Interportal "Fascism-XXI at your door"

Einars Graudins

Interview for the project

Fascism-XXI at your door

October 15, 2012.

A spectre is haunting Europe and the world - the spectre of a new, previously unknown global Fascism. What are the root causes and preconditions for the resurgence of Fascism/Nazism in Europe and the West in general?

Video part 1

I believe, “whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before”¹, this is why, without any doubt, we are to look back in history: the major crisis of 1929 - 1933 brought about a significant global depression, including Europe. This depression in turn paved the way to power for Hitler and his accomplices. We are all well aware of the fact that with political power in their hands the Nazis were able to conquer the entire Europe. The major cause was an incredibly severe economic crisis. To make matters worse, such economic crisis could be relieved by none other means than a war. Today, we face practically the same, tragically similar, scenario. And Europe is not an exception.

On the one hand in Europe alone, we have vast amount of unbacked money and huge debts including governmental obligations, while on the other hand we have Russian territory after disintegration of the Soviet Union. Russia possesses immense natural and numerous human resources, enjoys a vast territory, besides it has enormous market for production distribution. Therefore, to answer the challenge, Europe has to take over Russian territories and such move requires an ideological basis to begin with.

If you cannot achieve something nicely, abiding international law, you have to employ the old and simple recipes of European Fascism and Nazism. This way European populace can find simple answers how to resolve their problems at the cost of other nations.

This is not something new. There was colonialism, Nazism and neocolonialism: the so-called Old World countries had a tradition to resolve internal economic and political issues at the cost of wars and seizure of other countries. The Nazi regime arose from the economic problems of that time and nowaday situation could be resolved with the help of the same old and well-tried methods.

This is not rocket science, indeed, and history offers a great deal of evidence of the above. Naturally, my position is that it must be prevented in every form and on every scale, since we are all aware of what Hitler coming to power resulted in. First and foremost, such a move must involve European nations putting pressure on their governments. Those governments turn a blind eye on emerging Nazi ideas in certain social groups and establishment of inherently Nazi political organizations and parties. In my opinion, the only way to counter such developments is by holding elections, that is to say, involving common voters so that the European nations could really decide who is to be in power. For we are facing very murky and dangerous trends. It is my firm belief, especially when it comes to the Baltic States.

In your opinion how can we overcome this predicament?

Video part 2

I do not think we can get out of this predicament easily. It will require debts accumulated by a number of European states to international credit organizations to be written off, given dire developments in Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Events in Italy are far cry from being optimal as well. Basically, today the European Union is fully financed by one country - Germany. This state has the money and the strongest economy on the entire European continent.

In my opinion there is no other choice, but to write off all the debts. It's clear that the United States would strongly oppose to such measures, because the Wall Street bankers have vested interest in European economy.

Alternatively, it will result in belligerent actions followed by revisions of the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences and their resolutions. As we all know these trends are already affecting the Helsinki Final Act, 1975². Subsequently the UN, established with the sole purpose of preventing a new world war, stays completely passive and unable to influence what is going on in the world. In other words, we have a complete replica of the League of Nations, since the League of Nations was founded with a special purpose to prevent another global conflict and revisions of the world order after the World War I. It is common knowledge that with the League of Nations’ tacit consent Hitler annexed almost all Europe. The scenario is not new, and unfortunately we are following the same path all over again.

Since the USA have considerable resources invested into European economy, they are unlikely to change the policy. To avert such sequence of events another center of power capable of resisting the USA is needed, isn't it?

Video part 3

Yes, this is absolutely right. There is much more to this predicament when it comes to the USA. If we look at the US foreign policy we may find very controversial picture. On one hand they are the largest investor. As whatever country you take, starting with China, you will always come across large American investments, up to trillions of dollars, on the other hand though, the USA are the world biggest debtor, they owe money to many other nations. They are in a deadlock especially if the dollar is no longer emitted. The unlimited amounts of dollars are issued and put into global circulation by the Federal Reserve System but the latter turns out to be a private entity, a private bank. The US government delegated a right to print global currency to a private company.

The emission of dollars is out of control. I'm sure the best option for the USA to keep a whole skin and get away with the debt like they did in the World War I and II is to instigate Europeans to wage a war against Russia. Basically, this is what they did in 1930s when the USA watched how the Nazis were gaining power in Germany.

There is no secret that some American banks behind the scenes supported Hitler’s regime, rise of Hitler to power. During the World War II some so-called neutral states, for example Sweden, provided Nazi Germany with resources. Germans had a strong reason to admit that each „Tiger” tank had over thirty percent of Swedish steel.

History repeats itself. I have a firm belief that the USA are surreptitiously seeking for a replay of the 1930s scenario. It means to provoke a belligerent conflict in the European theatre.

As always the scenario involves European states being on one side and Russia on the opposite side. Should this conflict break out, the USA will be able to get out of their dismal economic state unscathed, as it was after the World War I and II. A change of ideology is required for such a conflict as it seems unimaginable under the actual international law and the political moralities of international relations. Yet, unable to come up with anything new, they are resorting to the old historical recipes. For this reason, I believe, the nature of the US policy is attributed to the interests and vast financial resources invested into Europe, where Nazi ideas can be easily reignited and Nazi establishments are unhindered in accumulating their power.

What factors keep the legitimacy of the authorities in the West?

Video part 4

The legitimacy of the Western authorities is based on a rather simple thing: ownership of finance capital and control of banking industry, ownership and actual control of the mass media, because it is an open secret that the mass media form the 21st century man, his political choice. There is a famous saying: „Give me half an hour of prime-time for six months, and I’ll make a US president out of a monkey.” That is just what takes place in Europe, it would be a shameless lie to say that today’s European mass media are not politically censored, that they are not working for the ruling political elite – a tiny group within each nation. The media space is controlled by the banking capital and its owners form the ideology and the world-view. If you repeat something to a man a hundred times, he starts to believe it. Like it or not, this is how human nature works.

What about the civil society – the pride of the USA and Europe?

Video part 5

The so-called Western democracies or free countries indeed rave about their civil societies. However, I don't think these civil societies are free and self-standing, since if it were the case, neither the events in Yugoslavia in the early 90s could have happened, nor social welfare in a whole range of European countries, starting from Greece could have been drastically reduced. If we could speak of a real civil society then all those challenges and political, military, geopolitical developments would lead to many European governments being ousted. They are still in power though. Should anything happen, public discontent immediately turns violent and comes down to an outraged mob burning cars and trashing bank windows for a week and that is the end of it, in other words the society is neither free, nor civil.

Such state of affairs can be attributed to manipulation techniques exploited by the mass media which in turn play the primary part in the control of public mind. It is not that difficult. For decades a number of the US researchers have been developing techniques to influence vast masses of population. When Hitler came to power, what support did he have, what were the results of the elections? Then, have a look at the Party conferences at Nuremberg in the mid-30s with up to a million people attendance, Riefenstahl’s movies, or Hitler driving along the streets with an enormous support of each and every German citizen. At that time the public approval rating of the Nazis was about 95%. If they were able to succeed in manipulating public opinion by means of a certain ideology and a propaganda machine, if they did succeed back then, why can't they do it now with the global media at their disposal?

From your point of view, where the world may come with such evolution of public opinion manipulation techniques?

Video part 6

Ultimately, we are in for a pretty gloomy scenario, it may turn out that a handful of people, known as the Western elite, might succeed in monopolizing and controlling opinion of entire nations, growing capable of setting one nation against another up to a full scale war, thus solving their problems at the expense of those misfortunate nations and gaining lucrative profits, as it has already happened on our continent before.

Do you know the experts call it a global Fascism?

Video part 7

I'd say if we have a closer look at the European Union policy and its orientation, we may find many similarities to the Third Reich ideology. It might be delivered stealthily, leaving aside explicit calls for annihilation of some ethnic groups, conquests or expansion of Lebensraum (living space), like it was done in the days of Hitler. However, the documents of the European Union concerning Russia suggest that all policy comes down to the following idea: “Why don't you give us a fair share of what you have and everything will be fine.” Some public figures in the US openly say that Russia possesses unfairly large territory and is way too rich in natural resources therefore must share something with the world community. If this is not Nazism, then what is it? A subtle version of it, of course.

Could you elaborate on the connection between the rehabilitation of Fascism and disparagement of the Soviet Union?

Video part 8

The connection is direct since today a necessity of exploiting a new enemy image has emerged. Who is going to be the enemy? On one hand the so-called free Western democracies, on the other hand the totalitarian Putinist Russia. In 1945, the Anti-Hitler coalition triumphed over Nazi Germany when the USA, the Soviet Union, France and the United Kingdom allied in their fight against Nazism. In order to dress Russia as a new enemy the outcome of the World War II is to be revised fundamentally. It would be silly to assume that the USA may call the United Kingdom an enemy; they have always been on the same side of the barricades.

They have to conjure an image of two totalitarian regimes, fighting each other over Europe and the world in general – Hitler is on the one side, Stalin is on the other. Moreover, the next step is to accuse Russia, the Russian Federation as the successor of the USSR, holding the country accountable for any made-up allegations against Stalin’s regime, and basically colour the two regimes equal with the sole difference in the flag. Although very simple and cynical this technique is pretty efficient in manipulating the public opinion.

Is the USSR being rightfully dressed in this manner, how far are those claims from being true?

Video part 9

Far from being rightful, these claims are cynical and criminal lies. Let's look back at those events. If there was no USSR the Nazi regime would have been triumphant in the World War II. And it is not a secret what Nazis had in mind for the European states, this man-hating ideology would have been applied for each and every country in Europe, which would fall under Hitler's rule. We can be certain about German victory in Europe, since after the "Overlord" opened the second front in 1944 the allies suffered substantial casualties from the German forces, Germans knew how to fight well, one can't deny them military expertise.

Several times during the World War II, Churchill and Roosevelt personally asked Stalin to start an offensive on the Eastern front to divert German forces and allow the allies not only to launch an attack on their part but rather to survive and save their troops. This is a single military aspect of how the scenario could unfold during the World War II.

Besides, all these Western democracies and the USSR signed a number of documents of international law outlining the postwar geopolitical framework on the European continent and even on a global scale (i.e. Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, establishment of the UN, drafting its Charter, and Security Council with its permanent members). The World War II, as I personally believe, came to a political conclusion only in 1975 with signing of the Helsinki Final Act which stipulated that the frontiers and territorial integrity in Europe were set for all time and were inviolable under any circumstances³.

This treaty was signed by 33 states, including Vatican, the USA and Canada. Those efforts were made to render a notion of war in Europe obsolete, as we see the Balkan events proved those attempts futile. I believe it is a crime to blame the USSR and put on the same shelf the Soviet political regime and that of Nazi Germany. It is also cynical towards those 50 million people, who died in the World War II fighting Nazism, and towards 25 million Soviet people, perished to defeat Nazism. In terms of morality, it is a cynical act, while legally it is a crime, which is to be condemned internationally.

How do the Europeans fail to realize that by rehabilitating Fascism they are digging their own graves as they did with the World War II? Do they really believe it won't backfire?

Video part 10

I believe it is not about whether they are digging or not their own graves. Make no mistake about mental abilities of the ruling elite in those countries. However, the point is essentially different. The European governments are faced with a global challenge which they desperately need to respond to, but the standard international law offers no option for them, given the economic reality looming today on the European continent. It makes no difference, how they do it, since history offers a glaring example of the Munich Agreement, permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia and ultimately giving Hitler a free hand to take over whole Europe. Did the French Republic and the United Kingdom fail to realize where it was going? Were they equally clueless when giving Hitler a license to obliterate Czechoslovakia? Besides, we should mention Hungary and Poland who managed to snap off their shares. Were they really that naive? I don't think so. I am pretty sure they knew. They had no remorse doing it anyway.

Centuries-long colonial policy permeates the European traditions. And despite its benign facade (e.g. human rights, democracy and etc.) it never could really boast moral integrity, and politics without morality is an absurd concept. I hold it that politicians in Europe are completely aware of what they do. Yet, for obvious reasons (I invoke the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia division in favour of Hitler) why should they refrain from doing it all again, maybe in a slightly different manner?

How do the Baltic media cover the threat of neo-Nazism?

Video part 11

There is no definite answer to this question. First and foremost the Baltic countries have the national media, speaking national languages, e.g. Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian. On the other hand the three states have Russian-speaking media, broadcasting mostly for so-called Russian-speaking population. As far as the national media are concerned (I can speak for Latvian media) I can assure you that emergence of neo-Nazism in Latvia is in high favor with our mass media.

Some periodicals openly promote Nazi ideas and organizations, including political parties. All media coverage is always accompanied by Russophobia, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, backed by the official state media. Paradoxically, they are funded by taxpayers including Russian and Jewish population – the two social groups under the attack by the official state propaganda. There was an informal agreement between the official state and the private media broadcasting in Latvian (Latvian television, the printed press and the on-line media (web portals)) not to condemn the trends of the emerging neo-Nazism.

Clearly, an informal agreement has been reached, every chief editor in any media outlet knows that denouncing neo-Nazism is out of question. When it comes to neo-Nazism in any form from demonstrations to establishing new political parties they tend to offer silent support or promote the ideology as such, I can back up my words this is how the things are done here.

The Russian-speaking media paint a different picture, since the Russian-speaking population is well aware of how the World War II ended and a heavy toll of human lives it took. Indeed, these media hold sacred the memory of the Great Patriotic War, and offer a clearly negative picture of the emerging Nazi ideas in the Baltic States, particularly in Latvia. However, they cover much smaller share of the media space. To make matters worse, it is not just the media that offer support to the emerging neo-Nazism. I refer you to the history books published in Latvia, especially school textbooks. Those books absolve Nazism of any wrongdoing completely and utterly.

If Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga⁴ called Salaspils concentration camp nearly a correctional facility, housing people with behavior issues, or those having wrong perception of the Nazi occupation, if it is conceivable at the presidential level, if a president of a country states that in 1944 - 1945 one occupation ended and another one started in the form of the USSR (bloody regime and Stalin’s tyranny), we are talking not only the mass media, but rather a quite extensive state ideology, where the mass media represent only a small fraction reflecting all these trends. Moreover, dozens of factors are at play in whitewashing Nazism. It is picking up in strength; it feels unchallenged and becomes increasingly brazen day after day.

There is a simple example, recently a monument was unveiled to commemorate Latvian police battalions accountable for genocide and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Russian Federation (Pskov and Novgorod regions) and Belorussia. Today, they have monuments erected in their honor and the Latvian press celebrating the fact and no one even tries to denounce this abhorrent act. No Latvian newspaper published an article, or even a sentence condemning this event, such attitude is an utter absurdity. It is like a monument to Goebbels erected in Hamburg. I wonder how the Germans would react. I am pretty sure the reaction would be different, although these Western European countries face their challenges as well.

But everyone is fine with the Nazi ideas in Latvia, Nazism supporters feel free and unhindered since they enjoy the buttress and acquiescence. In 1933, the Germans tacitly accepted Nazism and we all know what came out of it. Thus, it is not just the media, but rather a state ideology with the media taking a certain part in it. The ideology is actualized through the mass media.

Are there any anti-Fascist organizations in Latvia and how do they react?

Video part 12

There are anti-Fascist organizations in Latvia, there is an Anti-Fascist Committee. There are anti-Nazi organizations of veterans, the members are the veterans who fought for the USSR. Naturally, they react to all those attacks and social challenges, but you should understand that in the Latvian mass media, as I’ve mentioned, any Nazi moves are either openly or tacitly supported but never condemned.

Besides that, at the governmental level, at the ideological level, starting with the President (there are statements to corroborate it), the restoration of Nazism is supported and the concept of two occupation regimes is openly promoted. The official policy intentionally distorts the ideology of the Anti-Hitler Coalition that formed the basis for the post-war settlement of the European continent.

Also, there is a committee of historians under the President of the Republic of Latvia. They are in charge of investigating the past historical processes of current importance to our country. They whitewash Nazi formations from Waffen-SS to the Forest Brothers and glorify those people and events. The local Nazi collaborationists who fought for the Third Reich are presented today as liberators and contributors to the independence of Latvia. On the one hand, there are civil anti-Fascist organizations. The government doesn't support them. On the other hand, the entire government apparatus works for the state ideology. These two parties have incomparable potentials.

I recall one example: some Jewish person described the events of June 14^th 1941, just before the Nazi invasion of the USSR. 10 thousand people were deported from Latvia, some arrested for acts of sabotage and subversive counterrevolutionary activities as the anti-Soviet elements they were potential Nazi collaborationists therefore they were relocated to the inner regions of the USSR. He described all that because he personally suffered from those events. The Security Police had a case against him and started criminal proceedings.

The Security Police is a part of Latvian secret services; it is in charge of fighting terrorism. The official ideology backed by the security forces and the state apparatus is incomparably stronger than any individual or organization. They are opposed by people who defend their beliefs and opinions within the civil organizations, the standoff is not equal.

What is the general attitude of European Parliament towards the marches of Nazi veterans in Latvia and other Baltic States?

Video part 13

The European Parliament definitely favors it. It concerns not only the marches but also erecting of various memorials, establishment of commemoration dates, official events attended by the national leaders. Otherwise it would never have happened. This is the European Parliament; they are supposed to be the decision-makers. It would be impossible without their support, but such events take place and will continue to happen.

Does neo-Nazism exist in Europe only or does it also exist in the USA and the North America?

Video part 14

Regarding the USA, I can say there is a clear boundary between domestic and foreign policy, for centuries this border has been maintained by very smart people. There are politicians and ideology for the internal use and there are ones for the external use. Outside the country the USA silently or openly support the restoration of Nazism across the European continent. That is for sure. Internally they have huge problems like ethnical issues of a large Hispanic population, especially in the south of the USA, as well as black population or so-called African Americans.

Therefore internally they suppress the Nazi ideology because they realize that the restoration and propagation of such ideas may cause ethnical clashes, especially against the background of a cheerless economic situation. So the American establishment suppresses the Nazi ideology inside their country, although for external use they strongly support it. As usual, here we have double moral and double standard. But internally there is no direct propaganda of the Nazi ideas, and anyone who promotes them risks to get a long-term imprisonment.

Why «The Soviet Story» was made in Latvia? What was the public reaction to this film?

Video part 15

In my opinion, there are three aspects to discuss about this film. First, what it was produced for, and why it was produced in Latvia. I believe that among the three Baltic States politically controlled by the USA, Latvia is unfortunately the most obedient one, also in Latvia there are the most serious neo-Nazi and pro-Nazi attitudes in the society and in the official policy in general. I think it was the reason why our country was chosen. I have no doubt it was ordered from overseas.

As a part of the general program of rehabilitation of Nazism, this film was intended to claim that the Russian Federation as the successor of the USSR is responsible for the crimes against humanity and mass genocide. It is one of the weapons in the war of ideas and the tool to shape the public opinion. This is the second aspect.

The third aspect concerns verification; as of today there are several books published by Russian historians and political scientists revealing in detail the unbelievable falsification of facts, including the direct use of materials concocted by the Nazi propaganda ministry headed by Goebbels and flagrant fakes made up by the Western secret services in the times of the Cold War as well as inconsistent photo evidences. There are scientific researches demonstrating the low quality of this film in terms of the historical truth and showing that there is no truth in it but only a pack of lies.

However, from the moviemaking point of view the film can be rated as satisfactory, we cannot deny that. The film director did a good job attacking audience on emotional level and modifying worldview very efficiently. One can clearly feel the hand of the overseas experts with their 50-year experience of producing such materials as books, magazine articles, and films. This is a fundamental and high-quality Cold War style product. But it is such a dirty job that I cannot imagine what those people should feel producing such a film. I wonder what they feel morally today, what they felt yesterday and what they are going to feel tomorrow. And the fact that such a tremendously mendacious film was made in Latvia upsets me, but it happened, what can we do now?

What was the reaction of the society to the film?

Video part 16

Here one should distinguish between the Latvian-speaking and the Russian-speaking parts of the Latvian society, and their different reaction. For the last 20 years the Latvian society has been exposed to the propaganda portraying Russia as an enemy, an occupant, where Nazism was equated with communism and the USSR with the Nazi Germany, although Nazis have been pictured somewhat better to the Latvian people. This is the trend and a conceptual framework of the past 20 years.

And a person, raised within such media space, with a deformed interpretation of history, when being crammed with such ideas 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, a person like that loses ability to think differently and accepts such information as a given. So, unfortunately, the majority of the Latvian-speaking population welcomed and appreciated the film. The Russian-speaking people, however, saw it as a direct blasphemy to the memory of those who died fighting against Nazism and an insult to their relatives, to say nothing of more important political and ideological aspects. Certainly, the Russian-speaking people reacted very negatively. Especially, those Russian-speaking people, who came to Latvia after the Great Patriotic War and restored the country, there were quite a lot of them who came here, several hundred thousand, who rebuilt the country from ruins. I understand how they should feel about such cynicism. Šņore did his job well.

Later the film was translated into many languages (about 30) and released on DVD. I think Latvia once again was a pawn in a geopolitical game against the Russian Federation using one of its best experts in movie making and with the help of the experts from overseas. This film directly targets the Russian Federation and essentially rehabilitates Nazism. Here, Latvia was used in a cynical geopolitical game as a tool, as a sanitary zone next to the territory of the Big Bear.

Why «The Soviet Story» film was produced and gets aggressive promotion at present historical time?

Video part 17

On the ideological front, so to say, nothing happens without a reason. Everything happens at a certain time and due to certain reasons. Now the time is ripe to make an enemy out of Russia. Also, when this film was in production, the West had already seen the early signs of a great economic crisis, so they needed to draw people’s attention away and show how we can solve our problems and who is going to pay for it.

In order to do so, the results of the World War II have to be revised; such an overturn requires a tool. One of the tools is the so-called Latvian documentary filmmaking. This film was made as a merely American project and was a great piece of cynicism and the greatest possible falsification of history. It definitely meets the standards of Goebbels propaganda.

Stalin is blamed for the Holodomor (famine genocide) as a deliberate extermination of the Ukrainian people. What can you say about it?

Video part 18

This is another historical myth that has been intensively exploited in the Ukrainian Republic today. The situation in Ukraine is controversial, significant part of the Ukrainian elite, especially from the Western regions, is politically oriented to the USA. Here once again we have a situation when an enemy image is needed. An enemy! Who is the enemy? The Soviet Union, Russia, which allegedly exterminated the Ukrainian people with Holodomor. Again, there are dozens of books, monographs and studies of that Holodomor… But, firstly, they overrate the number of victims of that process. And secondly, they completely ignore meteorological and climatic conditions of those years and the level of harvest. History of agriculture in general in that region is not considered as a factor that affected the situation. Also, those works ignore the fact that people died in the Russian Federation and in Kazakhstan as well as in Ukraine.

So, I think this is another historical fake. This is a myth promoted very intensely and skillfully. This is another brick in the same wall ―”The Soviet Story” filmed in Latvia is one part and Holodomor in Ukraine is another one. Further goes the bad Russia that occupied the North Caucasus oppressed local people and wrongfully resettled them. There is a whole bunch of such high-quality myths actively and widely used to modify the public mind. The idea is to make every one of us to adopt certain attitudes. Because personal attitudes constitute the national ideology. And the national ideology is what guides our relationship with another nation or a country.

Modified ideology is expected to come from all those historical falsifications. As for Ukraine, this is the usual historical falsification, a historical myth. This is all I can say. Perhaps, I may be prosecuted for this in Ukraine, in some counties, for example in Lithuania, “denying the crimes of the communist regime”, as they call it, is a criminal offence. This issue has been given a legal basis. They could adopt such methods in Ukraine and prosecute me for saying that Holodomor as a deliberate famine genocide is a mere sham.

Are there any ways to counter this falsification?

Video part 19

Of course there are. First of all, I think, the Russian Federation should be very active. To be completely honest, I do not think Russia has clear understanding of the challenges coming from the historical falsifications. Russia does not respond properly to the falsifications. To be realistic, there are so-called liberal historians in Russia who work for grants primarily in the Universities of the USA. Those people become in charge of reshaping the public worldview.

In my opinion, first of all, Russia should firmly respond at the international level to any falsifications that we see every day in many post-Soviet countries. Besides, I would like to urge Russia to open some archives, this move cannot affect any high-ranking officials anymore, but may help to clarify the policy of the Soviet Union in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Because without the archive documents we cannot resist this ideological machine with great financial support which allows a wide propagation of lies and distortions forming or rather twisting people’s attitudes. We need documents, facts, and archive materials to support our position.

I believe Russia should have a national policy, a governmental program to counter all those falsifications coming from the West. They really come from the Western countries, first of all the USA. To this end, the countries adjacent to Russia are used as a tool and as a new sanitary cordon around Russia. A certain mentality is being formed in those countries. This is just my opinion. This is how we should counter these historical myths and falsifications.

Why there is no adequate reaction from Russia? What is the reason?

 Video part 20

I think this is a very controversial question. It was repeatedly brought up at various international round tables and conferences. I would say that today’s Russia has so many faces and very rich history going deep a thousand years. Unfortunately, after disintegration of the Soviet Union, while Yeltsin’s regime was at power together with so-called liberals like Nemtsov, Russia did not develop an official position towards historical past when Russia was a part of the Soviet Union. That is why we have what we have.

In the USA, however, there is a fundamental program of historical studies, it is very well operated and funded. It includes many universities, institutes, funds etc. to hammer in their ideology. There is nothing like that in Russia today. But I hope that during the coming two terms of Putin, some measures will be taken, and a program will be developed. Otherwise, the Russian Federation may suffer losses in the war of ideas; it has already lost some ideological battles. But the Russian Federation should realize that without a fair interpretation of the past, including the past 20 something years, there cannot be any positive future. It should be absolutely clear.

What happened in 1939 in the Baltic States, how the political landscape evolved on the eve of Hitler's invasion?

Video part 21

Well, in 1939, nothing special happened in the Baltic States, I can tell specifically about Latvia. There was an authoritarian regime led by Dr. Kārlis Ulmanis⁵ who came to power after a military coup d'état on May 15, 1934, suspended the constitution and dissolved Saeima (Parliament). All political parties were outlawed and many newspapers were closed. The only meaningful event was a treaty of mutual assistance signed between the Soviet Union and the Latvian Republic⁶. It allowed a limited contingent of Soviet troops to enter the Latvian Republic and establish the military bases there. It was in 1939. For example, take the port of Liepaja. A non-aggression treaty was signed, but nothing else happened. The political power in Latvia did not change from May 15, 1934 to June 17, 1940. That was the rule of one person, Dr. Kārlis Ulmanis.

For the previous 6 years, through June 1940, Latvia had no political parties, represented in parliament and government, the President also acted as a Prime Minister. He was called “valsts”, which means State President and Prime Minister. Thus, one person was holding all the posts. So, in 1939, there were no changes in the political elite and in the government.

When the Soviet troops entered Latvia, did anyone call it an occupation, was there any opposition?

Video part 22

Certainly not. Moreover, when the first Soviet military bases appeared here in 1939 after the treaty with the Soviet Union was signed, it was, in the first place, a solution to a great economic problem. Europe was affected by the World War II, so Latvia was almost completely isolated and could not export anything. For export, Latvia mostly produced farm products like pork and butter. Since Nazis had blocked the Baltic and the North Seas, Latvia was in a complete economic isolation. The treaty with the Soviet Union granted Latvia unrestricted access to the Soviet market. The situation was similar to what we have today. History repeats itself. So, first of all, that was an economic relief for Latvia.

Besides, the Soviet Union paid well for the accommodation of its military contingent. The price was really inflated, and all the services for the troops were purchased locally at a good price. It was also giving a good income in foreign currency because the Soviet Union paid in foreign currency, in pounds sterling in particular. It was a good support to the economy.

Meanwhile the popular sentiment towards the troops that appeared here in 1939 was always very positive. Actually, there were no conflicts at all, and all the ministers who reported to one person, Kārlis Ulmanis, the authoritarian leader, supported it. I think, at that historical moment they all realized they should be friends with the Soviet Union to avoid big trouble. However, there were some who looked towards the Nazis, for sure. But all in all it was perceived positively, the proofs can be found in archives and historical documents.

What kind of future was predetermined for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania according to the Generalplan Ost?

Video part 23

Well, any historian who studies these matters or any publicist as well could answer that question. The Generalplan Ost is well known today, it was published in the end of 2009. The situation was as follows: the indigenous population of the Baltic States was classified by several grades based on their potential to be Teutonized; Lithuanians had the lowest grade, Latvians were in the middle and Estonians were on the top. So the Estonians were considered racially the closest to the pure Aryans, according to this absurd Nazi theory of racial supremacy. The Latvians were not so pure, and the Lithuanians were even worse. The Generalplan Ost would resettle most of the indigenous people of the Baltic States farther toward the Ural Mountains. Those who qualified under these very strict requirements were to be Teutonized. All the rest found inferior as well as other people of non-Latvian and non-Estonian ethnicity, like the Gypsies, the Jews etc. were subject to extermination.

Naturally, the implementation of the plan was on the way. In other words, had that plan been implemented completely, then in 20 to 30 years there would have remained no Baltic indigenous peoples nor their culture or national languages at all. It would have been real extermination leaving no state, no ethnicity, no languages, no culture etc., nothing what makes up a nation or a state. The abolishment of the statehood became evident when in July (1941) Germans almost immediately banned any national symbols that existed up to 1940 in bourgeois Latvia, although many people believe that Germans were welcomed with flowers. By the way, the Germans did not countermand nationalization conducted by the Soviet government. They treated all assets as military trophies. They did not return anything to anyone. That was a plan of systematic extermination of both the statehood and the national element of the indigenous peoples of the Baltic States. That was a plan of annihilation.

Does it mean the people of the Baltic States forgot about this plan completely?

Video part 24

You see, this is not a political or a historical issue; it can be attributed to the day-to-day life. In the last 20 years our country went through privatization, denationalization and then the economic crisis of 2008 ended up in a drop of the gross domestic product of Latvia by one third. As a result, every fifth resident left the country. In such situation in the society and households people are quite far from thinking about the Generalplan Ost. The main concern is how to pay their housing bills and buy some food for their children. At the same time, when people watch TV once in a while, they consistently hear that life under the German rule was good. Preoccupied with their everyday problems people are sold on such false interpretations.

I think it is impossible to see geopolitical issues and political strategies everywhere in life, people on the street do not think about it. They think about sustaining their families, especially in the present economic situation, which is really screwed. This is a simple answer to the question.

America believes that it has played the leading part in the victory over Fascism in Europe. This viewpoint is imposed on the population of the Western countries through the mass media and education system. Why do you think American media keep silence about the regular marches of the former SS soldiers and their younger followers in the Baltic States and Ukraine?

Video part 25

We have already discussed this issue in general. I have said that the United States are motivated by geopolitical and financial interests. Today, they are interested in a revival of Nazism on the European continent. They also present Russia, successor of the USSR, as a primary enemy of the Western free democracy, as a threat to almost entire humankind. But there is only one threat – Russia possesses a great amount of natural and human resources, besides it is a huge market. That’s why the Western world winks at all those events and attempts to revise the outcome of the war. We have mentioned this issue in principle.

Are there any Western historians who stand against the falsification and distortion of historical facts?

Video part 26

I’m sure there are Western historians who resist but their voice… One can draw a parallel with the question whether we, in the Baltic States, have our anti-Nazi organizations that defend truth. Yes, we have, but they are not numerous. They don’t have state financing, their voice in overall media space is insignificant and it is practically impossible to hear it. The situation with history and in general with interpretation of the historical events made by individual Western, American historians is the same. Yes, they exist, but they write small monographs, isolated articles and so on. In the mainstream of interpretation of the historical events their voice can’t be heard today. Some facts can be found on the Internet, but it takes a great deal to find them. And as for the general, popular mass media their position is completely different.

After the World War II there were Jewish organizations fighting against Nazism. Why don’t they resist the revival of Nazism today?

Video part 27

I wouldn’t say they don’t resist. There is the Simon Wiesenthal Center etc. There are organizations in Israel that resist Nazism as such, all that man-hating ideology, and so on. The question is why Israel doesn’t take active actions in the international arena? I think this country has to be the first to beat the drum and shout blue murder about what is going on in Europe. Because during the World War II 6 million Jews were simply annihilated.

I don’t know, but I think America plays here a certain geopolitical role. Because Israel is American main strategic partner in the Middle East. That region has oil, America needs oil. America makes negative impact on their junior strategic partner - Israel. I think because of such impact, financial, economic and other, Israel can’t adequately combat Nazism today. Though if we recall, a few decades ago Nazis indeed feared Israeli intelligence service - Mossad. And if they feared, therefore they respected. Today the situation has changed. I think it is a detrimental effect of America. Because America has a strong control over policy of Israel. Some like blaming Moscow’s hand, but in this case I would say Washington’s hand pulls some strings in Tel Aviv.

What will be the consequences of equating Communism with Nazism for Europe and the entire world?

Video part 28

It means transformation of the world order that was established after the World War II and existed till today. But it is already changing. Just remember the bombing of Yugoslavia. The upcoming alterations are major and will include the European continent, state boundaries. Certain states may lose their sovereignty. All legal instruments supporting European and world order and security, including the situation with human rights, liberty and democracy - all these can cease to exist or develop in an utterly negative direction. Today it's difficult to predict what exactly may happen, but the consequences will be very negative, that’s for sure. Everything settled at the Yalta Conference, the Potsdam Conference, in Tehran, all processes started in 1943 and secured by the United Nations Charter, all that will be averted. Because the foundation of ideology laid by the Allies of the World War II is changing.

This is a very serious issue; actually, this is a key question of geopolitics for the next 2 decades. Because there will be numerous human losses if state boundaries start to change, if sovereign states disappear and new states arise from nowhere, it is already going on including the European continent. A vivid example is the Republic of Kosovo and Yugoslav territories, where nothing else, but a genocide took place. Everything we had since 1933-34 under Hitler is starting to repeat itself little by little today.

This is indeed a key question of geopolitics of the European continent for the next 2 decades. And of course it will be abominable if such a corrupt idea finds a niche in the international law. Because as we know there were several attempts to vote on a resolution equating Communism with Nazism through the EU Parliament, the European Council. That is, to give a legal evaluation to these two ideologies.

What does it mean? There is one more aspect overlooked by many people. This aspect is a dismissal of the Nuremberg trails’ verdicts which condemned Fascist/Nazi ideology, the Third Reich itself as criminal, if not to mention certain organizations like NSDAP, SS, SD, etc. If these verdicts are cancelled there would be no more Nuremberg. And some people in the EU Parliament already claim that we need a new international Nuremberg - a trial against Communism. Everything is turned upside down. Should this really happen, it may result in millions of victims in the future. And some European states will lose their statehood. The whole map will be shuffled. Terrible things could happen. Though at the beginning of such equating we see only a question of ideology.

In the long term this is a blow against humanism as such, isn't it?

Video part 29

That’s exactly an attack on humanism. The European Union may simply collapse after such a blow. We may recall how in 1940 France actively rejected USSR’s proposals about the Collective Security System in Europe. France firmly said “No”, United Kingdom acted along the same line. Stalin realized that a war was not far off, but after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, the USSR got a temporary respite, though nowadays the treaty of non-aggression between the USSR and Germany is widely trumpeted as unacceptable. And how did France benefit from the situation? It has fallen in 10 days. Paris was simply declared an open city and Germans marched into it like on a parade.

It is terrible, because it implies a revision of statehood principles for many European countries. All state boundaries become questionable. Because if we admit that Communism is equal to Nazism, it will definitely provoke a revision of boundaries, for example, in Poland, because as a result of the victory of Communism over Nazism, Poland got the opportunity to annex certain part of Nazi Germany, followed by relocation of ethnic Germans from that territory to Germany. Another issue may arise about Hungarian territory, territories of former Czechoslovakia, etc. Eventually we may face a new world war. It’s a terrible thing. This is what can happen if Communism is equated with Nazism.

Could you think of any other states that would be involved in territorial revisions?

 Video part 30

It’s like hockey, let’s keep watching. Our nearest neighbor, the Republic of Lithuania, its capital is Vilnius. Lithuania obtained Vilnius according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on the 23rd of August, 1939, because this territory had belonged to Poland. Today it’s the capital of the Republic of Lithuania. By the way, rather strong pro-Polish public sentiments exist there even today. And a big part of the population identifies themselves as Polish. The question is what will happen to the Lithuanian capital? What will happen to Vilnius?

The next likely contender is a beautiful city of Klaipėda. It is practically the only Lithuanian port on the Baltic Sea. In fact, formerly it was Memel, and belonged to the Third Reich. After the rearrangement of Europe and the victory of Communism over Nazism Lithuania obtained this territory and port.

Going back to Poland, there is Gdańsk – country’s principle seaport formerly known as Danzig. A really big disaster could happen here. It is a verge of a new world war. It is something like a time bomb: one wrong move will trigger a series of events that might lead to a disastrous outcome.

If you could address the population of those countries and cities that would experience such rearrangement what would you tell them?

 Video part 31

I would say a rather simple thing: learn history and use your own brains. Don’t be absolutely uncritical. Don’t believe the mass media or what is on TV implicitly. Learn history and talk to people of older generation who are still alive, because they recall completely different history, not a garbled version of it, and they can convey their opinion on many facts which altogether make a big picture. Always learn history. If one doesn’t know the real history or learns it from the mass media, it leads to tragic results.

Talk to elder people who are able to recollect the true facts. I always talk to people of older generation, it is very interesting, you can hear true stories, because they are not biased and not politically engaged and don't get paid for it. Today historical studies are financed from the state budget. And actually we don’t have historical science as such; we have ideology utilizing pseudo history. One should clearly understand this difference. That’s all.

The next question is about the USA and terrorism. It's commonly known that the USA actively struggle against terrorism and internal forces that oppose the government and are known as domestic terrorists. Could you tell whether it is somehow connected with demonization of the USSR and Russia?

Video part 32

It has a direct relation. We should understand the one thing - an enemy image concept is required to revise the result of the World War II. The first step is to find the enemy, brand it as such and establish the image of the appointed enemy in the public mind. A state propaganda machine working at full scale does the job. We have already discussed how it works. The next step of the program has more tangible or economic agenda. It is to get control over viable resources of the countries that create obstacles. For the US these countries are Russia with vast natural and human resources and China.

America is interested in creating conflicts in the world and conflicts always produce chaos. American geopolitics is very cunning: after instigating a conflict the US likes to play a role of an arbiter in settlement of the conflict. It is a proven political technology. It is very heinous, but it works very efficiently.

Thereby, they invented a very successful ideological instrument, that later became a military instrument. It’s a struggle against international terrorism. No doubt, there are terrorist organizations in the world. These organizations definitely commit acts of terrorism in pursuit of their ideological causes. But let’s take a look, how these terrorist organizations were formed, where they came from. We talk about Islamic or Muslim terrorism. Muslim religion becomes a counterbalance to Christian or Protestant religion dominating in America where the Anglo-Saxon political elite is in power.

But let’s recollect simple facts. How Osama bin Laden came to terrorism? Think of the Afghanistan events when the USSR provided military aid to the republic of Afghanistan. How Stinger missiles were delivered to the insurgents? These missiles made a significant impact on the outcome of the Afghan war. They were purchased with mediation of Osama bin Laden who at that time actively cooperated with CIA. Osama bin Laden was a leader of mujahideen fighting against the USSR, the Red Army. This person is a brainchild of CIA. I think if we continue analyzing all the existing organizations, we have a chance to find American genesis as well. Once in a while such brainchildren get out of control because they find alternative sources of money or for other reasons, then they can strike back at America.

Though as for 9-11 events the question of terrorist attacks is also rather controversial. In my opinion it is impossible to carry out that kind of large-scale terrorist attack on such a symbolic object as the World Trade Center in New-York without participation of secret services of world’s leading nations. I don’t want to make public allegations to avoid lawsuits, but I think everyone will get what I mean. As a military man, with a military education and a former intelligence officer, I can definitely say that no Islamic terrorist organization is capable of implementing such operation. It takes national level planning and powerful secret services among top five in the world to implement such outstanding operation.

Actually, they aim to set chaos in the entire world, especially in the Middle East. This chaos generates certain threats to Russia and China, and then America takes advantage of this chaos in the geopolitical game. And what is the strategic goal? We should always realize they pursue the change of political power in these two countries in order to put them finally under American control. Russia is the first target because of its vast natural resources. The situation with China is very peculiar. China is actually one of the biggest American creditors. Is America capable of paying off the debts? - No way. It is easier to change the regime in China and all the debts would be written off. This is what the fight against terrorism is all about.

You can always find deranged people with a certain state of mind, mental deviations. For example, we don’t know today, who was actually behind Breivik in Norway. I also don’t believe that what was attributed to him can be committed by one person, not a professional secret-service agent, not a professional military man. An ordinary man can’t organize this kind of mass murder, especially in two different places. I don’t believe it’s so simple that one man can plan and organize everything. There is another point though. Norway is not a member of the European Union, but it has an enormous exchange reserve, oil and gas resources. Let’s keep this aspect in mind. This is not as simple as it may seem.

America feels very comfortable in the role of an international arbiter; it brilliantly plays the game of counterbalances for its own advantage. They create problems in other countries and use them to solve their own internal issues. This is a simple solution with a very sophisticated mechanism. That’s what we know about the struggle against terrorism for today.

What is your personal view of the current situation in Latvia?

Video part 33

I was brought up and educated in the Soviet Union and witnessed the disintegration of this country, I have seen how the other country, the Republic of Latvia, was established. And I see what is going on now. Twenty years have passed since the foundation of Latvia. I personally hate falsification and misrepresentation of history.

I hate the national ideology and policy favoring the revival of Nazism in the Baltic region including Latvia. Actually, the Nazism was already reborn, we have to admit it. I detest this wholeheartedly. I am against discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion and so on.

I stand for universal values, I can say it definitely. That’s why I try to resist as much as I can. It’s natural that the revival of Nazism is going on beside furious Russophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in Latvia. All pieces of the puzzle come together and form the enemy image. That’s why I actively stand for the rights of the Russian-speaking people in Latvia. I do as much as I can. I believe I have made my contribution.

Footnotes.