Seedrioru Estonian Summer Camp -- Honouring Waffen SS Heroes

"The purpose of this monument is solely to remember our homeland and those that died in battles to defend Estonia's freedom from 1941 to 1945." 

"Some concerns were recently expressed within our own community about displaying names, so all names of individuals were removed with no objections."

Lia Hess, head, board of directors, Estonian Summer Camp Society Inc.

"Estonia has received significant international criticism for allowing ex-SS veterans to march in parades."

"More recently, it was criticized for erecting a plaque that commemorates Alfons Rebane, an SS officer and Nazi collaborator, who did however, fight the Soviets."

Canadian heritage official comment

"Instead of using this moment to reflect on its history of wrong-doing, this camp has chosen to deny incontrovertible facts, make lame excuses, and smear Jewish community advocates with absurd accusations."

"Not for a moment has the camp taken responsibility for its role in glorifying Nazi war criminals in the eyes of Ontario's children over the course of many decades."

"Not once has the camp shown a desire to address the harm it has caused."

"Everything about the camp's response to our research has made this story even more sad and disturbing."

Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center

Pictures from the Seedrioru Estonian Summer Camp Society's Facebook page show both kids and adults laying wreaths and hosting ceremonies at the Swords Monument while the names of the Nazi officers were still on display. (Seedrioru Estonian Summer Camp Society/Facebook)

 

The issue is that of a venerated monument erected at an Ontario camp as a memorial -- at Seedrioru, a camp for Estonian Canadian children and teens located in Elora, Ontario, not far from Toronto. The memorial was established in celebration of 'Estonian heroic freedom fighters', engraved with the names of four men who distinguished themselves in service with the Waffen SS, collaborating with Adolf Hitler during his genocidal campaign to rid the world of any Jewish presence.

Four men whose names appear on the monument were known members of the Estonian Waffen SS. And each of these men are known to have received the top military award representing Nazi Germany's World War II campaign to go to war with Western democracy and just incidentally commit genocide while they and their Axis partners were fighting the Allies for world supremacy. Although the Soviet Union started out the war as one of the Axis nations, when Germany attacked the USSR, it switched its loyalties to the Allies.

Countries like Ukraine and Estonia, among other Eastern European neighbours of Russia who were occupied and coerced to become part of the Soviet Union, hated Russian domination and willingly allied themselves with Nazi Germany, sharing many of its goals. Buried with full military honours in Estonia, Harald Nugiseks was one of those honoured on the summer camp's monument. In a 1993 interview he explained his volunteerism with the Waffen SS resulted from his support for what Nazi Germany planned for Europe.

 

A handful of pictures on the Seedrioru Estonian Summer Camp Society Facebook page show the Swords Monument with fresh wreaths or flowers at its base. (Seedrioru Estonian Summer Camp Society/Facebook)

 

Others whose names were etched on the monument were also Waffen SS veterans; Harald Riipalu, Paul Maitla and Alfons Rebane. The latter was recognized by Canadian government officials for his Nazi past. The federal government's special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism stated that knowledge of the monument's existence indicated a need for education. "This situation reinforces the importance of comprehensive Holocaust education, not only in our schools, but also among the broader Canadian public."

When the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center discovered the existence of the Seedrioru memorial, where photographs posted on the web page of the organization showed young campers and staff laying wreaths at the monument, they issued a new release of its existence.  The Estonian Central Council in Canada responded by condemning "disinformation and lies", suggesting concern raised by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center was in reality, Russian disinformation. 

Denials were swift and emphatic when Jaime Kirzner-Roberts stated that the memorial's four names etched for posterity were those of individuals who held roles n the murder of Jews during the Holocaust, serving in an Estonian Waffen SS division. When asked for proof for an investigative reporting media outlet that Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center was working with the Russians or that the four being honoured on the monument were not members of the Waffen SS, none was forthcoming.

According to some Holocaust scholars, aside from fighting with the Nazis, the Estonian SS division's soldiers were also involved in the executions of up to 2,000 prisoners at the Klooga concentration camp in Estonia.

This plaque at the bottom of the Swords Monument includes an excerpt from the 19th-century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, considered to be the cornerstone of Estonia's national literature. It translates to: 'Like a brave protective wall, we will defend our homeland.' (Lia Hess/Seedrioru Estonian Summer Camp Society)