Wiesenthal Center Criticizes Extreme Right March to Mark Estonian Independence Day

February 24, 2015

Tallinn — The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized a march held late yesterday in the center of the Estonian capital to mark Independence Day, which was sponsored by the Sinine Aratus (Blue Awakening) youth movement closely affiliated with the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE).

In a statement issued here late yesterday by its chief Nazi-hunter and newly-appointed Director for East European Affairs Dr. Efraim Zuroff after he personally monitored the march, the Center noted that the march had been publicized under the motto "Estonia for Estonians," an exclusionary slogan which shows zero tolerance for Estonia's minorities, many of whom have been living in the country for generations.

According to Zuroff:

"Yesterday's march is yet another example of the increasing appeal of racist, exclusionary messages in the Baltics, where such ideas paved the way for extensive collaboration by the locals in the implementation of the Final Solution. In a country like Estonia, in which the Holocaust took place with the help of numerous Estonians, such marches are a cause for serious concern."

For more information: Dr. Efraim Zuroff  972.50.721.4156   Twitter: @EZuroff,

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament.