I've said it once, I will say it again, and I will repeat it until my last breath

I refuse, simply refuse to stop using one of my most favourite Latvian pagan symbols just because since early 20th century it carries a negative meaning.

I will not stop using swastika or thunder cross or fire cross. I like it. It's beautiful. It carries strength, protection and positivity with it. I will tell this to anyone who has a problem with swastikas. I have previously briefly expressed my views on a similar topic on this blog if you're interested.

I understand very well the horrific crimes committed by the Nazis, I understand as well as I can not being a direct victim. I am sorry, I am sorry that all the people, not only Jews, but all the people in Europe had to go through this. I am sorry that many people were tortured and treated worse than animals. And I am also sorry that there was a significant amount of Latvians who participated.

I am not looking for excuses and I certainly don't think they were right to do so. But to be completely honest, from all I've read, heard, been told and learned about the Two-War period in Latvia, if I was there I can't promise you I would've been much better. I would like to think that I would have the integrity and courage to stand up against the various genocides, but I know very well that me and most of all the other people I know are only humans. And as humans we are weak and afraid. I can't promise you that under the constant threats of fear I would be able to put my own personal terror aside and do the right thing. I do think that there were a lot of German people who were scared, so scared for their own lives and their loved ones that they would do anything to be safe. And I resent a teenage American telling us what we did wrong and teaching us how we should act. Yes, the Jewish and Roma people suffered greatly. So did the Latvian, Russian, the Polish and German people. We had two wars, almost back to back - while America was safely participating in only the wars it decided to take part in, we had no choice. We have been occupied by every country that had nothing better to do on a sunny afternoon. Our people have died and suffered from genocide too.

But instead of dwelling in the past and connecting everything with it, I choose to move forward and accept that most of the Germans I meet today are not the same people who wore the SS uniforms. I accept that most of the Russians I meet today were born long after the Wars and hardly even remember Soviet Union. We are different people and we need to see things for what they are not what they were. I don't say that we need to forget, no - every family in Latvia, mine included, has been directly affected by the Wars, and we can't forget it. I might not be here if not for the 2nd war. But I refuse to let my life be run by past.

So, dear American teenager, if you ever come here[on this blog]. Don't you dare judge us. Don't you dare get sanctimonious from your privileged platform. The Latvian people have committed crimes and they have suffered too. It is not your place to be the judge of what's right and what's wrong.

We have the right to use symbols that our fathers and their fathers and their families have used from the first days. We have a right to see a symbol for what it means to us - and we choose it to mean protection, strength, fire and sun and all sorts of positive energies. This is what it's meant for centuries for our people and we already have a hard time keeping our culture alive. It isn't even exclusively ours - it's quite popular over in India and SE Asia too, and I can tell you for sure it doesn't mean "kill the Jews" there. I bet you, young American friend, wouldn't go and tell the Indian people to stop using a swastika, because you're taught it's bad. It's not the symbol, it's the people and their deeds, don't condemn an innocent pagan symbol to eternal exile because of Nazis.

I know, I might seem a little heartless, and if you know me, you know it's not far from truth. But I do have a rather trained and efficient sense of general right and wrong. The holocaust - wrong. A symbol that doesn't actually mean "Nazi" - quite alright. Christianity - killed a lot of people, the Muslims can tell you(pagans could too, but they're all dead) but for a lot of people also a message of peace. The cross - also initially a pagan symbol and all in all not a bad thing, can be seen in windows everywhere. Starving people with little hope and possessions trying to start a new life on a new continent - not a bad idea per se. Bringing with them a bunch of illnesses and then later committing genocide against the original inhabitants of said continent and still doing it to the current day - you tell me.

So once again, don't you dare judge us, young American friend. Because all Europe is still paying for it sins, we are all paying if not materially then with our guilt about the history of our nations. Why are you allowed to tell us what's right or wrong? And don't say because the US has never committed such crimes against humanity and you are not responsible for your forefathers having slaves. Because we all know that's not quite how it is.

I choose to see my Latvian pagan heritage as clean of all the Nazi dirt. And I believe before you tell me I can't, you should give me a better reason than "Hitler liked it a lot". Because he also liked painting. And Wagner. I encourage you to go and see one of Wagner's operas. Quite lovely actually.

P.S. In fact, here's another unpopular opinion of the week - I do actually think that the suffering of the Jewish people and the suffering of the Latvian people can be compared. I don't think that one is better or worse than the other, but they sure have a lot in common. If you think that the people who suffered from the Russian side were better off than the people in German "work camps", you are very uneducated and I dare say rather stupid indeed.

P.P.S. I noticed you haven't met a Latvian who knows a Jew. Perhaps, may I suggest, it is because we do not see Jews as something other. They are Latvians to us, for example, my sister can't tell if someone's Jewish just by looking at them. I can tell in about half of the cases. I can't tell if a blond person is a Jew. I can't tell if a person is Jewish by their name, because, believe it or not, they're not all names Jacob Goldstein. My mother can mostly tell. She thinks it's weird that we can't. Most of my friends who are my age either can't tell if someone is Jewish or they don't give a toss. There are many Russian Jews in Latvia. We see them as Russian Latvians. We do have a problem with minorities there, I won't deny it, but we're acknowledging it. But it most definitely isn't a problem with Jews. What I mean is - perhaps your classmates can't tell if they know a Jewish person simply because they can't tell, not because there aren't any. And maybe you should learn something from this and stop seeing Jews as something other - why not see them as people instead of ethnicity? Or even nationality if we're going there.

Later in your life I hope you'll take a class on gender equality or any other discrimination class. There you'll learn about othering. It is a very,very interesting thing that you don't even know you're doing every day. I do too, but now that I know, I try to do less of it.

There, this has been a rant. Don't let me read these things, ok? You see what happens.