Dear CCI Friends,
On June 18, 2020, Vladimir Putin released to the world Russia’s archival understanding of the horrendous war years, the final months and the near total devastation of the Soviet Union due to World War II. Forgive me for being late getting this email to you. I have been researching these years daily on the Internet (more in a second CCI letter).
On May 8, 2020, at multiple sites in England, France, Germany, Scotland and Washington, DC, the primary allied countries that fought together in WWII held ceremonies in celebration of VE Day, the end of WWII in Europe. Russia was not invited.
Could this be why President Putin put together his definitive statement of WWII? It is Russia’s record of the sequence of war events … in addition to the fact that the USSR was the country that was critical to stopping Hitler’s war machine. I think no one denies the latter. Whether Putin has all of the history and surrounding happenings correct, I doubt; and neither may any of the other countries. All see these horrifying events from their own perspectives.
Apparently this gargantuan WWII history has been written and rewritten by all who were involved in it. Putin appears determined to provide the history as the Soviets experienced it. Russia has made its WWII archives open to the world. Putin appeals to these other nations to do the same.
Incidentally, I remember well the “Great War” … troops marching at midnight down the small Kentucky street that my bedroom window faced (my nose-to-the-window). Figures barely visible; sound of boots to pavement was the strongest memory … except for fear. Fort Knox and Fort Campbell were nearby so troop movements at night were a part of our lives, along with the dread that Hitler might come to America next. Even mid-country, we turned off lights or blacked out our windows at night.
Decades later in 1983, I sat spellbound in Moscow listening to henna-haired, aging Russian women speak about their late teen years “picking up soldiers’ guns when our boys dropped in battle … and using them against the Nazis.” I remember one short, rotund little lady with red hair passionately saying, “You understand, it was so hard for us girls to take life!!! We are the givers of life! Yet we had no choice!” During my Internet research, I came upon a reference to “as many as 1,000,000 Soviet women fought the Nazis in WWII.” Unthinkable! They had no experience, no training with weapons, never intended to fight any peoples. Yet they had no choice.
I am grateful that The National Interest, a Republican magazine that covers a broad spectrum of international news, printed Putin’s piece without editorializing on it. Please educate yourself on Russia’s perspective of WWII on the Internet, in addition to other countries’ perspectives … a war which by now is almost forgotten across America.
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Vladimir Putin: The Real Lessons of the 75th Anniversary of World War II
The Russian president offers a comprehensive assessment of the legacy of World War II, arguing that “Today, European politicians, and Polish leaders in particular, wish to sweep the Munich Betrayal under the carpet. The Munich Betrayal showed to the Soviet Union that the Western countries would deal with security issues without taking its interests into account.”
June 18, 2020
By Vladimir Putin
Seventy-five years have passed since the end of the Great Patriotic War. Several generations have grown up over the years. The political map of the planet has changed. The Soviet Union that claimed an epic, crushing victory over Nazism and saved the entire world is gone. Besides, the events of that war have long become a distant memory, even for its participants. So why does Russia celebrate the ninth of May as the biggest holiday? Why does life almost come to a halt on June 22? And why does one feel a lump rise in their throat?
They usually say that the war has left a deep imprint on every family’s history. Behind these words, there are fates of millions of people, their sufferings and the pain of loss. Behind these words, there is also the pride, the truth and the memory.
For my parents, the war meant the terrible ordeals of the Siege of Leningrad where my two-year-old brother Vitya died. It was the place where my mother miraculously managed to survive. My father, despite being exempt from active duty, volunteered to defend his hometown. He made the same decision as millions of Soviet citizens. He fought at the Nevsky Pyatachok bridgehead and was severely wounded. And the more years pass, the more I feel the need to talk to my parents and learn more about the war period of their lives. However, I no longer have the opportunity to do so. This is the reason why I treasure in my heart those conversations I had with my father and mother on this subject, as well as the little emotion they showed.
People of my age and I believe it is important that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren understand the torment and hardships their ancestors had to endure. They need to understand how their ancestors managed to persevere and win. Where did their sheer, unbending willpower that amazed and fascinated the whole world come from? Sure, they were defending their home, their children, loved ones and families. However, what they shared was the love for their homeland, their Motherland. That deep-seated, intimate feeling is fully reflected in the very essence of our nation and became one of the decisive factors in its heroic, sacrificial fight against the Nazis.
I often wonder: What would today’s generation do? How will it act when faced with a crisis situation? I see young doctors, nurses, sometimes fresh graduates that go to the “red zone” to save lives. I see our servicemen that fight international terrorism in the Northern Caucasus and fought to the bitter end in Syria. They are so young. Many servicemen who were part of the legendary, immortal 6th Paratroop Company were 19-20 years old. But all of them proved that they deserved to inherit the feat of the warriors of our homeland that defended it during the Great Patriotic War.