Estonia rejects call to recognize SS-men as freedom fighters

TALLINN  (Interfax)  - The Estonian Cabinet on Thursday rejected  an  opposition  proposal to designate Estonians who fought for the Nazis, together with members of the Forest Brotherhood, as "fighters for the liberation of Estonia."
     The  government  press  service  told  Interfax  that  the  Cabinet discussed  a  parliamentary  resolution "On armed resistance of Estonian citizens  to the military occupation of the Soviet Union" drafted by the Fatherland Union and Res Publica parties.
     The opposition proposal declares that "the righteous armed struggle against  the armed aggression of the Soviet Union against Estonia during World War  II  and in the following years against the illegal occupation struggle  for  the  liberation  of Estonia and the Estonian citizens who participated in it, are fighters for the liberation of Estonia."
     The  Cabinet  agreed  with the opinion of the Justice Ministry that the adoption  of the resolution in its present form "is highly likely to provoke enmity between people who fought on different sides."

Comments

[ticonderoga]

It is difficult for us Westerners to understand Estonia's desire to honor the Estonian SS. Whatever its role in fighting the Soviet Union, Estonian fighters in the SS borrowed the trappings, and in some cases, the ideology of Nazism, and, in so doing, greatly compromised the cause for which they fought. That said, not having a substantial Jewish population, some Estonian SS fighters might not have understood the extent to which stormtrooper tactics, in the service of Nazi ideology, would be unleashed against an innocent civilian population. And, indeed, they were no doubt willing to make common cause with anyone that could help secure freedom for the homeland. Now, however, we are in a different time: the Estonian homeland is secure and free and the historical record is clear. Therefore, perhaps such honors need to be understood in the full light of history and with greater awareness to the victims of Nazi aggression.