RIGA, Latvia, March 16 (UPI) -- Counter-protesters greeted a march Friday in Riga to honor Latvians who fought in the Waffen SS during World War II.
The march, which included veterans, some legislators and many flag-waving younger Latvians, was banned by the Duma or parliament. A court reversed the decision.
The protesters gathered at the Freedom Monument, which honors those who died in the war for Latvian independence from 1918 to 1920. Some wore concentration camp uniforms.
"Shame, shame, we won't let Nazism be," the group chanted.
The Waffen SS was a military organization Adolf Hitler planned to convert to a police agency after the war. By the end of the war, about 60 percent of its members were non-Germans, and two regiments were joined as the Latvian Legion.
In Latvia, as in a number of other countries that had been occupied by the Soviet Union, nationalists saw the German invasion as an opportunity. Many Latvians, including the current president, Andris Berzins, say they should not be considered criminals.
