dissociate themselves from ultra-radicals who organize processions at the monument and advised patriotic Latvians to attend other events. In 2008, the confrontation was limited to verbal arguments and insults. 2009–2011 Following the 2009 Riga riot, Riga City Council banned the 2009 procession and two counterdemonstrations, citing fears of unrest. Around 300 people disobeyed the ban, walking to lay flowers at the Freedom Monument under heavy police protection. A few counterdemonstrators were arrested. The head of the Anti-Fascist Committee of Latvia had invited its supporters to go on "an excursion" around Old Riga that day. In 2010, Riga City Council banned the procession and a counterdemonstration. On 15 March, the Riga District Court overruled the ban, and 500 to 1,000 people participated in the 2010 commemoration events in Riga the next day. In 2011, to avert provocation and public disturbances all six, both pro- and anti-Legionnaire Day events were once again disallowed. Nonetheless, around 1,000 people went on the procession and approximately 100 protested against it. 2012–present In 2012, around 2,000 people took part in the procession and 1,200 police officers were employed to maintain order in Riga. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis called for coalition ministers from the National Alliance not to participate in the events, warning that otherwise they might lose their ministerial positions. Three people were detained; one for displaying fascist symbols, one for displaying Soviet symbols and one for disturbing the work of police officers. On 11 March 2014, the government of Latvia agreed to forbid ministers from attending 16 March events. Nevertheless, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development from National Alliance stated that he intended to take part in the procession as he had done for the past 16 years; which resulted in Cilinskis losing his ministerial post. Protesters from the "Association Against Nazism" were moved to a fenced-in zone in adjacent Bastejkalns Park where they installed improvised gallows. The day passed without serious incident, though seven people were arrested for various misdemeanours. In 2013, the Saeima rejected a proposal from the National Alliance to amend the law on Holidays and Remembrance Days and make Legionnaire Day a national remembrance day. In 2018 and 2019, the Saeima turned down similar proposals from the National Alliance. In 2016, British YouTuber and freelance journalist Graham Phillips was detained for disrupting the day's events and resisting police orders in what was described as a "provocation" by the Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis, after which Phillips was deported from Latvia and after an additional assessment, denied entry into the country for the next three years. Six members of the Berlin-based Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Antifa) were also said to have been denied entry into the country. 13 members of Saeima were reported to have participated in the Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires procession, while 40 people protested. In 2017, five people were detained during the procession in Riga, two for resisting the police and three for violating regulations on meetings, processions, and pickets. In 2021, no public remembrance events took place on 16 March because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia. In 2023, "several hundred" people, including members of the National Alliance, participated in the parade in Riga. == Controversy ==

As part of the Waffen-SS, the Latvian Legion is seen by some as being a Nazi unit, while others argue that it fought only the Soviet Union that had previously occupied and annexed Latvia, and is not responsible for the Holocaust (since it was founded more than a year after the Jews of Latvia were murdered or sent to concentration camps) or any other Nazi war crimes, and should be viewed as a separate entity. It is not recognized as a criminal organization by the US. Even though up to 80–85% of people were conscripted, it was officially named Volunteer Legion to circumvent the Hague Convention of 1907 prohibiting drafting inhabitants of occupied territories by the occupying power. The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stressed that no Nazi uniforms, symbols, or slogans appear on this or other days in Latvia, as they are illegal. On 16 March 2012, Efraim Zuroff during his visit to Riga to protest against the Legionnaire Day procession, stated in an interview with Latvian State television LTV1 that the "Latvian SS Legion was not involved in the crimes of the Holocaust" but also stated, as he has done every year since 1999, "although these units were not involved in crimes against humanity, many of their soldiers had previously served in the Latvian security police and had actively participated in the mass murder of civilians, primarily Jews." Head of the World War II History Department of the Latvian War Museum Jānis Tomaševskis acknowledged that 11 Latvian Auxiliary Police battalions and Arajs Kommando, whose members had participated in the Holocaust, were eventually assigned to the Latvian Legion, According to 2017 research by the University of Latvia and SKDS, from 2012 to 2017, public support for Legionnaire Day had decreased from 38% to 33%. Researcher Mārtiņš Kaprāns noted a "more pronounced tolerance" and that "a favourable attitude towards the Lestene memorial has grown both among Latvians and Russians". In Russia Russia alleges that the Latvian Legion carried out punitive actions against partisans and the civilian population in the territory of German-occupied Latvia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia (such as Operation Winterzauber). Director of Russia’s "Historical Memory" foundation Aleksandr Dyukov claims that the Latvian Legion had been involved in the mass killing of civilians, such as the Zhestianaya Gorka massacre, and numerous former members of the Latvian Legion had worked for American intelligence to pursue anti-Soviet propaganda. Institute for Strategic Dialogue had stated, "[c]laiming that members of the Estonian and Latvian SS units were voluntarily collaborating with Nazis oversimplifies history", explaining, "the vast majority of soldiers were conscripted against their will" and "[d]raft evasion was initially punishable by prison, and later punishable by death". In 2018, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the rise of neo-fascist violence in Europe, observing that "every year on 16 March thousands of people gather in Riga for Latvian Legion Day to honour Latvians who served in the Waffen-SS". In 2019, Canada condemned the event. Leanid Kazyrytski has argued that, even though the Nuremberg Tribunal excluded Latvian Waffen SS units from the list of criminal organizations, the Latvian Legion possessed all the features attributed to a criminal organization by the Nuremberg Tribunal. ==Traditions==

Traditionally, a memorial service is held in Riga Cathedral, after which the participants go on a procession to the Freedom Monument where they lay flowers. Another ceremony receiving much less publicity takes place at the war cemetery in Lestene, Tukums Municipality. ==Participating organizations==

Organizations whose members have been seen to participate in events: • National Alliance – a right-wing populist party whose members traditionally organize a flag alley at the Freedom Monument when the procession arrives • Gustavs Celmiņš Centre – an organization seeking to revive the ultranationalist Pērkonkrusts movement Organizations that have demonstrated against the events • National Bolshevik Party • Anti-Fascist Committee of Latvia • Latvian Russian Union ==References==