Fury of Moscow over bid to call Estonian SS soldiers 'freedom fighters'

Having the vast bulk of Russia on the other side of the border has always been alarming to the small nations at the East end of the Baltic and that alarm has been well justified by various Russian invasions -- dating back to the year 1030 in the case of Estonia. So they are drawn to the old dictum that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They therefore saw Nazi Germany's invasion of Russia as a Godsend and willingly co-operated with German forces. But that collaboration was not pro-Nazi. It was anti-Russian and Estonia now wants to make that clear

Estonia has caused outrage with plans to honour hundreds of Nazi collaborators.

The EU country is expected to give official ‘freedom fighter’ status to veterans of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division.

The veterans say they allied with the Nazis to defend their country from the Soviets but anti-Nazi campaigners claim the troops were involved in war crimes against civilians.

Johan Backman, of World without Nazism, said: ‘The Estonian SS legionaries did not fight for Estonia. They fought for Hitler.’

Russia described the move as ‘blasphemous and unacceptable’.

Several hundred men who fought in the Estonian SS still gather every year to commemorate their role in battles against Soviet forces.

The division was founded in 1944 by the occupying Nazis - three years after Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded Russia with the most powerful invasion force in history.

More than three million German troops attacked in three parallel offensives. Despite warnings that Germany could not fight a war on two fronts, Hitler saw the Russian invasion of Romania in 1940 as a threat to his Balkan oil supply and invaded with 3,000 tanks, 2,500 aircraft and 7,000 artillery pieces. The Red Army was disorganised and the Germans were able to push 300 miles into Russia before the winter hit and the advance slowed.

The war on the Eastern Front went on for four bloody years and arguably resulted in the eventual defeat of the Nazis.

At the last gathering of the Estonian veterans in August last year, they were promised the Tallinn government was moving to officially recognise them in 2012. The move is being spearheaded by powerful Defence Minister Mart Laar, the country's ex-premier.

'If Mart Laar makes any promise, he will move to his goal like a tank, and you will be freedom fighters as early as next year,' said Tarmo Kruusimae, activist of ruling party Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica. Legislation is now being drawn up in Tallinn which now aims to keep this promise to all those who fought in Estonia against the USSR.

The SS veterans claim they only allied with the Nazis to defend their country from Soviet invasion. In the event, their efforts failed and the Baltic state was swallowed up by the Soviet Union for more than four decades.

But anti-Nazi campaigners dismiss this and claim the Estonians were collaborators involved in war crimes against civilians. Mr Backman, a leader of the international human rights group World Without Nazism, added: 'The government is trying to create a new history of Estonia, which is very dangerous for the young generation.'

The Russian embassy in Tallinn claimed legislation to name them 'freedom fighters' was a bid to 'cover the atrocities committed by Estonian Nazi collaborators'. This was 'blasphemous and unacceptable' and should be abandoned, said Moscow. 'We hope that in this case common sense, conscience and a feeling of responsibility will prevail.'

SOURCE




The Santa Killer Was a Religion of Peacer

Doug Giles

If I wanted to murder my family or destroy a historic university and yet not give my faith a bad name in the press, I would convert to the Religion of Peace.

Yep, if you belong to that lovely creed, you can snap on Christmas and execute your entire clan or burn down a famous college, and the media won’t say shizzle about your faith or your motivation for mayhem. Sa-weet, eh, mass murderers?

Case in point. Aziz Yazdanpanah, known only as the “Santa Killer,” was a follower of this “amazing faith” who slaughtered his family on Christmas Day after his wife dumped him and his 19-year-old daughter wouldn’t stop dating a non-Religion of Peacer. The adherents of said faith refer to this act as an “honor killing,” and when it occurs police and the press reckon it unworthy of unearthing and condemning publicly.

For those not familiar with the term “honor killing,” allow me to explain: An honor killing is a murder wherein a man from the Creed of Calm can give his wife and/or daughter(s) the axe if he deems that they have embarrassed him or their peaceful community. Step lightly, lasses.

Oh, and I nearly forgot this. It’s not only okay to kill the ladies, according to their doctrine, if they make the faithful self-conscious, but adherents may also slay flaming gays who sully the Cult of Tranquility’s public image. I’m guessing Adam Lambert will not be converting anytime soon.

So, how did the truth revealing journalists report this Christmas Day carnage enacted by a male member of the Peace People? Here’s how: They called Aziz the “Santa Killer” who was down on his financial and relational luck whom his neighbors regarded as a decent gent who loved his family and liked to do yard work.

In others words, he was a Mr. Rogers with a tan who had a bad day. And haven’t we all had a bad day? Of course we have, and that’s why Daniel Powter wrote his now famous song.

Look, folks, it is obvious: If you want to commit heinous acts and not have your faith called out for your despicable crimes, you probably ought to seriously think about switching religions to the Sect of Serenity because they always get a free ride in the free press. Indeed, precious few of the mainstreamers said this massacre was carried out by a “you know who” for “you know what” reasons. Y’know what I’m saying?

Indeed, the “Santa Killer” got the same treatment from reporters that Nidal Malik Hasan, also a member of the Communion of Calmness, received after the Ft. Hood bloodbath—I’m sorry, the Ft. Hood “workplace violence” situation. Wink, wink.

For those interested, here’s a laundry list of some recent honor killings carried out by the fathers, brothers and leaders within the Religion of Peace.

SOURCE (See the original for links)






They eat their greens, don't throw tantrums and go to bed on time... How French mothers' 'tough love' means their children never step out of line

French women are tougher on their children who have fewer tantrums than British and American youngsters, according to a new book.

American mother-of-three Pamela Druckerman, who lives in Paris, claims French children sleep through the night at two months, don't squabble or create scenes in public, are not fussy eaters and go to bed without any problems.

Now, after spending months observing mothers across the Channel, she has revealed their secrets in the book French Children Don't Throw Food.

In it she also notes that while French children tow the line, mothers 'continue looking so cool and sexy' unlike their British and French counterparts.

Revealing the secret to the French's apparent success in raising children, she says French parents are tougher, opting to use discipline and the smacked bottom over 'mollycoddling' and gentle persuasion and encouragement.

Ms Druckerman told The Bookseller the French's attitude to raising their children puts the parent in the driving seat and summarised it as 'it's me who decides.'

She said she began looking into how French parents raise their children following a challenging experience on holiday when took her 18-month-old daughter into a restaurant twice a day and noticed French children were far better behaved, sitting nicely at the table while they ate their food.

She said: 'I found this society of children who sleep extremely well, eat extremely well and are very well behaved and I worked backwards to figure out how they got that way. So I was certain of the result; I just wasn't sure how parents got those results so consistently.'

France's approach to their education system may also influence children's behaviour as it tends to place creativity and expression below manners and mathematics, The Observer said.

French schools also place huge importance on a child's ability to perfect grammar and writing over more pastoral aspects of their education.

In addition, French children are not considered equal but small human beings, while one French child psychologist believes French mothers view and define themselves more as 'women' rather than 'mothers' and have an increased sense of detachment from their children compared to mothers in America and Britain.

Lise Fuccellaro, mother of four children aged eight, 12, 14 and 16, lived in England for seven years before returning to live near Paris. She told the newspaper that she was struck by how patient and gentle English mothers were compared with French parents. She said: 'It's remarkable how British children just don't sit nicely and aren't taught any respect for people around them. It would be unthinkable to most French parents to inflict their children on other people.'

In addition, Bénédicte Justan, 37, who lives in west London with her three boys under 10 agrees there is a different approach in France and said she feels like she is often the only parent shouting at her children in the street in Britain.

Another parent believes the tide turned against the laissez-faire attitude which emerged following the student riots in France in 1968 which she said led to children being bought up without certain vital boundaries. She said children in France blossom 'because of, not in spite of, authority'.

SOURCE





Chinese don't mess around

Fighting broke out between crowds of Muslims and police when a mosque was demolished - for being an 'illegal religious place'. Violence erupted in the town of Hexi, in China's northwest Ningxia region, after 1,000 officers arrived to help police the knocking down of the building.

More than 50 protesters were injured and 100 arrested after several hundred members of China's Muslim Hui minority tried to stop the demolition. Sources from the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said two people died in the clashes.

An employee who answered the phone at the town police station confirmed officers had fought with protesters and said 80 people were detained, but denied any deaths. The employee added that police demolished the mosque after the violence.

The Communist government closely monitors religious activity and is said to be worried that mosques and other houses of worship might become centres for anti-government agitation.

The Hui are one of several Muslim minority groups in China. They include descendants of Muslim immigrants from Central Asia, members of China's majority Han ethnicity who converted to Islam and several other groups.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN (Note that EYE ON BRITAIN has regular posts on the reality of socialized medicine). My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here. For readers in China or for times when blogger.com is playing up, there is a mirror of this site here.

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