Igor Rosenfeld<\/p>\n
Estonia\u2019s transition to independence since 1991 has raised the hopes of many for\u00a0the democratic development of the country.\u00a0However, the rise to power of right-wing parties (especially the \u201cFatherland\u201d Party) has led to the emergence of the so-called \u201cNazi episodes,\u201d which of course have had a negative impact on the state reputation. Let\u2019s try to summarize these episodes (treated in more detail in the book, Estonia Before and After the Bronze Night, <\/em>Tartu-St. Petersburg, 2009).<\/p>\n M. Laar\u2019s book, The Estonian Soldier in World War II<\/p>\n In August 1992, shortly after right-wing parties came to power\u00a0under the patronage\u00a0first of the Fatherland Party and after 2005, also the Reform Party, they officially celebrated the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Estonian Legion (full title, the Estonian SS Legion, 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS).\u00a0This SS unit was active from 1942-44 both in Estonia and abroad, for example, in the Ukraine. The Estonian Legion was formed in 1942 by order of the German commanders of battalions of\u00a0Werhrmacht and Estonian police units fighting in the East.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Legion was trained in Poland and was then assigned to the 5th Panzer Division \u201cViking.\u201d The Estonian Legion later became the basis of the Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, from which was created the 20th Estonian, volunteer SS division. [1]<\/a>*<\/p>\n Beginning in 1992, the Estonian right-wing political forces led by the Fatherland Party (later the Union of the Fatherland and Fatherland-Republic Union), began actively supporting the installation of monuments to SS Legionnaires with \u00a0appropriate attributes. The Fatherland Party also promoted the gathering of Estonian Wehrmacht veterans, including the SS Legionnaires.\u00a0Gatherings, which\u00a0were usually opened and welcomed by some of the main ideologists of the Party, e.g. Trivimi Velliste, a member of the Estonian Rigiikogu <\/em>[parliament]. The Fatherland Party\u2019s first official gathering of the Estonian SS men was held in \u00a0the summer of 1995 in Sinim\u00e4e, the site of a major clash between German and Soviet armies in 1944. Nazi veterans arrived from Norway and several other countries.\u00a0Eventually these \u00a0gatherings became regular.\u00a0In 2005, for example, the 13th gathering of the SS veterans took place in Tartu, the\u00a0so-called \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d numbering 2700 people. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n Gathering of SS veterans in Sinim\u00e4e<\/p>\n Thus,\u00a0the Estonian government, led in this time by Prime Minister Mart Laar , the current leader of\u00a0the Fatherland Party, became subject to\u00a0\u201cpro Nazi\u201d episodes in Estonia. Since then, in Estonia has become typical glorification of Estonian participants Nazi Wehrmacht and SS units, erection of monuments to them, and so on, which peaked in the clashes over the transfer of the Soviet monument (so-called Bronze Soldier ) from T\u00f5nism\u00e4gi Hill in Tallinn in april 2007.[3]<\/strong><\/strong><\/a> Typical to \u00a0Mart Laar\u2019s \u00a0rule was the reburial in Tallinn one of the chiefs of the Waffen SS in Estonia, Colonel (Waffen-Standartenf\u00fchrer) Alfons Rebane, on June 26, 1999.\u00a0The remains of A. Rebane were transferred from Augsburg (Germany) and buried in Tallinn\u2019s\u00a0Metsakalmistu cemetery, despite an organized picket protest. The reburial, was conducted at public expense, the funds for it allocated from\u00a0the state budget. A state funeral was held, in which the Commander of the Defense Force, Johannes Kert, participated.\u00a0In addition to outcry from Russian parties and organizations, a sharp protest against Rebane\u2019s reburial was lodged by the Jewish community of Estonia[4]<\/a> and Israeli officials. In August 1999, outgoing Israeli ambassador to the Baltic countries, Oded Ben-Hur, noted the \u201clack of anti-Semitism in Estonia at the level of public policy.\u201d\u00a0At the same time, he pointed out that, \u201cIsrael regrets the lack of conviction\u00a0which led\u00a0some Estonians to participate in organizations denounced as criminal after World War,\u00a0Moreover, public funds were provided for the solemn reburial ceremony of members of such organizations.\u201d [5]<\/a> The official reburial by M. Laar\u2019s government of one of the main figures of the 20 SS Division, Alfons Rebane, initiated a massive campaign for the rehabilitation of the so called \u201cfreedom fighers\u201d (in terms of Estonian right nationalist historiography).\u00a0A significant contribution to it was introduced by Fatherland leader Mart Laar himself, author of several books about events in 1944 such as Battle on the Heights<\/em> and Sinim\u00e4e 1944<\/em> (in Estonian), as well as a photo album about the SS Legion (2008). The general concept of Laar\u2019s Sinim\u00e4ed 1944<\/em>, like other publications with his ideological bent, was the glorification of former employees of Third Reich Wehrmact and 20 SS Division, which Laar and other right wing historians believe to be \u201cdefenders of European civilization\u201d.<\/p>\n In July 2000, a Museum of the Estonian SS Legion was organized in P\u00e4rnu by a \u201cnon-Profit association\u201d led by Leo Tammiksaar and his wife, Pille[6]\u00a0 \u00a0This followed \u00a0three-year history around the monument to the Waffen SS in\u00a0 P\u00e4rnu and Lihula (2002-2005).<\/p>\n P\u00e4rnu-Lihula monument to the SS soldiers \u00a0and scandal around it, 2002-2005.<\/em><\/p>\n This story began in P\u00e4rnu, 2002, when on the initiative of the veterans of the 20th Estonian SS Division and\u00a0\u201clocal activists\u201c in one of the city parks a monument appeared.The monument depicted a soldier in the garb of the Estonian SS Legion with a gun aimed at the East.\u00a0On the bas relief was placed the inscription, \u201cTo all Estonian soldiers\u00a0who died in the war of liberation for their country and a free Europe in the years 1941-1945.\u201d<\/em> Thus in 2002 began the almost three-year \u201cP\u00e4rnu-Lihula\u201d\u00a0scandal.<\/p>\n Lihula Monument<\/p>\n Installation of the Nazi monument provoked the criticism of both the City government of P\u00e4rnu and the government of Estonia.\u00a0\u201cPerpetuating the memory of the dead,\u201d said the the\u00a0Estonian Culture Ministry letter In early 2003, \u201cis necessary, but not in this way. The symbols and text on the monument are contrary to European values and may harm the reputation of Estonia\u201c [7]<\/a>. Estonia\u2019s \u00a0Prime Minister Juhan Parts said that the \u201elaw did not prohibit the establish a monument to compatriots, but it must not advocate criminal ideology\u201d [8]<\/a>. At the request of city authorities and the Parts Government, the monument was dismantled in 2003 and shipped for storage in a closed area of Urban Hall. However soon after, the monument was erected in the village of Lihula, whose elders included national champion Tiit Madisson, organizer of the Estonian \u201cNationalist Union.\u201d \u00a0(\u201cRahvuslaste liit<\/em>\u201d). This caused a new scandal, with\u00a0active controversy in the press after an \u201cexamination\u201d of the monument by Tartu University specialists.\u00a0Eventually in early September 2004 on the order of the Juhan Parts government the monument was withdrawn.\u00a0The removal action was strongly criticized by right wing groups, in particular T. Madison\u2019s \u201cNationalist Union.\u201d\u00a0Madisson made a statement about the \u201clackeys of politicians\u201d who dismantled the monument for those who fought Bolshevik aggression \u201con the orders of Moscow or Washington Jewish Congress.\u201d [9]<\/a><\/p>\n Not only the right marginal nationalists like Tiit Madisson, but official right-wing functionaries such as Eerik-Niyles Kross, tried to protect the Lihula monument\u00a0and memorials for the 20 SS Division. \u00a0According to Kross statement, Estonians in the Nazi Wehrmacht In 1944 fought \u201cfor independence of Estonia\u201d, \u201cfor the restoration of the Republic of Estonia\u201d . \u00a0In Kross opinion, \u201cThe protection of Estonia in 1944\u201d (achieved also by those in the SS uniform) \u00a0is \u201eone of the main issues of identification for the Estonian Republic\u201d. \u00a0So Wehrmacht and SS monuments must be \u201ca symbol of Estonian independence,\u201d [10]<\/a> E.-N. Kross is the man, who, according to Estonian press, \u201cshot at the photos of Edgar Savisaar, repaired his house on public money and brought to Estonia international swindler Antonio Angotti.\u201d\u00a0At the same time, Kross was a former coordinator of intelligence and helped Estonia\u00a0enter NATO.\u00a0In 2008, the president awarded Kross the Order of the White Star III class. [11]<\/a> The thesis advocated by E.-N. Kross,\u00a0that the actions of\u00a0the 20th SS Division was \u201cto protect the independence of Estonia\u201d and\u00a0was\u201cone of the main issues of identification of the Estonian Republic\u201d is to say the least, untrue.\u00a0The Third Reich and its leaders never promised the independence of Estonia.\u00a0To keep the power of Hitler\u2019s Germany, Estonia could have only been a province of the Third Reich, not an independent state. It is important the view on the Lihula incident, expressed by U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Aldona Wos.\u00a0In an interview to the Postimees paper at the end of January 2005, he stated that although the installation of the monument in Lihula is the business of Estonia and not the American government, such monument \u201cwas offensive to the international and Estonian community,\u201d\u00a0\u201cIn this,\u201d he added, \u201cOur view coincides with that of the Estonian government.\u201d[12]<\/a> However,\u00a0other officials of Western governments have been more loyal to the pro-Nazi actions of the right-wing parties in Estonia.<\/p>\n Criticism of the pro Nazi actions of right-wing parties in Estonia by human rights organizations (2006-2009).<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>Manipulation of\u00a0Estonian right-wing forces with figures of the Third Reich was criticized by the organizations investigating\u00a0the Nazi crimes \u00a0during the war. After 2000 year Wiesenthal Foundation in Jerusalem (head Efraim Zuroff)\u00a0\u00a0actively collected information about Nazi war criminals, in 2002 even assigning a monetary reward for information about them. Data about criminals began to come to \u00a0fund phone answering.But in the summer of 2003, this data on Nazi war criminals in a strange and unaccountable way were erased from phone answering memory[13]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2005-2006 \u00a0Wiesenthal Fund accused the authorities of Estonia in the unwillingness to enforce the law against Nazi criminals former Gestapo employees \u00a0Mikhail Gorshkov and Harry Myannil. [14]<\/a> In 2006, the Simon Wiesenthal Center published its annual report on the status of the exposure of Nazi war criminals in different countries, which covered the period from\u00a0April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006.\u00a0\u00a0 The Center divided the countries into five categories, \u201cA\u201d to\u00a0\u201cF\u201d, based on their willingness to investigate Nazi crimes.\u00a0In the report, Estonia was classified under the \u201cD\u201d category; a country \u201cwith little desire for cooperation. But then, translated into the \u201cF\u201d category were states whose actions to capture Nazi war criminals failed completely<\/em>. The authorities in these countries, \u00a0according to the\u00a0Center, agreed in principle to investigate and prosecute Nazi war criminals, but really did not do so, even though these people lived in these states.[15]<\/a> Wiesenthal Foundation criticized the transfer by the Estonian authorities Bronze Soldier monument \u00a0and game Erna, held in honor of the Nazi troops landing in Estonia in 1941. This criticism \u00a0bolstered the nationalist-patriotic rhetoric of right wing officials.\u00a0Heikki Suurkask,the editor of a second major Estonian newspaper, Eesti P\u00e4evaleht <\/em> in September 2007 accused the Wiesenthal Foundation in the fight (\u201cwar\u201d) against \u00abEstonian \u0441onstitutional State\u00bb and \u00a0so-called \u00abEstonian ideology.\u00bb \u00a0[16]<\/a> H.Suurkask in article \u201cZuroff\u2019s War against Estonia\u201c threatened the fund, if this will continue to criticize the Nazi manifestations in Estonia, this may affect the \u00abdeterioration of relations Estonia to the Jews.\u00bb According to Suurkask Wiesenthal Foundation criticizing the Nazi glorification in Estonia \u00a0and defending the Bronze Soldier, has given little attention to criticism of Stalinism. During the Nazi occupation, consider Suurkask, of Estonia in 1000 Jews were killed, while the Stalinist repression suffered 400 Jews. [17]<\/a> In Suurkaask\u2019s \u00a0rhetorics right-nationalist politics and ideology are identified with \u201cEstonia\u201d, \u2018Estonian ideology\u201d and politics.\u00a0Therefore, any criticism of right-national collaborators with Third Reich is seen as criticism of \u201eEstonian constitutional state.\u201d<\/p>\n Suurkaask\u00a0reduces the number of victims of the Nazi occupation in Estonia.\u00a0In the 1940\u2018s,\u00a0right wing nationalists destroyed representatives of many European peoples including not 1000, but at least 10,000 and up to 20,000 Jews from Estonia and other countries in Eastern Europe. There were twenty death camps in Estonia, and how many prisoners they contained no one knows. However, according to Elhoen Saks, a\u00a0member of the Estonian Jewish community, \u201cGerman rail documents show that at least 20,000 Jews were brought into Estonia.\u201d[18]<\/a> They were destroyed not only by the German Nazis, but first and foremost by Estonian\u00a0collaborators with the Third Reich, such as J. Uluots, H. Mae, Wehrmacht and SS employees \u2014 in fact, the ideological\u00a0predecessors of Laar, Velliste et al. If the Soviet Army (supported, by the way, by the West and Anglo-American forces) had not put an end to the repressions of the Uluots \u00a0regime, this repression would have continued and further increased the number of victims.<\/p>\n The Battle at Sinim\u00e4e as<\/em> \u201cthe second war of liberation\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n After installation of the Lihula monument, right-national forces erected monuments to SS members in other parts of Estonia.\u00a0One of the most famous \u00a0became the monument on the heights of Sinim\u00e4e (Blue Hills), where in 1944 there was heavy fighting between a 20 SS Division and the Red Army. \u00a0\u00a0Establishment of this was preceded by an ideological campaign.\u00a0After 2002, well known representatives of the Fatherland Party, Trivimi Velliste and Mart Laar, proposed the concept of the 20 SS divisions battles, including the Battle of Sinim\u00e4e, as a \u201csecond war of liberation.\u201d In 2004\u00a0\u00a0in \u00a0celebrations \u00a060 th anniversary of Sinim\u00e4e battle the Waffen SS fight against the Red Army was equated by Velliste \u00a0to the Liberation war of 1918. [19]<\/a> Analogically in \u00a0M.Laar`s book Sinim\u00e4ed<\/em> the actions of \u00a020 SS division against Red Army in 1944\u00a0was the struggle \u201cfor freedom.\u201d And \u201cfor the Estonian state\u201d.[20]<\/a><\/p>\n These considerations have become part of the official ideology.In January 2004, Estonian Defense Minister Margus Hanson, a member of the Estonian Riigikogu <\/em>[parliament] from Reform Party, said that the budget of his department had provided funds for commemorative events in Sinim\u00e4e. The Wehrmacht and SS Division battles in Sinim\u00e4e, and other regions of Estonia, said Hanson, \u201chas given\u00a0present generation the opportunity to enter the free world \u201d.[21]<\/a><\/p>\n Question, however, whether joining the free world was not possible without the Waffen SS? Or these organization are the \u2018flesh of the free world,\u201d as suggested by Hanson, Laar and Velliste?<\/p>\n On July 16, 2005 a gathering of Estonian and other veterans of the German Wehrmacht was held in Tartu.\u00a0The gathering drew fifteen hundred participants from all over the world including\u00a0the Baltic countries, Finland, Sweden and Canada.\u00a0According to press reports, the Estonian \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d numbered 2700 people. Attending the event as speakers were Defense Minister Jaak Jyer\u00fc\u00fct\u00a0and Minister of Justice Rein Lang.\u00a0On July 30, 2005 Sinim\u00e4e was host to a gathering of veterans from the 20th Estonian SS Division.<\/p>\n The right national concept of the fighting in Sinim\u00e4e has been criticized by some Estonian historians. Tallinn University professor Rein Ruutsoo asserts the Sinim\u00e4e battle was not a \u201csmall war of liberation\u201d but \u201ca political adventure.\u201d In summer 1943, writes Ruutsoo, for German General Staff it was clear that the war was lost. The German army to achieve his departure, needed to cover the battalion and to keep open waste shipping routes through the Estonian ports. As with the military and political point of view of the mobilization of Estonians for that purpose in 1944 was a cynical gamble. No argument can justify such large losses\u2026Against us was not only Stalin\u2019s Russia, but the Western allies\u2026 Our land was turned into a good springboard war, and the price that were destroyed Narva, Tallinn and other cities. From Finland\u2019s assistance was no longer there. While Estonia has turned from an ally of Germany in its military laborer.[22]<\/a> M. Laar\u2019s idea that\u00a0Estonian\u00a0fighters were seeking\u00a0the \u201cprotection of the Estonian independence\u201d clearly \u00a0failed.\u00a0\u00a0 The Estonians in Wermacht in 1944\u00a0supported of a regime which never recognized\u00a0Estonian statehood. If independence fighters in the uniform of Hitler\u2019s army had won, Estonia would not have remained an independent country, but the Eastern territory of the Third Reich. However, right wing propaganda and symbolic action in support of \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d has actively continued until recently with the active support of Fatherland Party,\u00a0incomig in the Estonian government after the 2007 elections.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Estonian interpretations of the Second War were a shock to \u201cold Europe<\/em>.\u201d European Criticism of the Estonian right-wing apology of nazi\u00a0participants<\/em><\/p>\n The monuments to the Estonian SS Legion drew sharp criticism from several EU countries and organizations.\u00a0On July 29, 2006, in Sinim\u00e4e opened\u00a0two new monuments\u00a0— to the Dutch and the Walloons veterans of the 20th SS Division, who fought in\u00a0this areas in 1944 .Only Estonian political party represented was the Fatherland Union Party. \u00a0Belgian and French organizations refused to participate in\u00a0opening ceremony.\u00a0Belgium anti-Nazis were sent letters that expressed \u201ccondemnation of the Flemish SS in Estonia.\u201d\u00a0The chairman of the Action Committee of Belgian forces in Great Britain, Robert\u00a0Tabary, stated that \u201csuch a demonstration, even if it occurs far from our borders, has a deplorable effect on everyone in our organization, which is fighting for the preservation of freedom and the memory of the Second World War.\u201d [23]<\/a> Michael Vanderborgt, General Secretary of the\u00a0Council of Active Resistance and head of the Independence Front, Belgian Guerilla Army, President of the International Federation of Members of the Resistance Movement (FIR), called the un\u00a0veiling of a monument of Belgian soldiers of the Waffen SS \u201ca shameful act\u201d and an outrageous affront to those who fought against\u00a0the fascist forces of Nazi Germany and its collaborators in the occupied territories during the Second World War.\u201d [24]<\/a> The Belgian ambassador in Estonia,\u00a0Pierre Dubuisson<\/strong>, said that in his country, \u201cthe Belgians who fought in the 20 SS Division are considered traitors and Nazi collaborators.\u201d He condemned the attempt of right-wing nationalists to use Belgian SS Legionnaires and the Netherlands flag at the opening of the monument.\u00a0On the eve of the opening in July, 2006 of two new sites for the Dutch and Walloons who fought in the Nazi troops, he said that in his country, Waffen SS veterans are treated like criminals who must be punished.[25]<\/a> At the same time, the monument remained covered with the state flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. \u201eThe Estonian (means right-conservative) interpretations of\u00a0WWII were a shock to Europe\u201d, \u2013 said the French historian and translator Jean-Pierre Minaudier \u00a0in his speech at the Conference of History and Memory, held in Tallinn in oktober 2005.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFor the French, stated Minaudier, those who fought on the side of Hitler, are Nazis.In Estonia they are heroes\u201d.He drew attention to the role of left parties in the fight against Nazism in France. [26]<\/a><\/p>\n Military Sabotage Game Erna<\/em><\/p>\n It is now seventeen years since Estonia \u00a0first held (in 1993) the \u201cmilitary sabotage\u201d war game Erna.\u00a0The name and conception of the game is based on the route of\u00a0the Abwehr detachment in the rear of the Red Army in the Gulf of Kolga during the summer of 1941. \u00a014 years, until 2007 the Estonian official media stressed that the game is held in honor of the Abwehr operations in 1941. Only after 2007 they have been more careful to speak of \u00abEstonian intelligence group\u00bb whose\u00a0involved\u00a0soldiers of\u00a0Finland\u2019s Winter War.[27]<\/a> In 2010, the game Erna August 7-9, attended by 27 teams, including 9 foreign \u2014 from Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania, etc. [28]<\/a> Earlier also participated the teams from China. Thus, the official game,\u00a0recreated the Nazi operation in 1941, involved not only NATO countries, but even teams from \u201ecommunist\u201d China. The general concept of the game had no impact on Estonia entering the EU and NATO.<\/p>\n The \u00a0Erna game conception \u00a0was strongly criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, engaged in finding Nazi war criminals. \u201cAfter sharing in such games, asserted the Center\u2019s head, Efraim Zuroff, the European partners must turn away from Estonia; and not only because Estonians are proud to remember their shameful past.\u00a0The Estonian Department of Defense allocates money to the Erna game!\u201d[29]<\/a> Official right-national functionaries rejected Zuroff\u2019s criticism. T. Velliste accused the Center of supporting \u201cPutin\u2019s propaganda\u201c and being ignorant of the history of the Baltic states.\u00a0Zuroff, he maintains, \u201caccuses the Estonians in the war with the Reds.\u201d The task of the Erna soldiers, who came from Finland and not from Germany, \u201c claims Velliste, \u201cwas not intelligence actions in\u00a0favor of the Third Reich, \u201cbut to resist the destruction of battalions and to protect the local population.\u201dHe adds that the campaign against Erna \u201ccan be regarded as \u201cmilitary actions\u201d against Estonia which cause concern not only in Estonia but in our allies.\u201d[30]<\/a> Does this mean that our \u201callies\u201d do not worry about manifestations of Nazism in Estonia but only about criticism of these manifestations? Meanwhile, rising against the official concept of Erna are various Estonian historians, in particular, \u00a0forementioned, political science professor Rein Ruutsoo. In his article \u201cErna \u2014 Politics and Propaganda,\u2019\u00a0Ruutsoo criticized \u201cthe new patriotic mythology.\u201d The Minister of Defense, he adds, stresses that the men of the Erna detachment wore Finnish uniforms, but he does not reject \u00a0that in December 1941, Finland became an ally of Nazi Germany and declared war on both the USSR and its Western allies.\u00a0So their Finnish appearance does not save the Estonian soldiers from involvement in Nazi Germany\u2019s military operation. The Erna task, notes Ruutsoo , was not to defend villagers from \u201cdestruction battalions\u201d as Velliste and others assert, but to support the advancement of German troops to Leningrad with intelligence and sabotage. \u201cErna information,\u201d Ruutsoo stresses, was important enough that it was regularly radioed to Finland and\u00a0Erna commanders, including the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Canaris, were provided personal receptions in Berlin. \u201cI\u2019m not jealous of our Minister of Defense if his speeches about Finnish uniforms will cause the creationof\u00a0a file of Erna reports to the Abwehr and photos of Erna leaders with Admiral Canaris and so on,\u201d writes Ruutsoo.[31]<\/a> Ruutsoo\u2019s point of view prompted a criticism from the official spokesman of the Estonian-right national policies.\u00a0Mart Laar called Ruutsoo\u2019s position\u00a0\u201ca new crusade against Erna\u201d and \u201cRussian propaganda.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Laar is once more trying to prove that the main task of Erna was not to support the Third Reich, but the \u201cprotection of the peasants from the \u201cdestruction battalions.\u201d[32]<\/a> Laar\u2019s position was supported not only by\u00a0prominent Fatherland ideologists Trivimi Velliste and Tynis Lukas, but also by \u00a0the Reform party premier A. Ansip. \u00a0[33]<\/a> A year after this controversy, Rein Ruutsoo wrote a new article, \u201cWhose Interests are Served by Erna?\u201d In it, he accused the government of provoking the attacks by Moscow concerning Estonia\u2019s accusations of fascist sentiments, and of \u201crewriting history.\u201dAs Ruutsoo also pointed out, in the stories on the Erna website funded by the Ministry of Defense, Erna was disappointed that \u201cthe whole operation was funded by the German Abwehr.\u201d\u00a0The main task of Erna was to supply information on the movement of Soviet troops. The information was needed by \u201cNord\u2019 military groups seeking to seize and raze Leningrad.\u00a0The raze failed, but the blockade cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children.\u00a0The role of Erna men in this regardis undeniable.\u00a0Erna Team leader, Abwehr employee\u00a0Henn-Ants Kurg was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd degree.\u00a0Kurg continued service in the same Abwehr from 1941-43, then served in the Waffen-SS on the Eastern front along with many other Erna participants. All these facts, comments Ruutsoo, were established and supported by President Lennart Meri in Estonia\u2019s English language review of the history of the 1940-45 period. These data completely absent on the Erna site of Estonian Defence Ministry. \u2018Why do we have two histories?\u2019 \u00a0asks Ruutsoo.\u00a0[34]<\/a> However, this\u00a0critics have never stopped right-nationalist propaganda, nor the game itself. Game Erna held also in 2010.<\/p>\n Since 2004, Estonia has actively implemented a new concept of victory in WWII \u2014 not the \u201cSoviet\u201d <\/strong>concept of victory in May 1945, but an \u00a0concept of victory in September 1945. Paradoxes of this new concept can be seen in a victory\u00a0celebration on September 2, 2007, on the Maarjam\u00e4gi hill in Tallinn. According to press reports \u00a0this new\u00a0celebration included members of parliament and representatives of municipal authorities as well as veterans of the 20th Estonian SS Division and patriotic youth.\u201d [35]<\/strong><\/a><\/em> <\/em>So according to the right-national concept of the end of WWII, among the celebrants of\u00a0the new \u201cVictory Day\u201d on September 2, were veterans \u2026 of the 20\u00a0SS Division as well\u00a0as\u00a0\u2018patriotic youth\u201d apparently quite sympathetic to these veterans! A new victory celebration \u00a0together with \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d in the uniforms of the 20th SS Division is an example of the right-national absurdity.<\/p>\n Pro Nazi incidents, 2007-2009<\/em><\/p>\n Active manipulation of the ideology and symbolsof the Third Reich in Estonia continued from 2007-2008.\u00a0Early in the summer of 2007 two \u201cbrown\u201dscandals were withheld\u00a0by the Minister of Justice,\u00a0Reform Party member Rein Lang, and \u00a0Risto Teinonen, native of Finland and a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the Fatherland Union. In July 2007, Teinonen\u00a0organized the \u00a0demonstration in Tartu in conjunction with the 65th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference in 1942, where the Nazi leadership implemented the final plan for the extermination of Jews. During the event, Teinonen, wearing a swastika armband and the Estonian Order of the Terra Mariana Cross Class V on his chest, posed for the camera cutting a cake decorated with a swastika.<\/p>\n Risto Teinonen, July 27, 2007 in Tartu<\/p>\n Organized such event \u00a0Risto Teinonen is a cavalier of the important Estonian award Cross of the Terra Mariana and holds honorary Estonian citizenship by recommendation of the Fatherland Union (Toivo Jurgenson) for his role in development contemporary\u00a0scout movement in Estonia.\u00a0The office of President Ilves said they are examining the issue of deprivation awards by Tienonen. \u201c. [36]<\/a> But this deprivation \u00a0did not happen until now. Another Nazi episode in July 2007 was associated with the birthday of Rein Lang, the Estonian Justice Minister from the Reform Party.\u00a0His birthday, he celebrated in a Nazi-style, with the use of Nazi symbols,\u00a0included \u00a0decorated show about the last days of Hitler. .\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This action, like other pro-Nazi incidents, has been criticized in Estonia and in Europe.\u00a0The Estonian People\u2019s Union Party proposed to Lang that he immediately and voluntarily leave his post as Minister of Justice. [37]<\/a> So far, however, Lang is still in his ministry office. As reported by the RBC Daily, German Social Democrat Klaus Hench, \u00a0former chairman of the European Parliament, \u00a0said that \u201cthe Minister of Justice Rein Lang \u00a0could not remain a minister in most countries \u2014 EU members.\u201d The open use of Nazi symbols has been prohibited in the EU since April 2007. \u00a0Hench believed the matter should not be left without attention. \u201cEU sanctions\u00a0will be applied, which can lead even to expulsion from the European Union.\u201d [38]<\/a> In 2008, the new contribution to the Third Reich nostalgia added the\u00a0chairman of the Fatherland Union Mart Laar, \u00a0In June, \u00a02008 he published a new book on the Estonian Waffen SS \u2014 the album\u00a0Estonian Legion in Words and Pictures [39]<\/strong><\/a>, <\/em>prepared by Grenader publishers. A presentatin of the book was held on June 12, 2008, in Tallinn\u2019s largest shopping center, Viru. [40]<\/strong><\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n SS Album by Mart Laar, 2008<\/p>\n Such action of M. Laar did not prevent him from becoming until now (2010) the leader of the second Estonian Party of the right-wing government coalition led by the Reformist Party, even pretending to be the main substitute for Prime Minister Ansip. Meanwhile, in July 2008, Laar\u2019s album caused a scandal on the German border.\u00a0The album, full of\u00a0Nazi symbols, was confiscated at the German-Polish border by German customs, with two Estonian citizens, one of whom was \u201chonorary Estonian citizen\u201d and neo-Nazi Risto Teinonen.[41]<\/a> In November 2008 the case of Laar\u2019s album and Tienonen\u2019s arrest were considered by a Dresden court. [42]<\/a> Laar\u2019s party also distinguished itself in the national-patriotic field in January 2009.\u00a0The Fatherland,\u00a0Eesti Eest <\/em>[For Estonia] newspaper published a cartoon of the artist Agora (Gori) with the caption, \u201cStalin decided to take over Estonia, but the Estonian people did not agree with the desire of Jews to take over the world.\u201d[43]<\/a> The publication, which triggered sharp criticism fromthe Jewish community, once again emphasized the apparent similarity between the ideology of the Estonian right national political establishment favorite, Fatherland, with National Socialist ideology.<\/p>\n Summarize what has been said. We note with regret that the post-Soviet history of Estonia from 1991 to 2010 was full of \u201cpro-Nazi\u201d episodes, including the establishment of monuments to the Third Reich, the SS Division employees, the reburial of them, organizing gatherings of Waffen SS veterans, as well as the direct glorification of these veterans as \u201cfreedom fighters.\u201d There were constant attempts to put pressure on critics of the Nazi manifestations in Estonia.One must acknowledge a direct link between these pro-Nazi episodes and right-wing parties in Estonia, especially the conservative Fatherland Party,\u00a0the favorite of the right-wing political machine and right establishment. These episodes demonstrate the\u00a0contradictions of the right establishment, which projects itself as a champion of liberal democracy, but actually supports and cultivates in Estonia distinct elements of\u00a0Nazi ideology.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> * Postimees, 11.06.08, http:\/\/rus.postimeees.ee\/150608 glavnaja\/kultura\/35842.php<\/a>,http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/20th_Waffen_Grenadier_Division_of_the_SS_(1st_Estonian)<\/a><\/p>\n [2]<\/a> * \u00a0Delfi, 17.06.05,\u00a0http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/daily\/estonia\/article.php?id=10779405<\/a><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> * http:\/\/bronze-soldier.com\/index.php?option+com<\/a>content&task=view&Iid=21&Itemid=32<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> * Torshina L.\u00a0\u201cNo to Fascism,\u201d\u00a0Russian Telegraph<\/em>. 06\/26\/1999).\u00a0Statement by the Jewish Community. Est<\/em>., 06\/30\/1999.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> * \u00a0Postimees, 31.08.99.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> * \u00a0Postimees, 2 06 04, http:\/\/www.postimees.ee\/020604\/esileht\/siseuudised\/135938.php<\/a><\/p>\n [7]\u00a0Delfi, 29.03.2003, http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/daily\/estonia\/ministerstvo-kultury-ne-odobrilo-monument-voevavshim-v-ryadah-nacistov-estoncam.d?id=5440724<\/a><\/p>\n [8]<\/a> * Delfi 29.03.2003, op cit, Delfi, 30.07.03, http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/daily\/estonia\/premer-protiv-pamyatnika-esesovcam-v-pyarnu.d?id=6071940<\/a><\/p>\n [9] \u00a0Delfi, 4.09.05, http:\/\/www.delfi.ee\/news\/paevauudised\/eesti\/lihula-samba-korvaldamise-aastapaev.d?id=11121198<\/a><\/p>\n [10]<\/a> * \u00a0Eesti P\u00e4evaleht. 16.02.05,\u00a0http:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/285301<\/a>.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> * \u00d5htuleht, 7.02.08, http:\/\/www.ohtuleht.ee\/index.aspx?id=265619<\/a><\/p>\n [12]<\/a> * Delfi, 15.01.05, http:\/\/www.delfi.ee\/news\/paevauudised\/eesti\/usa-suursaadik-lihula-sammas-oli-solvav.d?id=9548318<\/a><\/p>\n [13]<\/a> *\u00a0Delfi, 14.07.2003, http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=5987763<\/a><\/p>\n [14]<\/a> * Eesti P\u00e4evalent, 3.09.2007. http:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/398491<\/a> .<\/p>\n [15]<\/a> *\u00a0Vesti, Delfi, 26.04.06,\u00a0http:\/\/www.rus.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=12755774<\/a>.<\/p>\n [16]<\/a> *\u00a0Eesti P\u00e4evaleht, 5.09.07,https:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/398726<\/a><\/p>\n [17]<\/a> Eesti P\u00e4evaleht, 5.09.07,https:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/398726<\/a><\/p>\n [18]<\/a> * Postimees, 25.01.05, \u00a0http:\/\/www.postimees.ee\/260105\/esileht\/siseuudised\/156009.php<\/a><\/p>\n [19]<\/a> Vesti, 30.01.04. PM, 02.02.2004. www.regnum.ru\/ news\/211389.html <\/a><\/p>\n [20]<\/a> M. Laar. Sinim\u00e4ed 1944. II Maailmasoja lahingud Kiirde Eestis, Tallinn, Varrak, 2006.<\/p>\n [21]<\/a> Vesti, 30.01.04, PM, 02.02.2004. www.regnum.ru\/ news\/211389.html<\/a><\/p>\n [22]<\/a> P\u00e4evaleht, 12.08.04, http:\/\/www.epl.artikkel<\/a> 27157.html<\/p>\n [23]<\/a> Delfi, 27.07.06, http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php\/id+13402762<\/a>. http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/daily\/estonia\/v-sinimyae-postavyat-novye-pamyatniki-soldatam-ss.d?id=13402762<\/a>, Mol. Est., 18.08.06, http:\/\/www.moles.ee\/06\/Aug\/18\/2-1.php<\/a><\/p>\n [24]<\/a> Mol. Est., 18.08.06, http:\/\/www.moles.ee\/06\/Aug\/18\/2-1.php<\/a><\/p>\n [25]<\/a> \u00d5htuleht, 29.07.06, http:\/\/www.ohtuleht.ee\/index.aspx?id=202638<\/a><\/p>\n [26]<\/a> EPL, 10.10.2005, http:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/302506<\/a>.<\/p>\n [27]<\/a> P\u00e4evaleht,13.07.07, http:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/394579<\/a><\/p>\n [28] * Delfi, 6.06.10,http:\/\/www.delfi.ee\/news\/paevauudised\/eesti\/erna-retkest-votab-osa-27-voistkonda.d?id=31872913<\/a>.<\/p>\n [29]\u00a0\u00a0 Hour (Latvia), 04.08.08, www.inosmi.ru\/translation\/242975.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n [30]<\/a>Delfi,10.08.07.,http:\/\/www.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=16638530,http:\/\/www.delfi.ee\/news\/paevauudised\/arvamus\/trivimi-velliste-psuhholoogiline-soda.d?id=16638530.<\/a><\/p>\n [31]\u00a0Eesti P\u00e4evaeht,\u00a016.08.2007, \u00a0http:\/\/www.epl.ee\/artikkel\/396358<\/a><\/p>\n [32]\u00a0Postimees, 16.08.07, http:\/\/www.postimees.ee\/160807\/esileht\/arvamus\/277366.php<\/a><\/p>\n [33] Delfi, 16.08.07, http:\/\/www.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=16692192<\/a><\/p>\n [34]<\/a> Delfi, 04.08.08. http:\/\/ www.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=19477594<\/a>.<\/p>\n [35]<\/a> ETV, 02.09.07, http:\/\/www.etv24.ee\/index.php?2587059<\/a> ,(Emphasis added).<\/p>\n [36]<\/a> Postimees, 13.07.07. http:\/\/www.postimees.ee\/130707\/esileht\/siseuudised\/272021.php<\/a> [37]\u00a0Delfi, 28.08.07, http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=16785424<\/a> [38]\u00a0\u00bbHour\u00bb (Latvia) 09.07.07, http:\/\/bronze-soldier.com\/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=9&Itemid=45<\/a><\/p>\n [39]<\/a> Postimees, 11.06.08, http:\/\/rus.postimees.ee\/150608\/glavnaja\/kultura\/35842.php<\/a><\/p>\n 40\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/palun.blogspot.com\/2008\/08\/eesti-leegion.html<\/a><\/p>\n 41 Delfi, 08.08.08, \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=19521705<\/a><\/p>\n 42\u00a0Delfi, 20.11.08, http:\/\/rus.delfi.ee\/archive\/article.php?id=20395307<\/a><\/p>\n