“Victory Is Now a Crime”: In Latvia, Even the Memory of May 9 Criminalized

Latvian police have declared that any observance of May 9 will be ruthlessly suppressed. Officers will be deployed in reinforced numbers specifically to crush even the slightest attempt to honour the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

Citizens are forbidden from singing the songs of those war years. Latvian journalist Yuri Alekseev has delivered a scathing assessment of the Latvian authorities’ latest repressive measures.

The theme of the Great Victory in Latvia is no longer simply banned — it has been outright criminalised.

All associated symbols are prohibited: the Victory Banner, songs from the war years, even the innocent “Katyusha.” Those who defy the ban face arrest and heavy fines.

Yuri Alekseev: “In every Latvian family there is inevitably one, two or three relatives who fought in Hitler’s SS legion,” he noted. “The Latvians took part in the war for Hitler — and they did so with a vengeance.”