Ex-Nazi collaborators equating USSR with fascists to whitewash own sins – Jewish intl. organization
Published time: January 16, 2015 16:03
Edited time: January 16, 2015 19:16
Edited time: January 16, 2015 19:16
A
woman walks near the main gate that reads "Arbeit macht frei" (Work
makes you free) of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau
in Oswiecim.(Reuters / Kacper Pempel)
Download video (83.24 MB)
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There
has been “a struggle going on for several years over the narrative of
WWII and the Holocaust,” chief of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal
center, Efraim Zuroff, told RT.
Zuroff
says it is strange that a large majority of countries who suffered at
the hands of Hitler choose to freely carry on naming streets after
Nazis, erecting monuments in their honor and allowing neo-Nazi marches
to take place.
“In
many countries… that were under the Soviet Union or communist
domination, there’s an effort now to rewrite the history of that period
in order to do several things: one reason is to hide or minimize the
role of local Nazi collaborators. Because in eastern Europe – unlike
outside eastern Europe – collaboration with the Nazis in many countries
meant active participation in mass murder – in Lithuania, Latvia,
Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Croatia.”
In
2013 Estonia was bitterly criticized when its Defense Minister’s
address to Estonian-born wartime veterans of the Waffen SS was
criticized for saying that Soviets and Nazis were basically the same
thing.
Apart
from outright disbelief, the Russians found it strange that in the 20
years since the breakup of the USSR not once had Estonian authorities
shown any respect for their own Rifle Corps attached to the Red Army,
which would at least have been fair, given how ‘equal’ the Nazis and
communists were supposed to be.
Veterans of 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) meet on the Sinimaed hills.(RIA Novosti / Alexei Olis'ko)
A
similar narrative can be traced to Latvia – a country that to this day
does not shy away from unambiguously glorifying fascist ideology.
In
2012, a video was released of two men in Waffen SS uniforms conducting a
kindergarten lesson, complete with handouts, grenades and pistols. The
lesson took place on March 16, the day commemorating the joining of hundreds of Latvians with the Waffen SS to fight against the Soviet Union.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed outrage over such ceremonies celebrating the Nazi past. The EU has also voiced concern.
Two
man dressed in pre-WWII Latvian military uniforms walk along with
veterans of the Latvian Legion, a force that was commanded by the German
Nazi Waffen SS, and their sympathizers to the Monument of Freedom in
Riga, Latvia.(AFP Photo / Ilmars Znotins)
The second point Zuroff makes is that “these
countries are trying to divert attention from their collaboration with
the Nazis and emphasize their victimhood… under the communist regime.
The idea is to try to create a false symmetry between communist crimes
and Nazi crimes, in order to try and free themselves from their guilt
[and] get the sympathy compensation that comes to victims…but that’s not
what happened.”
He
believes this to be a scary distinction to make, because in the
tendency for false oppositions, ideological differences between
communists and Nazis are forgotten.
“It’s
basically part of an attempt to undermine the uniqueness of the
Holocaust to try and claim that [it] is no different from the communist
crimes, which might even be worse… but that is of course not the truth:
the Holocaust is a unique tragedy because of the fanatic ideology of the
Nazis, who sought to absolutely annihilate an entire people – which was
never the case with the Soviet Union or the communists – and
industrialize mass murder… it’s never been replicated in any tragedy.”
What Zuroff is saying may well apply to Poland.
Although
the EU has long condemned the communist past, no one went quite as far
as Poland to highlight Soviet crimes, although the country had suffered
much more from the Nazis, including the Ukrainian national Stepan
Bandera, who murdered tens of thousands of Poles. In 2010 the country
passed a law prohibiting the purchase of any communist symbols or
memorabilia. This includes Che Guevara posters and T-shirts.
There
is much confusion now over President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at the
upcoming commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz. Initial rumors
had it that invitations were being sent out, but that the Russian
president wasn’t on the list. This created a media flurry of comments
for and against Putin’s right to be present at a ceremony, which
essentially owes its existence to Soviet efforts.
It
later transpired that the duty of sending invitations was taken over by
the Auschwitz museum – and not the government, like before. This
created confusion, as invitations were swapped for informal notices,
according to Polish media. Some have said this was a way to avoid the
Russian head’s presence, as Moscow chose not to clarify whether Putin
was indeed invited. The Russian ambassador will come in his stead.
However, the president’s office pointed out that Putin takes any such
ceremonies with the utmost seriousness, but had scheduling conflicts. It
is also no secret that many who will be present take issue with Russia
over Ukraine, something causing everyone much tension.
As
for Ukraine, which many are using as a catalyst for Russia’s
post-Soviet expansionism, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN
Vitaly Churkin had this to say: “It is deeply
disturbing that the followers of [Stepan] Bandera are openly marching
these days in Ukraine, displaying his portraits and fascist insignia,
and are wielding considerable political power in Kiev.”
Supporters
of the Ukrainian nationalist movement rally in downtown Lviv on April
28, 2012 to mark the 68th anniversary of the formation of the Ukrainian
Galacian Division of the Waffen SS (AFP Photo / Yuriy Dyachyshyn)
Attempts to whitewash them “are not only morally repulsive, they amount to encouraging nationalist ideology, extremism and intolerance,” Churkin stated.
Of
note here is that recently the US, Canada and Ukraine refused to sign a
Russian-backed resolution against the glorification of Nazi ideology.
Many experts noted that their logic seemed to compare a non-existent
Soviet Union with quite real and tangible expressions of Nazism in
Ukraine, for which there is demonstrable evidence.
Analysts
went further to stress that this refusal to sign a document that even
Germany approved of is a reflection of political interests that these
states would go very far to preserve.
Supporters
of the Ukrainian nationalist movement rally in downtown Lviv on April
28, 2012 to mark the 68th anniversary of the formation of the Ukrainian
Galacian Division of the Waffen SS. (AFP Photo / Yuriy Dyachyshyn)
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http://rt.com/news/223215-
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