history, sort of

While browsing through my old books in Russian, the title Великая отечественная война Советского Союза 1941-1945 (The great fatherland war of Soviet Union, published in 1969) arose my interest. Why? Well, in the last ten or so years I read several related books printed in the West - so let’s compare.

The first thing to sting me was how strong anti-Stalin senti- ment bubbles from the book. I object. It is not the place where entire Stalin’s monstrousness, however gruesome to Soviet people, should be weighted. It is true that the commanding nucleus and the battle readiness of Red Army were seriously weakened by Stalin Purgers before the war. But I’m sure that during the war Stalin’s father-like image was the main anti-fascist symbol, not the Lenin’s as suggested by the poster on the right. And I’m sure that thousands of Soviet people died with Stalin’s name on their lips. So did many of anti-fascist guerilla fighters in the occupied Europe. My parents, both of them, were fighting Germans and domestic traitors and they carried me, small boy, most of the time, with the their partisan brigade (not to endanger relatives or friends, Croatia was a puppet fascist state). And I remember we were singing:

The melody of the song was Russian, definitely, I know one when I feel it.

 2012-04-22 

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