Continuing with our European coverage of the 70th anniversary of World War II, Izvestia columnist Anna Kaledina complains that while debate rages among Western leaders about who is most responsible for starting the war, most of their populations haven’t the foggiest notion of who fought, when they fought or who was at fault – nor do they care. And this, she warns – is dangerous – because only those who are aware of the truth can correct the record. Referring to what Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called ‘falsifications of history,’ Anna Kaledina writes in part:
“The majority of people in even the most developed and prosperous countries couldn’t care less who fought with whom and when it all began. When I visited the United States, I was amazed that many young Americans are certain that the United States was a German ally during World War II and fought the USSR.”
Kaledina then turns to her compatriots in Russia:
“On the eve of the anniversary of the Second World War, the Russia Public Opinion Research Center conducted a poll asking our compatriots to name the date that the war began and who the allies and adversaries of the USSR were. Frankly, I was shocked by the results: The vast majority – 63 percent – were mistaken. … Even more fascinating were versions of who the USSR’s opponents were. There were those who added the United States, Great Britain and France to the list … meaning, our very allies. One ‘brilliant’ response the sociologists received from 1 percent of respondents was that they were confident that one of the USSR’s enemies was Soviet Ukraine (which, curiously, was a part of the USSR at the time).
“Essentially, this reflects a complete jumble in the brain. With this kind of recruit, the war against falsification may be lost. Because any discussion must be convincing and well reasoned. Otherwise, it will be a conversation between the mute and the blind.
By Anna Kaledina
Translated By Yekaterina Blinova
September 2, 2009
Russia – Izvestia – Original Article (Russian)
I never liked history. It’s written by the victors and rewritten by other, subsequent victors. Or by those who’ve been defeated but have recovered. No single source, especially one that’s hand-written or typed, is ever 100 percent accurate. Because those who write it are people, and it’s a characteristic of people to make mistakes, have misconceptions, exaggerate, lie, or simply omit. We’re all subjective.
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