Soviets’ key role in Nazi defeat relived
JUNE 22 (today) marks a tragic anniversary– 80 years ago Nazi Germany perfidiously attacked the Soviet Union.
In the early morning hours of June 22, 1941, the seemingly invincible German war machine with all its might fell on the tiny Brest fortress on the western borders of the USSR.
According to the plans of the Nazis, the fortress was supposed to fall by noon on the same day.
Nevertheless, the shots of the defenders of the fortress did not stop for several months.
A similar situation continued until the last days of the war regarding the European theatre of operations: the steel teeth of the Germans collided with the invariable heroism of the Soviet people and so, the scales gradually tipped in favour of the Soviet Union.
For obvious reasons, the memory of those terrible events here in South Africa is not as vivid as in Russia.
Although many South Africans took part in the battles on the side of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, and demonstrated exceptional heroism during the Arctic convoys, but, fortunately, the bombs did not explode on the beautiful land of South Africa, the forged boots of the Wehrmacht soldiers did not trample it, and the tank tracks did not iron it.
Therefore, one may ask a reasonable question: Why should we keep the memory alive of the war that took place decades ago on the other side of the world?
The answer is simple: it was not only a war between Germany and the USSR but also between Germany and the rest of the world.
It was a war between life and death, ideology on the superiority of one race over others, the desire of one group of people, imagining themselves to be demigods, with the inalienable right to life of any human being.
But this misfortune did not bypass South Africa, it is well known and understandable for the citizens of the country that the wounds, after many years of domination by the racist ideology, will not be healed soon. That is why any example of such a misanthropic ideology should never be forgotten – and, first of all, the largest epidemic of Nazism that swept
Germany about 90 years ago. The war crimes of Nazism must not be forgotten and this sad page of human history must not be reopened.
The feat of the Soviet people should be remembered, because without its many sacrifices such words as “freedom”, “equality” and “human rights” would seem an empty phrase in our world.
According to modern data, the demographic losses of the USSR were about 25 million to 27 million people. Irrecoverable military losses of the USSR were about 11 444 100 people, of which 8 668 400 servicemen died (6 818 300 soldiers died in battles, hospitals and other incidents, and 1 850 100 people did not return from captivity). Civilian losses in the zone occupation were 13 684 700 people (of which those deliberately exterminated counted 7 420 400 people; those who died during forced labour in Germany stood at 2 164 300 people, and those who died of hunger, disease and lack
of medical care – 4 100 000 people).
The German Nazi invaders and their satellites destroyed 1 710 cities and more than 70 000 villages on the territory of the Soviet Union. Some 25 million people lost their homes. About 32 000 industrial enterprises, 84 000 schools and other educational institutions were destroyed, and 98 000 collective farms were destroyed and plundered.
The country lost 4 100 railway stations, 36 000 communications enterprises, 6 000 hospitals, 33 000 polyclinics, dispensaries and outpatient clinics, 82 000 primary and secondary schools, 1 520 secondary specialised educational institutions, 334 higher educational institutions, 43 000 libraries, 427 museums and 167 theatres.
In agriculture, 7 million horses, 17 million livestock, tens of millions of pigs, sheep and goats were destroyed. Some 65 000km of railway tracks, 13 000 railway bridges, 15 800 steam locomotives, 428 000 carriages
and 1 400 sea transport vessels were destroyed, damaged and hijacked.
The material damage caused by the German fascist invaders to the Soviet Union amounted to about 30% of its national wealth, and in the regions subjected to occupation about 67%.
In this regard, it is inappropriate to consider the hostilities of the Soviet-German front only as one of the episodes of World War II – on par with the combat activities of the Allies in North Africa, in the Pacific theatre of military operations, their landing in Sicily and even with the opening of the Second Front in Europe in 1944.
The strength of the armed forces of both sides, the scale of battles and strategic operations, the number of losses and other data refute statements of this kind and unequivocally prove that the outcome of the war was decided in the East. The statement to be common in the West, that the decisive factor in the defeat of Nazi Germany as well as the turning point in the war, was the landing of the Allies in Normandy, does not stand up under criticism.
After June 22, 1941, it finally became clear that the Nazis headed for the eradication of Jews and all peoples the Nazis considered to be inferior.
The Holocaust spread to the Soviet-occupied territories and acquired a monstrous scale, carrying out the massacres of Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities.
With the Nazis, the troops of the satellite countries – Hungary, Italy, Romania, Finland, Slovakia and Croatia – invaded the Soviet Union and committed inhuman war crimes. In their cruelty, they often surpassed the atrocities of the Nazis. Thus, the USSR fought virtually against the whole of Europe, which could not withstand the onslaught of the German military machine. It was forced, when under the threat of complete destruction, to turn the muzzle of its guns to the East.
It is difficult to find in modern Russia, as in the rest of the former republics of the USSR, a family that would not have been affected by that terrible War. And the sadder are several states’ current efforts aimed at distorting the historical truth, belittling the role of the Soviet Union in the Victory.
Our sacred duty is to preserve the historical truth for generations to come, and this truth is that the Nazi war machine, which was considered invincible, broke its steel teeth for the first time against the unyielding spirit and heroism of the Soviet soldiers who hoisted the Victory Banner over the defeated Reichstag in May 1945.
As it is known, history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood. But history, in fact, is a chronicle of the defeats and victories of mankind, a bottomless textbook from which one can draw lessons for the present and the future.
This is why we must remember, that we should do our utmost to stop the attempts to rewrite history and distort the historical truth. The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, in an article dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, noted: “Our responsibility to the past and the future is to do everything to avoid such terrible tragedies.”
I sincerely hope that we will be able not to repeat the mistakes of the past generations, and the misanthropic ideology of racism will remain, albeit an indelible stain, but exclusively on the pages of history.