Seite 189 [189]
The Other in the Perception of Latvians during World War II
agitates, unmasks and accuses” (Erlahs 1941). Studies of the role of caricatures in
Nazi propaganda reveal that among other subjects, four were paramount: 1) people
obliged to the liberators; 2) people participating in liberation; 3) the presentation
and derision of the enemy’s characteristic features, personification of the enemy;
4) humorous and satirical illustrations of the information presented; illustrations
with a nondescript subject (Olehnovits 2004: 34). Most of the caricatures pub¬
lished in Tévija were created by the Latvian artists Ernests Rirdans (1901-1954)
and Reinis Birzgalis (1907-1990), although there were also some re-prints from
the German newspapers Jnterpress and Die Liistige Blatter as well as the Orbis-Photo¬
Ostraum-Bilderdienst agency.
Based on analysis of the narratives of 49 interviewees belonging to the old¬
est generation in the context of WWII, Others can be divided into three groups:
1) Jews as aggressors, Bolsheviks and victims of the Holocaust; 2) Russians as Red
Army soldiers and Bolsheviks; 3) Germans as Wehrmacht soldiers and liberators.
The Jews
The narratives of respondents belonging to the oldest generation reveal a shift
in their attitude towards Jews. Apart from the stories from the interwar period
about Jews as merchants and traders, craftsmen and pharmacists etc. united with
Latvians by ties of honest economic cooperation, in the respondents’ descriptions
of the situation during WWII the image of the Jew obtains novel features. The Jews
have been become part of the Latvian narrative about the nation’s history, taking
on the roles of aggressors (Fig. 71) or supporters of the Bolsheviks as aggressors
(Fig. 72).
1940 and 1941 was a turning point [in Latvian-Jewish relations]. So it was!
They were the main ones running about with those [red] flags (...) They greeted
the ‘Russian’ army. It was also written everywhere. And they were the main
secret policemen (E 74 256)."!
The selected quotation reveals the source of the respondent’s concepts— “it was
written everywhere”. One of the tasks of Nazi propaganda was the introduction of
anti-Semitic statements into the consciousness of local society. The publishing of
anti-Semitic texts, caricatures, photos and descriptions continued even after the
physical destruction of the Latvian Jews in December 1941.'* Anti-Semitism was
not separated from other Nazi propaganda themes such as anti-Bolshevism and
anti-Anglo-American plutocracy. In communication with Latvian society the pro¬
moters of Nazi propaganda generally exploited the topic of the crimes committed
during the year of Soviet occupation, positioning the Jews and Russian Bolsheviks
" F 1931 Riga.
2 During the Holocaust, Latvia lost 68 000-70 000 Jewish citizens (Stranga 2008: 532; Dribins 2002: 91).
187