International panel of historians call Flemish war memorial ‘inappropriate’
The memorial, which saw a wave of protests this summer, was erected in 2018 at the site of a prisoner of war camp established by the British army after World War II.
It depicts a beehive and calls attention only to prisoners from Latvia that were collaborators who served in the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the Nazi Party’s SS organisation, during the war.
The symbolism of the beehive reflects the language of right-wing nationalism in Latvia, which depicts members of the SS Legion as patriotic heroes who fought against the Soviet occupation of Latvia.
The erecting of the monument also opened the possibility of a similar tribute to Flemish Nazi collaborators, as “recognition of the Flemish soldiers who also fought against communism on the Eastern Front.”