Latvia: SS: Veterans of the Latvian Waffen S-S honored their fallen comrades

(16 Mar 2001) English/Nat Several hundred veterans of the Latvian Waffen S-S honored their fallen comrades on Friday in a ceremony at a Riga church. The veterans, also know also known as the Latvian Legion, did not stage a controversial march that in previous years has angered Moscow and Jewish groups. This comes a few days after veterans groups decried what they said were historical misunderstandings, calling for a nationwide debate about the Latvian Waffen SS. The veterans said they were always fighting for Latvian independence, not for Germany. The former soldiers, most in their 70s and 80s, said they were not holding their annual meeting to make a political statement but to remember some 50 thousand fellow soldiers who died in battle during World War Two. The veterans, some in wheelchairs, others carrying flowers or canes, gathered at the Dome Cathedral to sing and pray before dispersing. They then reconvened at a Riga war cemetery, where some Waffen S-S soldiers and veteran