Herberts Cukurs nazi criminal or a national heroe?

In april of this year there appeared request to bury ashes of Herberts Cukurs in cementery dedicated to latvian war heroes. Say, all latvian heroes must be burried in latvian soil.

There had been discussions should he be re buried in Latvia or not, and do it will create bad PR for Latvia. However none of official faces mentioned that Herberts Cukurs is notable war criminal. Most of latvians would just to prefare not to talk about certain subjects, such as holocaust. There were just some internet comments, that with heroes like him it is no suprise that Latvia is in such downfall.



In Latvian book stores one can find the book, showing war criminal Cukurs as a heroe. At some point indeed he was something like latvian "Aviator". This self made man had almoust celebrity status for his self made planes. However with the comming of nazi Reich he had chosen wrong side to follow and totally wrong way of showing his loyality to Adolf Hitler. In the 1941 year Herberts Cukurs took active role in holocaust being the most notorious member of ill famed Arajs commando, who almoust exlusively murdered Latvian citizens of jewish nationality. In 1941 year in Latvian teritory was murdered ~70 000 Latvian jewish citizens.
Suprising enought, there is no proof, that Cukurs had any antisemitic wievs. So his participation in holocaust was an easy way to show his loyality to the new regime. (much more easy than to go to front line.) Riga's Getto survivor tells Hollywood like stories about his companion throwing breast feed infants in the air and Cukurs shooting at them or Herberts Cukurs taking infant by the legs and hiting head about the wall. It could be a postraumatic or it could be the fact.


Google search gives english language blog portraiting Herberts Cukurs as wrongly accused heroe and even savior of some jews. -> http://www.herbertscukurs.net/ But the same looking blog in latvian tells, that even if he had murdered jews, it is not such a big deal. -> http://herbertcukurs.blogspot.com/

Herberts Cukurs was so notorious war criminal, that National Geographic had "nazi hunter" episodes dedicated to him.

Official latvian school history books don't say, what happened in Bikernieki and Rumbula forests (nazi execution sites), had 'forgoten' Riga's Ghetto or how war criminal Herberts Cukurs murdered exLatvian citizens. Young children are teached only mostly about gulags, so they end school having perception that those nazis were bad, but no so much bad and everything happened somewhere with some whatever jews. There were denazification in USA occupation zones but no denazification in soviet occupation zones. After the war all the soviet territories were includent in "victors". Many of the older far-right before the fall of USSR was passionate communist party members, and nazi Uldis Freimanis was soviet army fighter pilot.

Nazi Hunter episode




Video with pictures from Salaspils concentration camp memorial.