The monument referred to as “Latvia’s hive for freedom” is situated within the Belgian metropolis of Zedelgem and is devoted to Latvian Legionnaires who have been imprisoned in a camp close to Zedelgem after the Second World Battle. It was unveiled in September 2018.
“The choice simply introduced by the municipality of Zedelgem to take away the monument with out the coordination of the Latvian Occupation Museum isn’t acceptable to Latvia. The Ministry of Overseas Affairs of Latvia additionally expects correct info from Belgium on the long run destiny of the monument, in addition to repeatedly calls on the municipality of Zedelgem to immediately deal with all points associated to the monument in cooperation with the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia,” stated an announcement by the Latvian Overseas Ministry.
As beforehand reported by LSM, the monument by Latvian sculptor Kristaps Gulbis “is devoted to the Latvian Legionnaires, who didn’t lose religion in freedom for the Latvian State, in the course of the winter of 1945 to 1946 once they have been held in Zedelgem prisoner of battle camp,” a PoW camp run by the British on Belgian soil.
Between September 1945 and Might 1946, the Zedelgem prisoner-of-war camp in Belgium housed about 11,700 of the 25,000 Latvian troopers who had served in German army models and had been captured by the Western Allied armies on the finish of World Battle II. Virtually 90% of those prisoners of battle belonged to the Latvian Legion, based in 1943 in the course of the German occupation of Latvia.
The monument has brought on controversy in Belgium because the Latvian Legion was structurally a part of the Waffen SS. Belgium suffered tremendously in the course of the interval of Nazi occupation, although no models of the Latvian Legion have been concerned in Belgium.
Following protests concerning the monument final summer time, a world panel of historians deemed the monument inappropriate. Extra concerning the historians and their findings is obtainable on this web site.
The monument unveiled in 2018 was privately donated by the Latvian Occupation Museum Society, and it’s not the topic of an interstate settlement.
On Might 26, the Latvian Overseas Minister met with representatives of the Latvian Occupation Museum and agreed that the monument to Latvian prisoners of battle in Zedelgem municipality was a monument to Latvian troopers and Latvian patriots. The Ministry of Overseas Affairs stated it would proceed to observe developments intently and work with the Belgian authorities.
Choose textual content and press Ctrl+Enter to ship a advised correction to the editor
Choose textual content and press Report a mistake to ship a advised correction to the editor
