Valdis Lūmans on Latvians and the Holocaust in Occupied Latvia: Disillusionment Begets Myth Supplanting Myth Latvia in World War II by Valdis O. Lūmans Volume 11 of World War II, ISSN 1541-0293 Issue 11 of World War II—the global, human, and ethical dimension, ISSN 1541-0293 Fordham University Press, 2006. ISBN 0823226271, 9780823226276 Peters Vecrumba LATVIANS.COM
[email protected] INTRODUCTION Latvians, whatever lands you may come to,—proclaim the name of Latvia! Never and nowhere in your life will you ever hear a more beautiful word than this word; who- ever of you carries this word forth, shirk not, therefore, from spreading it far and wide; cease not to praise our country—Fathers, inculcate it into your children; Mothers, sing of it by your chil- dren’s and grand-children’s cribs; but, if you are a child born in exile,—relent not in ceaselessly questioning your parents about this land. Let Latvia be in your thoughts and imaginings as a distant, beautiful island in the sea of the world; as you sail your course through life, keep your prow ever pointed towards it. Day or night, dusk or dawn,—keep it in your thoughts, utter its name, fall in love with it ever more passionate- ly! — Author and artist Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš (1877–1962), my translation In reference to the Holocaust literature in Eastern Europe, especially that of Germany, there is an overuse of the concept of collaboration, which had its origins in Western Europe and Scandi- navia. Every second article written by a German scholar about Eastern Europe, has the word collaboration in it.