MANIFESTATIONS OF LEFTISM IN LATVIA DURING THE NAZI OCCUPATION: 1941–1945

Abstract

During the Nazi occupation (1941–1945), Latvia was subject to nazification. In the course of this process, the left wing elements of the Nazi ideology were actively introduced into Latvia. The process manifested itself in two ways: firstly, in the propaganda of the postulates of the Nazi ideology and, secondly, in a series of practical political activities. The main themes of the Nazi left wing propaganda were as follows: propaganda of the so-called German socialism and its achievements; criticism of the soviet socialism and the political system of the USSR; propaganda of the formation of classless society; propaganda of eradicating social injustice; singing praise to the prevalence of the workers in the social organism and introducing the left wing Nazi traditions into the occupied Latvia. However, the propaganda of the Nazi ideology in Latvia was introduced un- evenly and ambiguously. Several phases of its implementation can be singled out: the Hot Phase (1941), the Transitional Phase (1941–1942), the Pragmatic Phase (1943–1944) and the Disintegration Phase (1944–1945). The general trend was from propagating the ideas which maximally complied with the Nazi ideology towards gradual mitigation of the propaganda in order to achieve support from the local population for the occupation power and their involvement in the war. In practice, the Nazi occupation power, according to the common position of the left wing Nazi ideology, carried out the nationalisation of all the sectors of the economy of Latvia. This policy reached its peak in the autumn of 1941, when the German state took control of the great part of the Latvian enterprises. In 1942–1944, as the war developed unfavourably for Germany, re-privatisation of the property was permitted in order to achieve the support of the population and their active involvement in the war.