"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven ... For with the same measure that you mete withal it shall be measured to you again." St. Luke 6:37 - 38.
When browsing through various forums that are dealing with Russia's role in the World War Two in particular, and in the World's history in general, I would frequently encounter numerous questions asked by Westerners, which questions would help me to better understand their mindset, and to see more clearly what exactly remains vague and misinterpreted by the majority of the Western public.
This web page is an attempt to provide the visitors with a Russian point of view on some questions.
In order to spare the space and time, I am giving here, as a rule, only my answers.
According to the Official Report, submitted to Nikita Khruschev, then Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, in February 1954, i.e. one year after the death of Stalin, it was found and stated that:
[ ... ] "Since 1921 till 1954 (that is for the whole period of 33 years, M.K.) in the Soviet Union – according to the official archives of the NKVD, Ministry of the Interior, and of all other state prosecuting organs – there was found and documentarily confirmed the following total number of repressed persons, namely:
The said Official Report – dated 1st February 1954, signed by Prosecutor-General R. Rudenko, Minister of the Interior S. Kruglov, and Minister of Justice K. Gorshenin – was declassified and published in the Soviet Union and abroad since the beginning of the so-called Gorbachev's Glasnost (Openness). The document is available in Russian, for example, here: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/7231/repress.htm#t2
I agree that 642,980 persons, executed during the space of time of 33 years, is being still a huge number. But it is much, much fewer than the notorious so-called "tens of millions" of innocent victims, as the western cold war propaganda tends to present the situation.
And what is more – I do not think that all of the executed persons were quite "innocent", the overwhelming majority of them being regular criminals, murderers, rapists, traitors, conspirators, and fascist collaborators.
Since the time that Solzhenitsyn's works were published in the West, the very word "Gulag" has become world-wide known as something extremely terrible. But in fact it is a simple abbreviation of the Russian word combination: Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, which means the Central Administration of (Corrective) Camps. Every country in the world must have and has an equivalent of such a government body. Nothing specially intimidating, except the bad notion imputed deliberately in the word "Gulag" by the western cold war propaganda.
Surely, any jail or a corrective camp is not a sanatorium or a spa, far from this, in whichever country they might be situated. I can safely admit that the Gulag prisoners might be and were sometimes ill-treated and abused by the local Gulag authorities. But I have not heard of any direct Stalin's order prescribing, allowing, or permitting tortures, abuse, mistreatment, or something of the kind to be ever implemented by the Corrective System Authorities. Just to the contrary, there were issued a few of strict Stalin's orders that demanded humane treatment of detainees. Exceptionally humane attitude was demanded by Stalin toward the Wehrmacht prisoners-of-war. So tolerant was the "bloody tyrant", believe me or not.
In this regard I would like to quote (only just to compare, not to censure anyone, God forbid!) the following fragment of a website recently found:
Call Cruelty What It Is:
"President Bush is urging Congress to let the CIA keep using "alternative" interrogation procedures – which include, according to published accounts, forcing prisoners to stand for 40 hours, depriving them of sleep and use of the "cold cell", in which the prisoner is left naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees and doused with cold water."
Sorce: http://nevadathunder.com/?p=2752
I must emphasize here again that I am not aware of any direct Stalin's order of the kind, which might have prescribed such or similar treatment as above stated. Although, of course, the living conditions in the Gulag camps were very, very harsh. No doubt.
As to the total number of detainees, I would rather be more impressed with the American Gulag's number of prisoners – about 7 million (now, in our time!), than that of the Stalin's – 2 million 370 (then!) Gulag's inmates. An unexpected difference in Stalin's favour, isn't it?
From the very beginning it should be noted that in western historical literature, as well as in modern western English-language historical web publications, there is a lot of important facts and events which have been either entirely silenced, or discussed separately in such a manner as if they (facts and events) were not connected between themselves at all. Which is why I see my task in exposing of some important questions in their true interrelations.
When discussing the Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the USSR – being also frequently called nowadays as Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact – we must take into account the whole situation in Europe which existed at that hectic pre-war period, because it would be misleading and merely unfair to judge the Treaty isolated.
First of all we should remember that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were torn away from pre-Soviet Russia, and occupied by Germans. Puppet governments were created there and, as planned, begged to become German protectorates. It happened in September 1917.
Then, we should go back to the Curzon Line (January 1920) which was drawn to separate the proper Polish lands from the neighbouring Belorussian and Ukrainian lands. This demarcation line – the Curzon Line – would have been frequently (and I suspect – deliberately) omitted from the study of the pre-war Soviet policy.
We must comprehend the fact that the Curzon Line is of utmost importance, because it gives us a clue to understanding most of Stalin's policy in the West, both before and after World War Two. Especially valuable for this issue is Statement by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons, delivered on 25th February 1945.
Also we should recall the 1920 Polish-Soviet war, in which Poland acted as a sheer aggressor, having first invaded Belorussia and the Ukraine, and even captured Kiev on 7th May 1920. No need to retell here all the course of the war, the history of which can be easily found on the Internet in full detail.
I must emphasize here only this one decisive point: that after the Tukhachevsky army's final defeat at Warsaw, and according to the 1921 Riga Peace Treaty, the Poles grabbed vast swaths of Belorussian and Ukrainian lands, much farther east beyond the Curzon Line, where the indigenous Belorussian and Ukrainian people came to be severely oppressed by the yoke of the new Polish masters. Here I must remind also that during the 1920 Polish-Soviet war, the Poles captured about 146,000 Red Armymen. Of that number of prisoners-of-war there was only about 75,000 men who returned home after the Riga Peace Treaty, while about 60,000 Russian POWs died either from hunger and illnesses, or from exceptionally inhuman treatment in Polish concentration camps, including even brazenly illegal executions of the Soviet POWs by the Poles.
When studying the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, we should also well remember that Poland had already concluded a Treaty with Germany directed against Russia. The so called Pilsudski-Hitler Pact between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic was signed on January 26, 1934.
We should also recall the infamous Munich Agreement (1938) which had lead to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, and many many other factors, including the British and French refusal to conclude a Collective Defense Treaty with the Soviet Union against the aggressive Germany.
Given all that, you will hardly be surprised to learn that in the 1930s Poland was getting ready to invade the Soviet Union together with Hitler. See, for example, this modern publication: http://www.inosmi.ru/print/222599.html
In this interview, translated from Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, of 28 September 2005, Professor Pawel Weczorkiewicz says overtly that Poland was eager to assault Russia TOGETHER with Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, for the time being, I can offer here a link only to the Russian translation of the said article.
The Soviet-German non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact) signed in the night of August 23 / 24, 1939 was precipitated long before that fateful night. If it had had a choice, Moscow would have teamed up with Britain, France and other countries in the struggle against the Nazi threat. But the available documents show that the Soviet leadership tried in vain to convince London and Paris to abandon the policy of appeasing the aggressor. Britain hoped to put Russia and Germany against each other and come out unscathed, as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes wrote in his diary.
Given all the above said, we may come to a conclusion that for the Soviet Union, the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was nothing else but a much-needed response to the deterioration of the European security situation in the latter half of the 1930s, as Nazi Germany, aligned with Fascist Italy in the Axis Powers, aimed to reverse the disadvantageous Treaty of Versailles after World War I. In addition, the ongoing Nomonhan Incident, culminating in the Battle of Halhin Gol, may have been a significant consideration for Stalin, for whom a two-front war was a serious threat to be evaded. The Pact may in fact have influenced the Japanese to seek a cease-fire two weeks after the Pact's announcement.
Indeed, let's think again: should Stalin have to refuse the German overtures for a non-aggression agreement in those circumstances? No, he must not. We Russians believe he acted as a wise statesman, seeking exceptionally for the defense of our country, and thus we see nothing criminal in the Pact's conclusion.
As to the secret protocols and the so-called "fourth partition of Poland", all that is bosh. If you peruse the Protocol's text you will find that no partition is mentioned therein at all. The protocol (a usual part of any treaty at those times) speaks about the demarcation of "spheres of influence" between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Why not? If at the present time the United States declare their spheres of interests to include even the Ukraine (sic!) and the Caucasus, and the Central Asia, and what not – which areas are situated at a distance of thousands of miles from America in the other Hemisphere – then why the Soviet Union should not have declared her interests to lie in the nearby lands that had belonged to the Russian Empire for centuries?
It should be specially emphasized that the protocols speak of the demarcation of 'the spheres of interests', rather than 'the zones of influence'. This is not a case of pure semantics but an attempt to set a limit to Germany's expansion, which Moscow was forced to tolerate in that situation. It was with good reason that Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union's actions at the time (i.e. 17th September 1939) as the development of the eastern front (NB!). And, inter alia, in their secret protocol of August 23, 1939, Russia and Germany recognized "the interests of Lithuania with regard to the Vilnius region."
Thus, all what the Soviet Government actually did, beginning from September 17 on, was in fact the reunification of the Western Belorussian and Western Ukrainian peoples with the majority of their brothers living in the U.S.S.R., and the retrieval of our lands which were wrested by Pilsudski's Poland in 1920 from our country.
SITE MAP
† HOME – Dedicated to the Blessed Memory of those millions of valiant men, women, children and old
people who gave their lives in the sacred fighting for the freedom and independence of our Motherland during the Great Patriotic War in 1941 – 1945.
† Germany harps on Communist crimes to hush up Nazi Atrocities, says Wehrmacht's war veteran.
† PATRIARCH – Message by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia on the occasion of the
60th Anniversary of the Glorious Victory in the Great Patriotic War † A unique photo of the Patriarch inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Moscow
† GLANTZ - 1 – American Perspectives on Eastern Front Operations in World War II
by Colonel David M. Glantz, Part One
† GLANTZ - 2 – Postwar American perspective on Eastern Front operations
by Colonel David M. Glantz, Part Two
† GLANTZ - 3 – Soviet Sources on Eastern Front operations: Perceptions and Reality
by Colonel David M. Glantz, Part Three
† BALTIC – Russia's Baltic policy before World War Two: the Baltic Lands resumed, by Dr. Valentin Falin † An impressive picture: Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin and Marshal Klim Voroshilov in the Kremlin, Moscow, 1938. How to secure the defense of the Motherland, that was the principal concern at the time. As always...
† BARBAROSSA – 1941: Year of the Truth. Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, by Dr. Valentin Falin
† The glorious defense of the Fortress of Brest
† WHY NOT 1943? – The War could have ended in 1943: The wiles of the West,
by Dr. Valentin Falin
† DYKMAN – The Soviet Experience in World War Two: The numbers, the savagery, the differencies between
the war in the East and the West, by J.T. Dykman, the Eisenhower Institute, Washington, D.C.
† WINTER – General Frost: Fighting the Russians in Winter,
by Allen F. Chew, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
"The Russian winter defeated Napoleon, as every Frenchman knows. It also defeated Hitler, as most Germans know. Many Americans share that "knowledge" which is false in both cases! Those popular myths illustrate the uncritical acceptance and perpetuation of rationalizations designed to obscure the fact that those "invincible" Western military paragons were humbled by the 'inferior' Russians"
† APPEAL – The most important appeal to the Nation: Stalin's Radio Address, Moscow, 3rd July 1941
"Comrades!
Citizens!
Brothers and sisters!
Men of our Army and Navy! My words are addressed to you, my dear friends!"
† WARLORD – The Supreme Commander-in-Chief: Stalin as Warlord,
by Prof. Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College
† YALTA – The Crimean Conference: A Chance the World Missed, by Dr. Valentin Falin and Victor Litovkin
† CHURCHILL – On the Question of Poland: Statement by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons, 27th February 1945 † The Curzon Line
† VICTORY – The Great Victory in May 1945
The hard-won Victory was achieved by the Soviet Union's "Red Army which tore the guts out of the German Army", as Churchill admitted, in glorious military alliance with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, over the juggernaut of the so-called Axis: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Militarist Japan, and their satellites: Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Finland, and Bulgaria. The Axis states were supported by all the manpower, industry and resources of almost all Continental Europe, North Africa, and South-East Asia under their control.
† Stalin's Orders. Profusely illustrated. The VICTORY webpage also features a unique picture which was never before posted on the Internet: Captive German military banners and standards flung down in dishonour at the Victors' feet after the Great Victory Parade on the Red Square in Moscow on the 24th of June 1945
WHO WAS STALIN? A World-Known Anti-Soviet Dissident and a Former Rabid Anti-Stalinist Has Said His Say
Click: ALEXANDER ZINOVIEV – "Even a Donkey Can Kick a Dead Lion"
Prof. Grover Furr About Marshal Stalin and his denigrators
This article is a real MUST READ
for anybody who seek for the truth about the Russian Soul
RUSSIA IS A SUPERPOWER – WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT
GENOCIDE IN SOUTH OSSETIA IS STOPPED!
Russian armored column is rushing to stop the genocide in South Ossetia
SAVED!
A South Ossetian military man holds a child as he looks at
an armored Russian column arrived to save them from Georgian assault
A PATH TO PEACE IN THE CAUCASUS
By Mikhail Gorbachev, 12 August 2008 The Washington Post
MOSCOW - The past week's events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.
The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia's separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. This turned out to be a time bomb for Georgia's territorial integrity. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force – both in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are similar – it only made the situation worse. New wounds aggravated old injuries.
Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground.
Through all these years, Russia has continued to recognize Georgia's territorial integrity. Clearly, the only way to solve the South Ossetian problem on that basis is through peaceful means. Indeed, in a civilized world, there is no other way.
The Georgian leadership flouted this key principle.
What happened on the night of 7th August 2008 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinval with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.
Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia.
In other words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was expecting unconditional support from the West, and the West had given him reason to think he would have it. Now that the Georgian military assault has been routed, both the Georgian government and its supporters should rethink their position.
Hostilities must cease as soon as possible, and urgent steps must be taken to help the victims – the humanitarian catastrophe, regretfully, received very little coverage in Western media this weekend - and to rebuild the devastated towns and villages. It is equally important to start thinking about ways to solve the underlying problem, which is among the most painful and challenging issues in the Caucasus – a region that should be approached with the greatest care.
When the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia first flared up, I proposed that they be settled through a federation that would grant broad autonomy to the two republics. This idea was dismissed, particularly by the Georgians. Attitudes gradually shifted, but after last week, it will be much more difficult to strike a deal even on such a basis.
Old grievances are a heavy burden. Healing is a long process that requires patience and dialogue, with non-use of force an indispensable precondition. It took decades to bring to an end similar conflicts in Europe and elsewhere, and other long-standing issues are still smoldering. In addition to patience, this situation requires wisdom.
Small nations of the Caucasus do have a history of living together. It has been demonstrated that a lasting peace is possible, that tolerance and cooperation can create conditions for normal life and development. Nothing is more important than that.
The region's political leaders need to realize this. Instead of flexing military muscle, they should devote their efforts to building the groundwork for durable peace.
Over the past few days, some Western nations have taken positions, particularly in the U.N. Security Council, that have been far from balanced. As a result, the Security Council was not able to act effectively from the very start of this conflict. By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its "national interest," the United States made a serious blunder. Of course, peace in the Caucasus is in everyone's interest. But it is simply common sense to recognize that Russia is rooted there by common geography and centuries of history. Russia is not seeking territorial expansion, but it has legitimate interests in this region.
The international community's long-term aim could be to create a sub-regional system of security and cooperation that would make any provocation, and the very possibility of crises such as this one, impossible. Building this type of system would be challenging and could only be accomplished with the cooperation of the region's countries themselves. Nations outside the region could perhaps help, too – but only if they take a fair and objective stance. A lesson from recent events is that geopolitical games are dangerous anywhere, not just in the Caucasus.
The writer was the last president of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 and is president of the Gorbachev Foundation, a Moscow think tank.
RUSSIAN BEAR WILL GROWL THEN BITE DEADLY – IF PROVOKED
Well what did else the West expect? Any self-respecting bear will growl first as a sign to ward of attackers, then pounce and maul them if provoked sufficiently.
Remember the dire fate of Napoleon, Hitler, and all the other bloody murderous scum who dared to insult Holy Russia.
The Russian Bear is confident and proud and looking more for respect in international affairs rather than a fight. But we Russians are always ready to make mincemeat of any aggressor.
With 4,237 strategic Russian warheads, approximately 2,000-3,000 operational tactical warheads, and approximately 8,000-10,000 stockpiled strategic and tactical warheads Holy Russia is being remarkably well equipped to defend herself and her allies.
RUSSIA IS A SUPERPOWER – WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!
Some say we are five minutes to a new Cold War
This is a false assertion
In fact, with the NATO Navy entering the Black Sea
THE WORLD IS ONE MINUTE TO A THERMO-NUCLEAR WAR
It is incredible!
HOMELESS CHILDREN IN AMERICA
It is incredible for any Russian like myself
to learn about poor homeless people in the West,
and especially about homeless children in America
because formerly we used to consider the USA to be
the wealthiest and happiest country in the world
Obviously, we were wrong in thinking thusly
Friends, I must admit that despite being myself
quite a hardy, tough, and experienced man, as I am
nevertheless
I could not hold back my bitter tears
when I was watching this
extremely heartbreaking video
Click on the picture to watch it yourself
No true Christian can ever watch this video
without tears in the eyes!
Now, you will have to realize
why we Russians love and esteem Stalin:
This is because
Stalin denied the Soviet children
the "freedom" to be homeless
he denied all of us the "freedom"
to sleep and perish in the street
as in America
IN THE SOVIET UNION
NO ONE HAD THE "RIGHT"
EITHER TO BE HOMELESS, OR UNEMPLOYED
OR TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE STREET
HELPLESS AND ABANDONED
AS IN AMERICA
ALL OF THE SOVIET PEOPLE
WERE DENIED SUCH WESTERN "HUMAN RIGHTS"
BY THE STALIN'S REGIME
In this regard I suggest that
you should have a look at the shrewd observations
by an American expat now living in Russia:
click HERE
IS THE WEST HELL?
NO, IT IS NOT HELL
THE WEST IS TERRIBLE HELL
With all its benignity and peoples' fraternity
inasmuch as the former Soviet Union used to serve
so today's Russia continues to serve as an open rebuke
to the Western infernally inhuman and godless way of life
And this is the only true reason
why Russia has been hated, defamed and reviled so much
by the West's ruling class and the media under their control
No wonder!
ARE YOU READY FOR NUCLEAR WAR?
The Mindlessness is Total
By Paul Craig Roberts, August 19 2008
Nothing real issues from the American press, which is about demonizing Russia and Iran, about the vice presidential choices as if it matters, about whether Obama being on vacation let McCain score too many points.
The mindlessness of the news reflects the mindlessness of the government, for which it is a spokesperson.
The American media do not serve American democracy or American interests. They serve the few people who exercise power.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the US and Israel made a run at controlling Russia and the former constituent parts of its empire. For awhile the US and Israel succeeded, but Putin put a stop to it.
Recognizing that the US had no intention of keeping any of the agreements it had made with Gorbachev, Putin directed the Russian military budget to upgrading the Russian nuclear deterrent. Consequently, the Russian army and air force lack the smart weapons and electronics of the US military.
When the Russian army went into Georgia to rescue the Russians in South Ossetia from the destruction being inflicted upon them by the American puppet Saakashvili, the Russians made it clear that if they were opposed by American troops with smart weapons, they would deal with the threat with tactical nuclear weapons.
The Americans were the first to announce preemptive nuclear attack as their permissible war doctrine. Now the Russians have announced the tactical use of nuclear weapons as their response to American smart weapons.
It is obvious that American foreign policy, with its goal of ringing Russia with US military bases, is leading directly to nuclear war. Every American needs to realize this fact. The US government’s insane hegemonic foreign policy is a direct threat to life on the planet.
Russia has made no threats against America. The post-Soviet Russian government has sought to cooperate with the US and Europe. Russia has made it clear over and over that it is prepared to obey international law and treaties. It is the Americans who have thrown international law and treaties into the trash can, not the Russians.
In order to keep the billions of dollars in profits flowing to its contributors in the US military-security complex, the Bush Regime has rekindled the cold war. As American living standards decline and the prospects for university graduates deteriorate, "our" leaders in Washington commit us to a hundred years of war.
If you desire to be poor, oppressed, and eventually vaporized in a nuclear war, vote Republican.
This is the final part of an article by P. C. Roberts.
Warning
This video contains images depicting the reality and horror
of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience
with their nerves of steel
Massacre Caught on Tape: US Military Confirms Authenticity of Their Own Chilling Video Showing Killing of Journalists
One of the men on the ground, believed to be Chmagh, is seen wounded and trying to crawl to safety. One of the helicopter crew is heard wishing for the man to reach for a gun, even though there is none visible nearby, so he has the pretext for opening fire: "All you gotta do is pick up a weapon." A van draws up next to the wounded man and Iraqis climb out. They are unarmed and start to carry the victim to the vehicle in what would appear to be an attempt to get him to hospital. One of the helicopters opens fire with armour-piercing shells. "Look at that. Right through the windshield," says one of the crew. Another responds with a laugh.
Sitting behind the windscreen were two children who were wounded.
