How To Inflame Old Tensions
In an exercise in what might be regarded as rather poor taste, Estonia has published a 2009 calendar of WW2 recruitment posters for the the 20th (1st Estonian) Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.
The calendar sold out in three days and had to be reprinted. It has 12 reproductions of SS posters encouraging Estonians to fight the Soviets and shows soldiers in German uniforms with Estonian collar badges.
The uniforms show a large E bisected by a sword, rather than the double lightning flash symbol of the SS. This is not historically entirely accurate as both uniforms were worn by the Division.
Estonia has 1.3 million citizens, of which a quarter are Russians – never comfortable or welcome in the homes given to them in the days of occupation by the USSR – and they are not happy about this at all. It was recognised at Neuremburg that most of the Estonians fighting for the Nazis were not volunteers but were forcibly drafted when their SS division was founded in 1944. They were not found to be war criminals even in the highly-charged post-war period of trials.
Some of the treatment of Jews by the Estonian Police Force was by contrast, unforgivable.
Although having to swear allegience to Hitler, they were joined by their Finnish neighbours in the fight against the Red Army and when Estonian independence was briefly restored in September 1944 they turned their guns on the Germans and the Soviets alike.
Aimur Kruuse (38) Managing Director of the calendar’s publisher Grenader Grupp, insisted that it did not support or propagate Nazi ideas and that the calendar was “not about the SS”.
“People like military history and next year we may do something connected with Russian or German war history,” he said. “Estonian soldiers did not have the chance to fight during the Second World War in Estonian uniforms,” Mr Kruuse said. “The members of the legion tried to bring freedom to Estonia, or to give their families time to escape to the west before the Red Army returned to kill them or send them to Siberia.”
It seems like a storm in a teacup but I certainly wouldn’t have one on my kitchen wall.
I know someone who would love one of these. Where do I buy one online?
As a footnote, Prague is the only major city in central / easten Europe not to be substantially damaged during the war, as it fell in ’38 without a fight, and was liberated by Vlasov’s Russian Liberation Army, a Nazi creation that turned on the Germans in ’45.
St Malo has a lovely old original town – surrounded by walls and a castle. A place renowned for everything from stag do’s to fine dining. It is beautiful.
Except the RAF flattened the whole area and the French rebuilt it from scratch in the 1950’s.
The castle is original but not much else.
On request from only readers TheEye knows, there is a certain door to be knocked on to a certain discreet nightclub within the walls…nothing dodgy just a genuine French welcome for as many hours as you can stand up.
And our greetings to ‘Croydonian’.
One of those would look rather good in the foyer of the Elysee Palace, Paris.
Q. Why did the French plant trees along the Champs-Elysees?
A. So the Germans could march in the shade.
Boom-boom!
Nice one “killemallletgodsortemout”
There is a good list of similar ones here but I particularly liked:
Q. What is the most useful thing in the French Army?
A. A rearview mirror, so they can see the war.