Reddit reviews Suddenly, a Criminal: Sixteen Years in Siberia
We found 1 Reddit comments about Suddenly, a Criminal: Sixteen Years in Siberia. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
First of all, I think it's awesome that you are more interested in Latvian history than a fair amount of actual Latvians. :)
Everything you stated is pretty accurate, but I will clarify one thing:
>14% of the entire Latvian population *volunteered* to fight for the Waffen SS or Nazi Wehrmacht (army) as soon as Latvia was "liberated" by the German forces attacking the Soviet Union.
Yes, a fair amount of people volunteered to fight for the Germans in 1941. Because communists had occupied the land and had realized repressions, including mass deportations on those who opposed the regime. Nazis even made propaganda to encourage revenge on communists. Some hoped that the Latvian SS legion would be the core of the army that would free Latvia (the legion, of course, was controlled by Germans; their only interest was German victory). In a way, the volunteers were not fighting for Germans as much as they were fighting for freedom and against communists. That all being said, the legion was called "Latvian SS voluntary legion" mostly to comply to the Hague Convention, the nazis tried to make an impression that it was voluntary; most of the people that joined were actually mobilized (only 15% - 20% of the legion were true volunteers).
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>How terrible were the Soviets really? How terrible were the Russians really? How terrible *are* the Russians, really?
I am probably too young to answer that question. Probably not as terrible to us as they were to Ukrainians. This documentary (graphic imagery) is about the soviet regime until 1941, about their crimes to Ukraine (~first 10mins). Not all Russians were bad, nearly all of them were also hurt by the regime. That also probably holds true today. Some of them probably were and are simply ignorant (as it was and is with most of us).
If you want to know more about WWII in LV: http://okupacijasmuzejs.lv/en/history/1-soviet-occupation/
A story about a mother who was sent out to Siberia: Suddenly, a Criminal: Sixteen Years in Siberia (there is also a film based on the story, called "the Chronicles of Melanie")