Thunder Cross

Thunder Cross (Pērkonkrusts) was founded in 1932 and became the largest and most prominent right-wing political party in Latvia in the early twentieth century. Its slogan, "Latvia for Latvians!", mirrored the ultranationalist rhetoric of similar movements across Europe at the time. Unlike the Nazis in Germany or the Fascists in Italy, it never managed to take power.

Holocaust historian Paula A. Oppermann argues that the movement still left a lasting mark on the country. Antisemitism lay at the core of its ideology, and it continued to motivate Latvian fascists throughout the twentieth century, even as historical and political circumstances changed.

The book is the fullest study of Latvia's fascist movement available in English so far. It is also the only one to examine how fascist antisemitism continued after World War II, a thread that has often been overlooked.

Oppermann frames the work as an empirical case study. She draws on interdisciplinary secondary literature and on sources in seven languages, and she uses the Latvian case to broaden our understanding of fascism, antisemitism and mass violence, from Germany and Italy to the wider European context.