Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires
Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires (Latvian: Leģionāru piemiņas diena), often known simply as the Legionnaire Day (Leģionāru diena) or March 16 (16. marts) in Latvia, is a day when soldiers of the Latvian Legion, part of the Waffen-SS, are commemorated. From 1998 until 2000, it was officially recognized as a "Remembrance Day for Latvian soldiers" by the Saeima.
| Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires | |
|---|---|
Flowers being laid at the foot of the Freedom Monument | |
| Observed by | Former members of the Latvian Legion, their relatives and supporters |
| Significance | The 15th (1st Latvian) and the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) fighting alongside for the first and only time against the Red Army in 1944 |
| Celebrations | Memorial service in Riga Cathedral, procession to the Freedom Monument, laying flowers at the Freedom Monument and a cemetery in Lestene |
| Date | March 16 |
| Frequency | Annual |
The day has been controversial as the Legion was a unit of Nazi Germany, and the remembrance day has been criticized by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Russia, Canada, and Jewish organizations such as Simon Wiesenthal Center. Others argue that no one has ever been convicted of committing war crimes as a member of the Legion and hold that it was a purely military unit fighting against the Soviet Union that had occupied Latvia in 1940.