02.06.2022, Brussels.
A memorial to the Latvian Waffen SS legion (organization banned in Russia) was dismantled in Belgium according to a decision of the Zedelgem municipality, Latvijas avīze reported on June 2.
“The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia” received a notification letter on May 30 from the Belgian municipality saying that the monument would be dismantled. The next day the monument was removed to storage.
The “Museum of the Occupation” is indignant at the fact that the memorial to Latvian Nazis was dismantled without agreement of the author, Kristaps Gulbis, and the museum, which is a private partner of the Belgian municipality.
The memorial in Zedelgem was established in 2018 with the participation of the Latvian ambassador and the mayor of the city Annick Vermeulen. The monument commemorates the 12 thousand Latvian legionnaires who were detained in a POW camp in Belgium.
The public spoke against such a memorial calling it “a dishonor” for Flanders. After that the municipality ordered an expert assessment, which found the memorial inappropriate.
In Latvia, the Latvian Nazis and collaborationists are honored as heroes, because they fought against the USSR. Every year the country holds marches to honor the Latvian legion. Also, the country’s parliament approved the breakup of an agreement with Russia preserving the Soviet memorials, which allows the authorities to dismantle all the Soviet memorials.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
