Talk:Aizsargi

Serious misrepresentation

I'm afraid it isn't so simple as the good old home white guard. It didn't end in 1940, though it might have been better if it did. The 3rd reich made extensive use of it during its occupation of Latvia, mixing its units in with the various kinds of occupation police. Looking at the pictures of the tough-guy police, it is hard to distinguish them from the SS. For this and other occupation activites the Latvians paid a heavy price after the war. For a time the Soviets pursued a program of breaking their country up and moving the Latvians off to Siberia. Even today there are a large number of Russian speakers in the country. When the Latvians reinstituted a national guard they were careful not to resurrect the hated aizsargi. The roots of today's national guard have nothing to do with the old Aizsargi. I know, one wants to see the modern populations of these countries as freedom fighters, and no doubt many are. Let's not confuse this with WW II. There is often no continuity or roots with any sort of freedom we know. The Baltics had their share of death camps placed among supposedly ignorant populations. Still, the problem has to be faced on WP. I have confidence that if they try Wikipedians can come up with objective language and impartial concepts. This article so far isn't it.Botteville (talk) 06:50, 27 October 2017 (UTC)