Commemoration of 1941 German Invasion Sparks Anger (48)

Published: 11.07.2011 21:34

Head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Efraim Zuroff called the ceremony 'unacceptable.'
( Photo: Wikimedia Commons )

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A ceremony in Viljandi commemorating the German invasion of 1941 as a "liberation" has drawn sharp criticism from the Estonian Jewish community as well as from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel.

The commemorative service, which marked the 70th anniversary of German forces driving Soviet occupation troops from the area, was held on July 8 at the city's German military cemetery. It was reportedly attended by several dozen people.

Jaanika Kressa, who represents the event's organizer, a local veterans' society, said that the group wasn't trying to create a conflict around the sensitive issue. "We want to thank the remaining soldiers, and tell them they were right to fight against Bolshevism," she said, as quoted by the local newspaper Sakala.

"The arrival of the Germans is considered the liberation of Estonia, because it was saved from the order introduced in June 1940, when about ten thousand people were deported to Siberia and the local people were impoverished […] The situation of the Estonians became normal again," she said.

Ala Jacobsen, chairwoman of the Estonian Jewish community, was quick to take issue with the view. "The usual attempt to portray people who collaborated with the Nazi occupational regime as 'warriors against Bolshevism,' and furthermore on the day when the mass murder of the citizens of Viljandi and Estonia who belonged to the 'wrong' ethnicity began [...] appears completely idiotic," she said in a statement.

The Wiesenthal Center's Israel director and Holocaust historian Efraim Zuroff told the Jerusalem Post that Kressa's statement was "a malicious revision of the sad reality of Estonian history and a heartless affront to the memory of the Estonian Jews murdered by the Nazis and their local collaborators."

"No one is disputing that the Estonian population suffered under the Soviet Union. But to celebrate the Nazi invasion, in which 99.3 percent of Estonia's Jews ended up being murdered, is unacceptable," Zuroff said.

Though the Viljandi event is likely to be a one-time affair, other ceremonies honoring soldiers who supported the June 22 Nazi invasion have been held in Estonia in recent years, sparking resentment each time. Likewise, Red Army veterans in Estonia controversially celebrate the Soviet invasion of September 1944, also referring to it as a "liberation." Most in Estonia view both invasions as the tides of war replacing one totalitarian occupier with another.

 

Steve Roman

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Comments (48)

  • Thomas

    12.07.2011 00:18

    While it is true that the German invasion did interrupt the Soviet deportations that just started a week before and thus saved the lives of many people who may have otherwise been deported to Siberia, it should be remembered the Germans facilitated the Soviet occupation in the first place by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. It also must be noted that the Germans refused to reverse any Soviet action like de-collectiving and restoring private property, let alone restore independence during the German occupation. Let's also not forget that the Nazis murdered loyal patriotic Estonian citizens like the Independence War veterans like Gotfried Firk because he was a jew. That said, only 25 percent of Estonia's jews were killed, not the 99.3 percent Zuroff claims, 75 percent managed to escape before the Nazis arrived. So it cannot be said the Germans really liberated Estonia, they just wanted to enslave us too, just like the Soviets. Estonians liberated themselves in 1991.

  • karlos

    12.07.2011 07:04

    which invasion was more likely to leave estonia intact after the war? here's a hint, it wasn't the soviets... history showed us that.

  • estonianblogger

    12.07.2011 09:01

    It is surprising, instead, that the Palestinians didn't protest too, for the celebrations of the Third Reich arriving to Estonia in 1941. In fact, if the Jews wouldn't know the democide in Europe, maybe the Palestinians today are allowed to live in peace in their own fatherland, without Jews taking away day after day their houses and building walls and barbed wires anywhere. Yes, it is surprising indeed.

  • @estonianblogger

    12.07.2011 09:25

    You are way off topic. This article has nothing to do with the Middle East and its complex issues. One has to understand how the Germans were seen as liberators because Russia (USSR) was an ancient enemy of Estonia who had just taken over and was in the process of radically changing the country and deporting many of its people to an unknown fate. The Soviets were so horrible that many peoples similarly cheered German troops as they pushed the Red Army and Soviet control out. Google pictures of how Ukrainians, for example, did so.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    12.07.2011 10:56

    It was only a question of time until these types of salutation toward the Nazi regime would cause anger from national minorities and international communities beyond Russia. The quite typical anti-semitic comments here only show that there is still much need for more education regarding the Nazi regime. The question alone "which invasion was more likely to leave Estonia intact after the war" is not to be outbid in absurdity. The Nazis went to Estonia to habitat it for the 'Germans'. By ANY means, there was no place for Estonians in their plans, and if, at best, as slaves. In context to the article, that such stupid comments are published here at all, borders on sedition.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    12.07.2011 11:10

    "We want to thank the remaining soldiers, and tell them they were right to fight against Bolshevism," From here onward this individual can't be taken seriously. Who uses terms like 'Bolshewism' in the context and to back up of the National Socialism, accuses herself of the interpretation of the terminology as "Jewish fraud", which was the prerogative interpretation of the term 'Bolshewism' for the Nazis.

  • how many more WWII hollywood movies must we see

    12.07.2011 12:19

    no one in their right mind agrees with what hitler did. but history is complex and jews aren't the only minority in the history of the world to be persecuted.

  • avatar

    auslane

    12.07.2011 12:26

    Putting aside the tragic killings that occurred when both Germany and Russia invaded, the much more temporary German occupation has never had to suffer the same scrutiny that the decades-long Russian occupation has, and - consequently - may come off looking 'better' than the latter. That said, anecdotal evidence from relatives who were present in Viljjandi up until the day of the Russian return indicates that, no matter the (admittedly terrible) attitude of Nazi Germany towards Jews, the German soldiers were much more professional, reasonable and rational than the (so it was told to me) 'Russian animals'. I could, therefore, find it believable that some non-Jews might celebrate such a 'liberation' by a more reasonable foe.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    12.07.2011 12:53

    That is true, auslane. The Nazis were much more 'professional' and precise in their killing sprees. To backup the 'liberation' thoughts, I was told by some Estonians that the "dirty Russians" washed their faces in the toilet, stealed the brute, meanwhile the "gentle Germans" paid for that. Very professional, indeed. And very convincing to delcare the days of occupation of the Nazi Regime in Estonia as a 'liberation'... any way. I was then presented the Hitler salute also. With pride. With such a mindset, someone must be already certified almost as insane (if this would have no base motives, as I believe ultimately).

  • avatar

    auslane

    12.07.2011 13:35

    @knut - the point is that, given the choice between being occupied by Germany or by Russia, many (non Jewish) people would have preferred the former, and it's not unreasonable to see how a small number of people might mark the day of the German occupation with an event. If I was in Viljandi, I would have attended this event myself, if only out of curiosity. My 'German collaborator' grandfather outlived many of his police comrades, and escaped - with the assistance of German soldiers - via Saaremaa; his brother in law, on the other hand, was shot and killed by the invading Russians. While this is an anecdotal story, I suspect many other people have stories like it, and it might go some way to explaining why the Germans are seen in a more favourable light, the 'best of the worst' as it might be described.

  • avatar

    thomas

    12.07.2011 14:23

    @Knut, the majority of Germans were not Nazis, and in 1941 the Nazi death camps hadn't been created yet so the Nazi intent to mass murder Jews was not widely known. So it was perfectly reasonable back in June 1941 for the local Estonian population to regard the Germans as liberators, there were many cultural affinities between Germans and Estonians, given the fact that the predominant religion of Estonia at the time was Lutherism, and German was the language of learning, administration and the judiciary for most of the time Estonia was a part of the Russian empire.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    12.07.2011 15:38

    Thomas, all valid points but not as of today and as an excuse for commemoration's happening these days. Auslane, opting for one of two dictatorships is not a "choice." We might possibly speak about the lesser evil and here I have my fairly doubts that in the long term Estonians would have been better off with the Nazi regime. I have my doubts on this based on grounds that are universally known and that require no further explanation.

  • avatar

    thomas

    12.07.2011 16:12

    Knut, it wasn't a "choice" between two occupation regimes. The majority of Estonians opposed both and would have preferred independence, and it soon became apparent within months the Germans were not going to grant independence. And so began political resistance through a campaign of non-compliance. Let's not forget that over 5000 ethnic Estonians were executed, five times more than the number of Estonian jews killed. The German attempted to draft Estonian men unsuccessfully for years with thousands crossing to Finland or hiding in the forests to avoid the draft, those caught were liable to be shot. There were three types of people in Estonia, Soviet collaborators who worked towards incoporating Estonia into the Soviet Union, Nazi collaborators who worked towards incorporating Estonia into the Third Reich. And the third group being independence minded Estonian patriots like Juri Uluots and the men who answered his call in 1944, when it was obvious that Germany was going to loose the war and soon abandon Estonia, attempted to stop the return of the Soviets for long enough to re-establish independence under the terms of the Atlantic Charter. That was not an unreasonable hope, since just 20 years earlier Estonia had done something similar by exploiting the power vacuum between the departing Red Army and stopping the arriving Germans to declare independence in 1920. Unfortunately Uluots failed but his heroic actions were not in vain as it contributed to the restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991.

  • an observer from Germany

    12.07.2011 16:53

    I think one should say straightforward what Estonian people are doing here: They are trivializing the holocaust crimes and other human rights violations committed under the nazi-regime. In Germany the trivialization of the holocaust is regarded as a crime according to the penal code, Paragraph 130 and can be sentenced with up to 5 years imprisonment. So, I would advice the holcaust-trivializers from Estonia better not to repeat their criminal stupidities when they travel to Germany as tourists. Trivializing nazi- crimes and celebrating the SS and Adolf Hitler are definitely not part of Europe but a shame for the whole civilized world.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    12.07.2011 17:29

    Thomas, thank you for your elaborate answer. I am aware of the fact that luckely the vast majority of Estonians oppose both regimes and prefer independency. The problems rely within the groups of people who organize and attend commemorations praising one of these regimes with ties to politics (either to the Center Party or the Homeland Union faction of IRL, for instance). That is alarming and also betrayal among their own people and the country.

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