People marched honor Latvians who fought against Soviets

	Duration: 09:05 minutes Upload Time: 2007-03-21 22:34:35 User: Laikraadis :::: Favorites :::: Top Videos of Day
Description: March 16, 2007. People marched in Riga to honor Latvians who fought against Soviets. Latvia's history during WWII is both complex and tragic. The country was occupied by the Soviets in 1940, invaded and occupied by the Nazis in 1941 and re-occupied by the Soviets in 1944. During the first Soviet occupation, tens of thousands Latvians were deported or executed. As a result, many Latvians viewed the Nazi invasion of 1941 as a liberation, and saw the Legion as a way of fighting back against a worse enemy. It wasn't a Latvian national army, but equally, it wasn't a unit formed primarily to further German racial war aims. The Legion was formed in 1943 and served as a combat unit on the Eastern Front. During its two-year existence, over 100,000 Latvians fought in its ranks.
Comments