An analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza Russian news agency Artem Sokolov shared his attitude to the Nazism victims memorial complexes in Latvia in the National Question program on Vesti FM.
This Saturday’s program hosted by Armen Gasparyan and Marat Safarov was dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Salaspils concentration camp liberation by Soviet soldiers.
"The concentration camp in Salaspils (Kurtenhof) was established in October 1941 and seized to exist in September 1944. According to Soviet sources, more than 100 thousand people, including 7 thousand children, were killed in the Salaspils concentration camp. But in Latvia, there is an opinion, that the number of victims of the concentration camp in Salaspils is several times overstated and it is necessary to recount it, " Artem Sokolov said.
A memorial ceremony was held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the camp liberation on the territory of the Salaspils Memorial Complex. The event was attended by the Ambassador of Russia to Latvia Evgeny Lukyanov, diplomats of the embassies of Russia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, as well as representatives of public and veteran organizations of Latvia. But, as in the past year, the top leadership of Latvia ignored the ceremony. It was visited by only a few people from the Salaspils City Council, ” the expert noted.
"The Latvian authorities appeared in Salaspils only once - in early February 2018, when the opening ceremony of the updated exposition took place at the site of the former concentration camp. Then the event was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics, the Minister of Culture Dace Melbarde and the leadership of the Museum of Occupation.
The most resonant event in recent years was the statement of the Minister of Defense of Latvia, Artis Pabriks, who said last week that the Waffen SS legionnaires are the pride of the Latvian people and the state, " the Vestnik Kavkaza analyst noted.
According to the verdict of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, the Waffen-SS was recognized as a criminal organization. And the creation of concentration camps including by the SS forces was recognized as a crime against humanity, ”Artem Sokolov recalled.
