Bad supporters of evil history

Although Nazism was condemned at the Nuremberg Tribunals more than half a century ago, its recurrences are still manifest, even if occasionally. This Saturday, July 30th, the small Estonian town of Sinimiae saw another rally of veterans of the 20th Estonian Waffen SS division, which fought Allied troops in the Second World War. Estonia’s antifascists held a counter-rally at the very same time, urging the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and other international organizations to stop the revival of Nazism in Europe. The Voice of Russia has more.

The rallies of Estonian SS-men are regularly attended by their companions-in-arms from Latvia and Finland, the ones that still hold dear the ideas of the Third Reich. Each year, they mark the anniversary of fighting for Sinimiae. Back in 1944, Nazis suffered a crushing defeat from Soviet troops in the battle of Sinimiae, but the former SS-men couldn’t care less. They defy the ban on wearing Nazi insignia and turn up in their Waffen SS uniform at their rallies. Nearby, the international human rights movement Peace without Nazism held their own antifascist rally. The activist of the Estonia without Nazism organization Maxim Reva believes that by authorizing ‘black Sabbaths’ the Estonian authorities create a favourable climate for spreading Nazi ideas both in their country and elsewhere in Europe.

“‘Neo-Nazi plague’, Maxim Reva says, was revived in the Baltic countries 20 years ago and is now spreading throughout Europe. Antifascists warned EU functionaries years ago that the latter should stop conniving at the ultra-right in some EU nations, or else these ideas would catch on in other European countries. Well, that’s precisely what’s started happening now that Austria’s ultra-right party has won the parliamentary election, and the True Finns Party has secured impressive returns in the election to the Finnish Parliament recently.”