Latvia`s nationalist Daugavas Vanagi Latvija (DV) organization has destroyed a Soviet-era World War II monument in the town of Limbazi in the north of the country, DV leader Gunars Grinbergs said Tuesday.
"Over the weekend, Daugavas Vanagi Latvija destroyed a monument to Soviet navy sailors," Grinbergs told reporters.
The monument, which was erected in 1974 near the town`s school and created in the shape of the hull of a ship, was dedicated to Soviet seamen who died in the first weeks of World War II while fighting local Nazi collaborators. It was protected by the 1994 Russia-Latvian agreements, under which Latvia is obliged to maintain Soviet memorials and war graves.
Grinbergs claimed, citing historical archives, that the seamen were marauders who killed seven local civilians.
A Limbazi city council representative said that local authorities had approved the taking down of the monument.
DV was founded in 1945 by former Latvian members of Nazi Germany`s Waffen-SS and continues to support SS veterans and their families living in Latvia.
Latvian Nationalists destroy Soviet World War II monument
31 August 2016
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Latvia`s nationalist Daugavas Vanagi Latvija (DV) organization destroyed a monument to Soviet navy sailors who died in the first weeks of World War II while fighting local Nazi collaborators in the town of Limbazi in the north of the country, according to DV leader Gunars Grinbergs.
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