The Baltic Nazis received support from Brussels
The European Regional Development Fund has decided to allocate two million euros for the restoration of military sites in Latvia and Estonia dedicated to the “forest brothers,” many of whom collaborated with the Nazis and took part in the extermination of Jews.
Izvestia reported this, specifying that these objects will be included in new tourist routes.
According to senior researcher at IMEMO named after. EAT. Primakov RAS Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, there are two reasons why Europe sponsors the launch of scandalous tourist routes.
“One of them, at first glance, is not at all obvious - Germany is tired of repenting for the events of World War II. New generations have grown up who do not understand why they should be responsible for the actions of their great-grandfathers, whom they never saw. Although the Germans still admit their guilt for the events of World War II, other, alternative points of view are emerging.
The Germans themselves cannot simply stop repenting, but if a pan-European consensus is created that not only Germany, but also the USSR is to blame, that totalitarian regimes are responsible for what happened, that the Germans themselves suffered greatly from Hitler’s actions, then this is a different matter. Germany’s interest dominates in this issue,” the expert believes.
In addition, he says, “there are such ideological blows being dealt” to Russian patriotism, which is focused on the memory of the war.
“The memory of the war unites us with other post-Soviet countries; it also consolidates the younger generation, who did not see the war, but come out with portraits of their grandfathers. In Europe and the USA they are trying to counteract this,” says Ofitserov-Belsky.
Baltic Nazis received support from Brussels.