I don't know if anybody's interested in this, but I;m
translating (for personal use only )an interview with
the President of Estonia in the latest issue of
Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty on his country's
rather, uh, permissive attitude toward its SS vets. If
anybody wants I can send them a copy. Here's a
snippet:
INT: The problem is in that today they (old SS guys)
do it (have demonstrations) completely at will.
Everyone is shocked when Estonian veterans of the SS
go to demonstrations in their Hitlerite uniforms -- if
a person did that in Germany, he would go to jail
immediately. While in Estonia he has no problems.
Estonian Pres.: Of course, there are such people in
Estonia. On specific historical days they gather
together, and sometimes some of them put on their old
military outfits. But at the same time I want to
underline that during the years of occupation Estonia
had an underground government, fighting against the
Germans, and in Sepmber 1944 many Estonians fought
with the departing forces of the Wehrmacht. And, on
the other hand, if in Russia some person goes onto the
street with a swastika (which happens), we do not draw
the conclusion that Russia is propagandizing fascism.
---
INT: On January 20 1942 at the Wahnsee conference in
Germany Estonia became the first country to be
announced as "Judenfrei," that is, "free of Jews." In
half a year the entire Jewish population was
annihilated, including children, and Himmler remarked
on the "great services of the Estonian police" in
disposing of the "lower race."
Estonian Pres.: I am of the opinion that we should not
rely on the words of Himmler as the only reliable
source. All thorough investigations that have occurred
to date do not support the idea that the Estonian
police consciously annihilated Jews. Without a doubt,
some amount of Estonians served in the police that
were created by the Germans, but I can say with
complete confidence that participation of Estonians in
the execution ("rasstrel" -- death by shooting) of the
Jewish population is excluded. We need to rely not on
emotions, but on facts.
And so forth.
Russian text here:
http://www.aif.ru/online/aif/1273/12_01
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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