INT: The problem is in that today they (old SS guys) do it (have demonstrations) completely at will. Everyone is shocked when Estonian veterans of the SS go to demonstrations in their Hitlerite uniforms -- if a person did that in Germany, he would go to jail immediately. While in Estonia he has no problems.
Estonian Pres.: Of course, there are such people in Estonia. On specific historical days they gather together, and sometimes some of them put on their old military outfits. But at the same time I want to underline that during the years of occupation Estonia had an underground government, fighting against the Germans, and in Sepmber 1944 many Estonians fought with the departing forces of the Wehrmacht. And, on the other hand, if in Russia some person goes onto the street with a swastika (which happens), we do not draw the conclusion that Russia is propagandizing fascism.
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INT: On January 20 1942 at the Wahnsee conference in Germany Estonia became the first country to be announced as "Judenfrei," that is, "free of Jews." In half a year the entire Jewish population was annihilated, including children, and Himmler remarked on the "great services of the Estonian police" in disposing of the "lower race."
Estonian Pres.: I am of the opinion that we should not rely on the words of Himmler as the only reliable source. All thorough investigations that have occurred to date do not support the idea that the Estonian police consciously annihilated Jews. Without a doubt, some amount of Estonians served in the police that were created by the Germans, but I can say with complete confidence that participation of Estonians in the execution ("rasstrel" -- death by shooting) of the Jewish population is excluded. We need to rely not on emotions, but on facts.
And so forth.
Russian text here: http://www.aif.ru/online/aif/1273/12_01
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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