Revisionist national narratives in the memoirs of Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS Legionnaires

Stuklis, K. (2023) Revisionist national narratives in the memoirs of Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS Legionnaires. Journal of Baltic Studies, (doi: 10.1080/01629778.2023.2173262) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

The Baltic experience of World War II is underrepresented in European and global collective memory. Therefore, selected memoirs of Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS Legionnaires, previously not studied in depth, are analyzed. Theories of attribution and nodal points are applied to determine how national narratives are constructed and their relation to collective memory. Overall, the authors produce similar narratives that justify military collaboration with the Nazis as having been in the national interest. This supports the argument that the collective memory of contemporary Estonia and Latvia is based upon a revision of established narratives of World War II and the Holocaust.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Stuklis, Karl Robert
• Authors: Stuklis, K.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of Baltic Studies
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 0162-9778
• ISSN (Online): 1751-7877
• Published Online: 09 February 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author
• First Published: First published in Journal of Baltic Studies 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence