Baltic Truth Ignored: Latvia Honors Killers

Almost three years have passed since the release of my documentary Baltic Truth, yet the troubling reality on the ground remains unchanged. Despite efforts to expose the horrors of Holocaust distortion in the Baltic states, Latvia continues to honor those complicit in the extermination of its Jewish population. Lithuania has shown some minor progress, but overall, these countries persist in whitewashing their dark past.

Just a few days ago, on March 16, we again witnessed a disgraceful spectacle in Riga—a public march honoring the Latvian SS Legion. Year after year, this parade glorifies individuals who fought under the Nazi banner, portraying them as heroes of Latvian nationalism.

A brief historical overview: In the spring of 1943, Latvia’s 15th and 19th Waffen SS divisions engaged in battle against the Red Army on the Volkhov front near Leningrad. Latvian soldiers are celebrated in Latvia as heroes who defended their homeland against Soviet occupation. But this narrative is far from clear-cut. The Latvian Legion, or the 15th and 19th Waffen SS divisions, were established in 1943. Most legionnaires were ordinary Latvian citizens with no prior involvement in warfare. The tragedy, however, is that the initial core of the Latvian Legion was formed from police battalions established in 1941. Among them were individuals whose hands were drenched in Jewish blood—members of the infamous Arajs Kommando, actively involved in mass executions in the Riga Ghetto, Rumbula, and numerous other locations across Latvia. These were not victims of circumstance; they were deliberate participants in genocide.

Viktors Arājs himself, personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews, became a key part of the Latvian Legion. He escaped justice and lived peacefully in Germany until his natural death in 1988. This man was no freedom fighter—he was a despicable mass murderer.

Another example is Voldemārs Veiss, a notorious Nazi collaborator buried with honor in Riga’s revered Brethren Cemetery, at the foot of the Mother Latvia statue, under the flags of Latvia and the European Union, symbols that supposedly represent justice and democracy.

Veiss was not merely a passive accomplice; he was head of the Latvian Auxiliary Police, an organization directly involved in rounding up Riga’s Jewish population, deporting them to ghettos, and facilitating their brutal executions. Honoring such a person today is not just historically offensive—it represents the height of cynicism and indecency.

Even more disturbing is that the executioners of my grandfather’s family are buried with honors alongside their Jewish victims in Akniste and are remembered as heroes of Latvia. Their names are also commemorated at the infamous Waffen SS cemetery in Lestene, dedicated to Hitler’s soldiers.

Yet, it turns out that Latvia annually glorifies these monsters every March 16, while, inexplicably, international media continues to turn a blind eye.

Considering this horrific reality, the Latvian Legion should never be celebrated—it should instead be marked as a day of mourning and shame in Latvian history. Imagine the outrage if Germans openly celebrated the Waffen SS on the streets of Berlin today, but Latvia shamelessly continues to honor these criminals with monuments and plaques, indirectly supporting Holocaust denial and historical revisionism. Voices challenging this disturbing narrative are drowned out by nationalist propaganda portraying these murderers as patriots.

I know that many Latvians, after reading this and watching my film, will label me a “Russian agent,” spreading “Russian propaganda.” Allow me to clearly and unequivocally state: this pathetic excuse will not work. I have no connection to Russia whatsoever. I grew up under Soviet oppression in Latvia, experiencing firsthand the brutality and injustice of that regime. My grandfather’s family, the Berkovich family, lost everything during the Soviet occupation of 1940, and my grandfather Mozus hated the Soviet regime just as deeply as I do. But I will always stand for the truth and will never allow anyone to desecrate the memory of Latvia’s Jewish victims by glorifying their murderers.

The world is watching. Latvia’s silence and complicity is a disgrace that must end. How much longer will we tolerate this shameful denial of history?