№134/06 (5005) Russkaya Mysl Founded in 1880 June 2021 Russian/English www.RussianMind.com №134/06 (5005). Июнь 2021, June 2021, Russian/English

GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR: 80 YEARS SINCE THE BEGINNING

Not for sale Russian Mind No134/06(5005), EDITOR’S LE ER JUNE 2021

HEAD OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD Victor Loupan FACE OF WAR EDITORIAL BOARD Anatoly Adamishin Metropolitan Anthony Rene Guerra Dmitry Shakhovskoy Peter Sheremetev Alexander Troubetskoy Sergey Yastrzhembsky DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Alexander Mashkin [email protected] EXECUTIVE EDITOR Karina Enfenjyan [email protected] POLITICAL EDITOR: Vyacheslav Katamidze CREATIVE PRODUCER: Vasily Grigoriev [email protected] nature, with arms, legs, a semblance of DESIGN Yuri Nor a brain, with eyes and a mouth. Yet this [email protected] terrible creature is only partially hu- ADVERTISEMENT: man. It has facial features similar to hu- [email protected] man ones, however a subhuman is po- DISTRIBUTION: sitioned spiritually and psychologically [email protected] lower than any animal. ere is a chaos SUBSCRIBTION: of wild, unbridled passions inside this [email protected] or the second month in a row, the creature: an unnamed need to destroy, Fmain theme of our issue is war! Or the most primitive desires and undis- ADDRESS: 47 avenue Hoche, 75008, Paris, France. rather, the memory of the war. Every guised meanness”. E-mail: [email protected] year on May 9 we celebrate Victory 62 countries with a total population COVER: Day, the greatest of our great victories. of 1.7 billion people participated in RIA Novosti Usually we miss to recall the beginning World War II. e total losses in World of the Great Patriotic War. But this year, War II ranged from 50 to 80 million the date of June 22 is marking the 80th people, of which 26.6 million were So- year since the beginning of the worst viet citizens. 6.8 million of our military tragedy in our history. order were killed in ba les, and 1.8 mil- e Great Patriotic War which began lion were tortured in captivity. e rest on June 22, 1941, was a war of extermi- of the victims – in fact, two thirds of nation and enslavement. e physical the deaths – were civilians: 7.4 million destruction of the Jewish population of people were exterminated deliberately, Europe by the Nazis is widely known. 2.2 million people died in slave labor in Editors are not responsible for the accuracy of the information published in news reports, But a terrible fate was prepared for the Germany and 4.1 million people died promotional materials and advertisements. Slavic population, especially Russians. from hunger and disease. is is what Editors do not have the ability to enter into e Nazis called the Slavs “Unter- the war that began 80 years ago brought correspondence and do not return manuscripts and illustrations. Editors do not provide mensch” which is translated as “sub- to the Soviet people. background information. Reproduction of any human”. According to Himmler, “Sub- Everlasting memory! materials from the magazine “Russian Mind” is impossible without the permission human is a biological being created by Victor Loupan of the editorial board. Cases of the absence of sale of the magazine e Publishing House “Russian Mind” expresses thanks “Russian Mind”, violations of the terms of delivery and other shortcomings in our work to the Foundation for Supporting and Protecting the Rights of may be reported on Compatriots Living Abroad for the support and  nancial aid +44 (0) 203 205 0041 provided to the “Russian Mind” magazine for the purpose of or send on e-mail: the Special Issue, to mark the 80 years since the beginning of the [email protected] Great Patriotic War. CIRCULATION: 30 000 COPIES

RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 3 HIGHLIGHTS France and England, although they USSR, the German army perceived nia, a er the victory in the Rus- declared war on Germany, did noth- World War II as a kind of “walk” so-Turkish War of 1806–1812. In ing.  erefore, having not received Right here we should recall anoth- 1918, taking advantage of the col- any support from the West, the Pol- er important event of the year 1940 – lapse of the Russian Empire and GREAT WAR ish armed forces practically ceased the annexation of the Baltic states, the outbreak of the Civil War in Before the attack against the USSR, to exist by mid-September. On the Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina its former territory, Romania in- the German army perceived World War II as a kind of “walk” evening of September 17, the Pol- to the USSR. troduced its troops to the territory ish government and high command Back in the fall of 1939, Estonia, of Bessarabia and then included it VICTOR LOUPAN, simply  ed to Romania. On the same Latvia and Lithuania signed the into the kingdom – motivating this Head of the Editorial Board day, a note issued by the Soviet gov- agreements with the USSR, accord- by the fact that Bessarabia was part ernment and served to the Polish ing to which Soviet military bases of the medieval Moldavian princi- ambassador to the USSR, stated that were located in their territories. pality, and the population spoke n the May issue of the magazine became the main impetus for the the parties undertook to refrain from “since the Polish state and its gov- But on June 17, 1940, the Soviet the Romanian dialect, that is, the I“Russian Mind” dedicated to the outbreak of World War II.  is is, of aggressive actions and a acks against ernment ceased to exist, the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to the “Moldavian language”. Northern celebration of Victory Day, your course, extremely tendentious! Be- each other. In the event of an a ack Union is obliged to take the lives and Baltic states, accusing them of vio- Bukovina, also annexed by Roma- humble servant wrote that a great cause everything looked completely against one of the parties by a third property of the population of West- lation of an earlier agreement and nia in 1918, was not part of the victory was preceded by a great war. di erent from the point of view of power, they pledged to not provide ern Ukraine and Western Belarus demanding the resignation of their Russian, but the Austro-Hungarian Because the other side of greatness the Soviet government. support to the aggressor state and under its protection”.  ese former- governments, dissolution of parlia- Empire, while it was mainly inhab- is negative. Victory is a holiday! Vic-  e treaty between Germany and avoid participating in allied groups ly Polish territories are still part of ments, appointment of early elec- ited by Ukrainians. tory is joy! But war is horror! War is the USSR was signed on August 23, directed against one of the parties, Ukraine and Belarus. tions and consent to the introduction Although Romania was an ally of woe! Moreover, a single recollection 1939. But before that, in the same resolving disputes and con icts be- of an additional contingent of Soviet Germany, it agreed to meet these of war pushes a person to a meta- 1939, Soviet-Anglo-French negoti- tween themselves peacefully. troops.  e Baltic governments ac- requirements. On June 28, 1940, it physical comparison with the infer- ations were held in Moscow, which  e agreement signed on August Fall of Western Europe cepted these demands. Immediately withdrew its troops and administra- nal principle. When something went convinced the Soviet leaders of the 23, 1939 in Moscow by the chair- therea er, coups d’état took place tion from Bessarabia and Northern wrong, my grandmother o en said: unwillingness of Western countries man of the Council of People’s Com- On April 9, 1940, a er almost a in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Bukovina, a er which Soviet troops “If only there was no missars of the USSR, year of inactivity on the western bringing communist-friendly gov- entered their territories without a war!” And these words, Foreign Minister Vy- front, Germany invaded Denmark ernments to power. single shot. On August 2, the Mol- spoken almost swi ly, acheslav Molotov and and Norway and occupied them in A er the introduction of addi- davian SSR was formed on part of immediately down- German Foreign Min- two days. On May 10, Germany in- tional units of the Red Army, un- the Bessarabian territory and part played the importance ister Joachim von Rib- vaded Belgium, the Netherlands and contested elections to the supreme of the territory of the former Mol- of the seemingly seri- bentrop for a period of Luxembourg.  e Dutch govern- authorities were held in Estonia, davian Autonomous Soviet Socialist ous issue. 10 years, also contained ment surrendered on May 15, and Latvia and Lithuania: only commu- Republic (present-day Transnistria). a “secret protocol” di- the Belgian on the 28th of May.  e nist-minded parties were allowed  e south of Bessarabia and North- viding the spheres of invasion of France began on June 5, to participate in the elections. On ern Bukovina were included in the The beginning in uence “in the case and on the 14th of June the German July 21, 1940, the newly elected Ukrainian SSR. of the fascist of a territorial-political army entered Paris without a  ght. parliaments proclaimed establish- So, literally before the beginning aggression reorganisation of the And on June 22, in the same carriage ment of the Soviet socialist repub- of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet regions that are part of where Germany’s surrender was lics and sent petitions to join the Union signi cantly increased its ter-  e war that we call the Polish State”. signed in 1918, the disgraceful Fran- Soviet Union. Lithuanian SSR was ritory in the western direction. the “Great Patriotic It should not be for- co-German armistice was signed, included into the USSR on August War” began at dawn on go en that the above- under which France tolerated the oc- 3, followed by Latvian SSR (August June 22, 1941.  e German army, to cooperate with the USSR in organ- mentioned took place before the cupation of most of its territory, the 5) and Estonian SSR (August 6). June 22, 1941 which had long been pulling troops ising a joint rebu to the then emerg- outbreak of World War II. In June demobilisation of almost the entire As for Bessarabia, which exists now to the western border of the USSR, ing fascist aggression. Under the fear 1941, the war was going on for two land army and the internment of the as Moldova, on June 27, 1940, the So-  e Great Patriotic War began ear- unexpectedly went on the o ensive. of creation of a united anti-Soviet years, although this, perhaps, cannot navy and aviation. In the so-called viet government sent two ultimatum ly in the morning, actually at night, I say “suddenly”, but not because the front, the Soviet government was be called a war. “free zone”, the dictatorial regime of notes to the Romanian government, on June 22, 1941, with the invasion war was unexpected – it was expect- forced to look for an alternative way  e hostilities began on Septem- Marshal Pétain set a course for close demanding the return of Bessarabia of the Soviet territory by the troops ed, it was wri en about, it was talked to ensure the national security.  at ber 1, 1939, when German troops cooperation with Germany – the so- and the transfer of Northern Bukovi- of Hitler’s Germany and its European about, – but because the non-aggres- is why both Stalin and Molotov ac- crossed the Polish border, which called “collaborationism”.  e mil- na to the USSR as a “compensation allies: Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slo- sion pact signed in 1939 was still ef- cepted the German proposal to con- provoked a declaration of war on itary power of France was so great for the enormous damage in icted vakia, Finland, Croatia, with the ac- fective between Nazi Germany and clude a non-aggression pact. Germany by France, Britain and a that its sudden and complete defeat on the Soviet Union and the popula- tive support of the Wa en-SS motor- the Soviet Union.  ere was already a neutrality and number of other European coun- de ed any rational explanation. tion of Bessarabia by the 22-year rule ised divisions from France, Belgium, It has been wri en a lot about this non-aggression pact between Ger- tries maintaining allied obligations  is is in a nutshell what happened of Romania in Bessarabia”. the Netherlands and other West- treaty both before and a er 1991. many and the USSR signed back in with Poland.  e United States de- in Europe on the eve of the Great Patri- Bessarabia was annexed by Rus- ern European countries.  ey were In the West, it is still argued that it 1926. Based on its main provisions, clared its neutrality. otic War. Before the a ack against the sia before establishment of Roma- joined by the Baltic and Ukrainian

4 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 5 paramilitary nationalist formations such phrases as “holy people’s war”, expelled the British army from the half manned): 3.3 million soldiers ern Front was completely defeated. Red Army were much worse. By incorporated into the Wa en-SS, “holy patriotic people’s war”, “vic- continent.  us, there was simply no and o cers, 60 thousand guns and  is fatality opened the way for the the end of 1941, they amounted to which took an active part in the ex- torious patriotic war”. According to power in Europe to oppose the  ird mortars, 11 thousand mostly out- Germans to the south. And already 3,138,000 people. termination of Soviet people. the generally accepted statement of Reich. All this happened in just a few dated aircra s, 13 thousand also in October 1941, German troops In the early days of the war, the Red  e forces of the  ird Reich also historians, the name “Great Patriot- weeks, during the year of 1940. And mostly outdated tanks. Border units captured the entire Crimea except Army lost a huge amount of military used national formations consisting ic War” appeared by analogy with in the spring of 1941, Germany also numbering about 100 thousand Sevastopol.  e defeat of the Red equipment, including about 8,000 of the natives of the North Caucasus the Patriotic War of 1812. Later, the invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. people, carried out physical defense Army in the south opened the way aircra s that did not even have time and Transcaucasia: the Bergmann term “Patriotic War” was o cially On December 18, 1940, Hitler of the state border. to take o – they were Ba alion, the Georgian Legion, the documented in the introduction of signed Directive No. 21 of the Su- If we compare the mostly destroyed at air- Azerbaijani Legion, the North Cau- the military Order of the Patriotic preme High Command of the Wehr- balance of forces as of  elds. But the Lu wa e casian SS detachment, etc.  e XV War, established by the Decree of the macht, which became the main guid- June 22, 1941, we can- also su ered signi cant SS Cossack Cavalry Corps led by Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of ing document in the war against the not say that Germany losses: during the  rst General von Panwitz and other Cos- the USSR on May 20, 1942. Howev- USSR.  e directive bore a strange had an advantage over month of  ghting Ger- sack units also fought in the Nazi er, to this day it is not recognised by code name: “Operation Barbarossa”. the USSR. With the man troops lost about army. To justify the use of the Cos- the Western world. In English-speak- It assumed the defeat of Soviet Rus- exception of person- 1,200 aircra s. sacks, Hitler’s propaganda developed ing countries, the term Eastern Front sia in one short campaign. To achieve nel, where the Wehr- With the loss of Don- a delusional “theory” based on which World War II is used, and in German this goal, it was planned to use all the macht outnumbered bass and the Krivoy the Russian Cossacks were “descend- historiography it corresponds to ground forces of the  ird Reich, the Red Army by one Rog iron-ore basin, ants of the Ostrogoths”.  e Russian Deutsch-Sowjetischer Krieg (Ger- with the exception of small forma- million people, in all the Soviet Union lost corps of General Steifon, the corps man-Soviet War), Russlandfeldzug tions performing occupation func- other parameters the its most important of Lieutenant General of the Tsarist (“Russian campaign”), Ostfeldzug tions in Europe. It was also supposed German troops were raw materials and in- army Peter Krasnov, and a number of (“Eastern campaign”). to use two-thirds of the Air Force and quantitatively inferi- dustrial centers.  e separate units formed from citizens  e development of a plan for Ger- a small part of the Navy. Immediate or to the Soviet ones. USSR also lost such of the USSR and White emigrants many’s a ack against the USSR be- operations with a deep and rapid ad-  e la er had one and The term “Great Patriotic War” went down in history immediately cities as Minsk, Kiev, also fought on the side of Germany. gan under the strictest con dence a vance of tank spear heads, the Ger- a half times more guns after the message broadcasted on radio by the newsreader Kharkov, Smolensk,  e term “Great Patriotic War” year before the invasion, back in July man army had to destroy most of the and mortars, three Yuri Levitan Odessa, Dnepropet- went down in history immediately 1940. By that time, Germany had al- Soviet troops in order to prevent the and a half times more rovsk. Leningrad was a er the message broadcasted on ra- ready captured Denmark, Norway, withdrawal of combat-ready units tanks and assault guns, and twice as for the Germans to Donbass and in the blockade.  e most impor- dio by the newsreader Yuri Levitan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxem- deep into the country. A er that, big as aircra s number. Rostov-on-Don. By the end of Oc- tant sources of food in Ukraine and whose voice was known throughout quickly pursuing the enemy, the Ger- But, despite that, the beginning of tober, Kharkov fell and the main cit- southern Russia fell into the hands the country: “A ention! Moscow is man troops had to reach the Arkhan- the Great Patriotic War turned out to ies of Donbass were occupied. On of the enemy. Millions of Soviet citi- speaking! We are transmi ing an gelsk – Volga – Astrakhan line, creat- be catastrophic. November 21, the 1st German Pan- zens ended up in the occupied terri- important announcement from the ing there, if necessary, conditions for “ e tragic beginning of the war zer Army entered Rostov-on-Don, tories – hundreds of thousands died government. Citizens of the Soviet the German Air Force to “a ect the for the Red Army was one of the thereby achieving the goals of the or were driven into slavery. Union! Today at four o’clock in the Soviet industrial centers in the Urals”. most encrypted pages in our histo- Barbarossa plan in the south of the By the end of 1941, the fascist morning, without declaring war, By June 22, 1941, fascist Germa- ry. We can already talk about gen- USSR. But exactly a week later, the hordes were already in the suburbs of the German armed forces a acked ny concentrated three army groups erations of historians trying to  nd Soviet troops unexpectedly drove Moscow.  e Germans encompassed the borders of the Soviet Union. near the borders of the USSR.  e out the true reasons for our failures the Germans out of Rostov. Leningrad and starved its citizens to  e Great Patriotic War of the So-  rst strategic echelon contained 157 at the beginning of the war, but this death. Hitler dreamed of a parade of viet people against the German divisions (of which 17 were tank problem has not yet been resolved,” German troops in Red Square. One fascist invaders began. Our cause and 13 motorised) and 18 brigades, P. N. Bobylev, a researcher at the The failure of Operation of those responsible for the capture is just!  e enemy will be defeated! including allied troops. Air support Institute of Military History of the Barbarossa of Moscow was the famous German Victory will be ours!” was provided by three air  eets. Ad- Ministry of Defense of the Russian General Guderian. He has already  e very next day this unusual ditionally, there were 24 divisions in Federation, wrote. Shortly before the ba le for Mos- approached Kashira in the south- phrase was used in the editorial ar- reserve. In total, 181 divisions (19 A er 1991, much was wri en in cow, German troops completely west direction which was very close ticles of “Pravda” newspaper in rela- tank, 14 motorised, 18 brigades) Russia that the Red Army was re- occupied Lithuania, Latvia, Bela- to Moscow. However, due to the in- tion to the war that has just begun. The first days of the war – numbering 5.5 million people, 3712 treating ingloriously, that millions rus, Moldova, Estonia, a signi cant human e orts of the troops of the However, in a very belated Stalin’s the advance of the Nazis deep tanks, 47,260  eld guns and mortars, of Soviet soldiers and o cers sur- part of the RSFSR, Ukraine, and Western Front under the command radio address to the Soviet people, into the USSR 4950 combat aircra s, took part in rendered without a  ght. In fact, this advanced up to 1200 km deep into of General G. K. Zhukov, the o en- which was declared on July 3, 1941, the a ack against the USSR. was not true.  e heroic defense of the USSR, while losing 740 thou- sive of the German army was stopped the words “great” and “patriotic” bourg and defeated France. With On the Soviet side, the border the Brest Fortress, the ba les for sand people, of which 230 thousand in all directions.  e a empt to occu- were used separately. It means that his  ash-like victories, Hitler radi- districts and  eets of the USSR Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol are glori- were killed.  ese were unprece- py Moscow failed.  e countero en- at  rst the name was perceived not cally changed the strategic balance numbered 15 armies consisting of ous pages of our history.  ey are. dented losses for the German army sive began. It did not last long, but as an o cial term, but as one of the of power in Europe. He did not only 172 divisions (including 40 tank However, as a result of the ba le since the beginning of World War due to it the threat to Moscow was emotional expressions, along with bring France out of the war, but also divisions which were approximately for Kiev, the Soviet South-West- II. But irrecoverable losses of the eliminated.

6 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 7  e enemy was stopped near Mos- troops, sometimes all men in general According to Ivan Semushkin, a get, with great di cul- cow, Leningrad and Rostov-on-Don, between the ages of 16 and 55, parti- participant of the ba le, “I am deep- ty, as less as one or two which meant the failure of Operation sans and underground  ghters, hos- ly convinced, that the Vyazemsky tablespoons of water a Barbarossa. tages taken in areas covered by the pocket in the fall of 1941 was a mil- day only for the serious- It is generally accepted that the partisan movement, – as prisoners. itary tragedy that was unprecedent- ly wounded. Parched Ba le of Stalingrad was a turning  e harshest conditions of deten- ed in history. Misjudgement of the lips cracked, tongues point that foreshadowed the collapse tion of Soviet prisoners of war were command and the general situation swollen from thirst. of the  ird Reich. But here is what caused by Hitler’s ideological rejec- at the front led to this. According to  ere was no medical the German historian K. Reinhardt tion of the idea of Communism, ag- the data published in the press, 37 di- service, no medicines writes: “Hitler’s strategy aimed at gravated by the Nazi theory of the visions, 9 tank brigades, 31 artillery and no wound textile. A conquering world domination failed racial inferiority of the Slavs, in par- regiments of the High Command ward with 160 wound- near Moscow. In December 1941 – ticular Russians. reserve and 4  eld directorates of ed is given two band- January 1942 many German generals At a meeting of the highest com- the armies were surrounded in the ages a day. Bandages are have already come to the conclusion mand personnel of the Wehrmacht Vyazma area (the million-people not done a month long. that the war was lost”. held on March 30, 1941, Hitler said: group of Red Army troops ceased to When the bandage is “ e Communist has never been exist within a short period of time). removed, the wounds and will never become our comrade. Soviet troops lost about 6 thousand appear  lled with Why were there so many It’s about the  ght to destroy. If we guns and over 1200 tanks. However, worms that are picked prisoners? do not treat them like that, then, al- since we have always liked to distort out by handfuls. Fro- though we will defeat the enemy, in unpleasant facts and gloss over the zen limbs looked like One of the most heartbreaking 30 years the communist danger will truth, I am sure that there were much black stumps, meat and pages of the beginning of the war arise again. Commissars and persons more losses…” bones fell o in black is the fate of our prisoners of war. belonging to the GPU are criminals  ere were many similar pockets at pieces. Many wounded Based on Western sources, the total and should be treated like criminals. the beginning of the war. prisoners froze their number of our captives reached 5.5 Political commissars are the basis of “ e Germans had a task to destroy limbs right there in the million people.  e Commission of Bolshevism in the Red Army, bearers the manpower of the USSR in gen- wards.  ere was no the Ministry of Defense of the USSR of an ideology being hostile to Na- eral and prisoners in particular,” the iodine for the operated announced an approximate  gure tional Socialism, who cannot be rec- participant of the ba le, writer Boris patients; it was replaced of 4 million. 1.8 million people re- ognised as soldiers.  erefore, a er Runin says. “Unbearable conditions with glizol.  e wound- turned from captivity, of which ap- being captured, they must be shot”. were established for the prisoners. ed ro ed alive and died proximately 340 thousand ended up  ere were many party and Kom- On the way to the camp, they were in terrible agony. Many in the NKVD camps as having com- somol workers in the Red Army, not fed at all.  ey ate cabbage leaves, begged to be shot and promised themselves in captivity. roots, rye heads from unharvested thus relieved of their Why were there so many prison- roadside  elds that they found along su ering.  e smell of ers?  ere is no simple answer to the way.  ey drank water from road ro ing meat, the cadav- this question. Some historians be- puddles. It was strictly forbidden to erous stench from un- lieve that overwhelming majority stop at the wells or ask the peasants deleted corpses  ll the of them was captured at the begin- for water. So,  ve days long – from chambers.  e death ning of the war, as a result of capture October 9 to 13, 1941 – they drove rate from hunger, cold, in the so-called “big pockets”.  e a column of prisoners to the Doro- disease and executions tragic beginning of the war gener- gobuzh camp.  e convoy was ac- in the camp reached ated many situations when large companied by a car, on which four 3–4 percent a day. It groupings of the Red Army, having coaxial machine guns were installed. means that the entire exhausted all possibilities for resist- On the way in one of the villages, number of the prison- ance, were captured. under the stove of a burnt house, ers died out in a month.  inking about the number of the prisoners saw a half-burnt po- During two and a half Due to the inhuman efforts of the troops of the Western Front under the command of prisoners, one should also take into who were considered by the Nazis as tato. About 200 people rushed a er months of autumn General G. K. Zhukov, the enemy was stopped near Moscow, Leningrad and Rostov-on-Don, account the fact that the German “commissars”.  ey were not recog- it. Four machine guns  red directly (October, November which meant the failure of Operation Barbarossa command, in violation of the Hague nised as soldiers and were killed a er into the crowd. Several dozen prison- and part of December) and Geneva Conventions, consid- being captured. Regarding this, the ers died. On their way the prisoners when counted together with the ci- every day. Every day 30–40 long dray feet moving among these piles, eyes ered not only soldiers and o cers of German command even issued the rushed into the  elds with unhar- vilian prisoners who constituted the carts were loaded with the dead and opened, lips whispered: “I am still the Red Army, but also all employ- “Order on Commissars”. vested potatoes, and machine guns majority, 8,500 people died in the frozen corpses. In the piles of corps- alive”.  e dying were buried togeth- ees of party and Soviet authorities, In 2006, the newspaper Argumenty immediately opened  re. camp, that is more than 100 people es, which were piled up like  rewood er with the dead people…” men (regardless of their age) who i Fakty published a long article about  e wounded prisoners su ered on average per day. During the win- near the barracks, there were also Such a terrible war preceded the departed together with the retreating the tragedy of the Vyazemsky pocket. severely from thirst. It was possible to ter months, 400 to 600 people died alive ones. We o en saw hands and Great Victory.

8 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 9 RUSSIA to Victory. Our people fought to the bi er end at every frontline, in the  ercest ba les on the ground, at sea and in the air. VICTORY PA DE People of all ethnicities and faiths fought for every inch of our soil. For the  elds on the approaches to ON RED SQUARE Moscow, for the Karelian rocks and Vladimir Putin attended the military parade marking the 76th anniversary Caucasus passages, for Vyazma and of the Victory in the 1941–1945 Great Patriotic War Novgorod forests, for the shores of the Baltic Sea and the Dnieper, for the Volga and Don steppes. hirty-seven infantry units took and Mi-28 Night Hunt-  e heroism of Soviet troops and T part in the parade on Red Square: er assault helicopter. A the unfaltering spirit of civilians are o cers, sergeants and soldiers of mil- group of three Ilyushin perpetuated in the glorious titles of itary formations and units, students Il-76 transport planes, Hero Cities, awarded to Moscow and and cadets of military academies, Su- Tupolev Tu-160 and Leningrad, Minsk and Kiev, Stalin- vorov and Nakhimov schools and ca- Tu-95MS strategic grad and Sevastopol, Murmansk and det corps, Young Army members, as bombers capable of Odessa, Kerch and Tula, Novorossi- well as units of the Emergencies Min- carrying cruise missiles ysk and Smolensk. istry, National Guard Troops and the  ew over Red Square,  e unbreakable bond between Border Troops of the Russian Federal accompanied by two Il- frontline  ghters and those at the Security Service. Servicewomen were yushin Il-78 refuelling tanker planes Happy Victory Day!  e Victory home front ensured that our troops represented by parade units from the and followed by Sukhoi SU-35S jet had a colossal historic signi cance were provided with everything they Military University, Military Academy  ghters, SU-24 bombers, Mikoyan for the fate of the entire world. It is a needed for the Victory, thanks to of the Signal Corps, a branch of the MiG-31 supersonic interceptors, holiday that has always been and will the e orts of plants in the Volga Military Logistics Academy, the Mili- Sukhoi Su-57  ghter jets and a Li- remain a sacred day for Russia, for region and the Urals, Siberia and tary-Space Academy, and the Air and petsk Aviation Centre mixed group our nation. the Russian Far East, the cities of Space Defence Academy. Overall, al- of ten Sukhoi Su-30SM, SU-35 It is our holiday by right, for we Kazakhstan and Central Asian re- most 12,000 personnel were engaged.  ghter jets and SU-34  ghter bomb- are blood relatives of those who de- publics. We remember those who Over 190 units of military hard- ers.  e Russkiye Vityazi (Russian feated, crushed, destroyed Nazism. o ered shelter and support to the ware were on show, including the Knights) and Strizhi (Swi s) aero- It is ours because we descend from evacuees who were forced to leave legendary T-34 tanks of the Great batic teams were penultimate to  y the generation of victors, a gener- their homes. Patriotic War and the cu ing-edge their Sukhoi Su-30SM and Mikoyan ation we are proud of and hold in Today we gratefully celebrate the T-90M Proryv and T-14 Armata MiG-29  ghter jets in the famous great honour. memory of an entire generation of tanks, Kurganets infantry  ghting Kubinsky Diamond formation. To Our dear veterans, we bow before great heroes and dedicated workers, vehicles, and Koalitsiya-SV artillery conclude the airborne part, a group your courage and strong spirit and and remember our frontline  ghters, systems. Engaged in the parade were of six Su-25 assault jets  ew in the thank you for this immortal example brave partisans and members of the also Iskander-M mobile short-range Moscow sky spraying aerosols that of unity and love for our Motherland. underground resistance. ballistic missile systems, Buk-M3 matched the colours of the Russian You proved that only together it is We can feel the never-ending pain and Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile national  ag. possible to achieve what seems im- of the people of Leningrad who suf- systems, Pantsir-S mobile air de-  e President watched the parade possible. You defeated a merciless fered through the siege; the con- fence systems and S-400 Triumf with President of Tajikistan Emomali enemy, defended your home, your centration camp prisoners, and the system. Yars mobile intercontinen- Rahmon. children, and your country. You came countless tragedies of the people tal ballistic missile launchers also out an absolute victor in the ba le who lived in the occupied territories. crossed the square as part of the against Nazism and eternalised the We bow to the blessed memory of hardware column. The President Vladimir memory of May 9, 1945. those whose lives were taken away by  e parade concluded with an air Putin’s address at the We will always remember that it that war; the memory of sons, daugh- show with 76 aircra and helicopters military parade was the Soviet people who demon- ters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, in the sky, including Mi-26 heavy strated the ultimate heroism. During husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, transport helicopters and Mi-8 mul- Citizens of Russia, Dear veterans, the harshest times of war, during the fellow soldiers, family members and tipurpose helicopters, Mi-35 a ack Comrades soldiers and sailors, ser- crucial ba les that determined the friends. We mourn the veterans who helicopters of the Berkut aerobatic geants and warrant o cers, midship- course of the  ght against Nazism, have passed. team, as well as a Kamov Ka-52 as- men and sergeant majors, Comrades our nation was alone on the toil- I ask for a minute of silence. sault helicopter and a Ka-52 Alligator o cers, generals and admirals, some, heroic and self-sacri cing road (A minute of silence begins.)

10 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 11 RUSSIA made to deploy a large part of Nazi ideology and the ideas of those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their own supremacy.  is ideology is not only supported DAY OF REMEMB NCE by radicals and international terror- ist groups of all kinds. Today we are witnessing the surviving members of AND SORROW those killing squads and their follow- The Day of Remembrance and Sorrow (The Day of National Remembrance ers trying to rewrite history and jus- of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War) is observed annually on June 22 tify the traitors and criminals whose hands are smeared with the blood of hundreds of thousands of civilians. une 22, 1941 is one Our people know too well how Jof the saddest dates this can end. Every single family in in the history of Rus- our country cherishes the sacred sia – it is the day the memory of those who fought for Great Patriotic War be- our Victory and we will always be gan, when the troops of Friends, kindness and charity that has been proud of their feats. Germany and its allies  is year, we celebrate 80 years inherent to our national character Russia is consistently defending invaded the territory of since the beginning of the Great Pa- since the earliest times. international law while continuing to the USSR. triotic War.  is power was manifested in the protect our national interests and the On June 8, 1998, ac- June 22, 1941, is one of the most heroism of doctors and nurses who security of our people. cording to the decree of tragic dates in our history. An en- saved the wounded and fought for Our guarantees are the glorious the President of Russia, emy a acked our country and in- every life in the trenches, in the heat Russian Armed Forces, descend- the day of June 22 was vaded our land to kill and to spread of ba le, and in hospitals on the ants of the victorious troops, and, of declared the “Day of death and pain, horror and immeas- frontline and on the home front. course, our joint e orts for the sake Remembrance and Sor- urable su ering. Back then, in 1941there were still of our country’s development and r o w ”.  is enemy not only wanted to four years of the most violent war the wellbeing of Russian families.  is day reminds of overthrow the Soviet political system ahead.  at war was a strike at our fu- Our veterans, their fates and loyal- all those who died in but also to destroy us as a state, as a ture, our youth, our youngest gener- ty to the Motherland is the example ba les, were tortured nation and wipe our peoples o the ation and, therefore, those who were we follow. It is the summit that we to death in Nazi cap- face of the earth. never to be born. must strive for while rea rming the tivity, who died in the We responded to the invasion by  e war brought upon us so many signi cance and the value of the great rear from hunger and the Nazi hordes with a united, for- unbearable ordeals, grief and tears Victory in our thoughts and deeds, hardship. We mourn all midable and unstoppable determi- that it is impossible to forget.  ose in our present and future endeavours those victims who, at the expense of Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as in ships of the Russian Navy,  ags with nation to repel that invasion, to do who are plo ing new aggressions for the sake of our Fatherland. their lives, ful lled their sacred duty, a vast ocean. crape bands are displayed on residen- everything in our power for the ene- cannot be forgiven or justi ed. Glory to the victorious nation! defending their Fatherland during In a severe bloody war, the Soviet tial buildings. Entertainment events my to be defeated and for the crimi- It has been almost 100 years since Happy Victory Day! the iron years of war. people made a decisive contribution and programs are canceled in cultur- nals and murderers to receive inevita- the time when the abominable Nazi Hurrah! In the early morning of June 22, to the liberation of the peoples of al institutions, on the television and ble and just punishment. beast was gaining insolence and en.kremlin.ru 1941, without declaring war, the Europe from fascist domination and radio, throughout the day.  e Soviet people ful lled their predatory strength in Nazi German armed forces a acked to the defeat of Hitler’s troops. On Commemorative events are held sacred oath, defended their Mother- Central Europe.  e the borders of the Soviet Union, car- May 8, 1945, the  nal Instrument all over the country,  owers and  ow- land and liberated Europe from the slogans of racial and rying out a massive blow on military of unconditional surrender of Nazi er tributes are laid at the monuments ‘brown plague’. ethnic supremacy, an- and strategic targets and multiple cit- Germany and its armed forces was of the Great Patriotic War, the Can-  e Soviet people issued a histor- ti-Semitism and Russo- ies. So the Great Patriotic War began, signed. dle of Memory action is held.  is ic verdict to Nazism with the power phobia were becoming which lasted 1418 days and nights,  e Great Patriotic War ended in day is especially remembered in the of their weapons on ba le elds and more and more cynical. where the USSR lost about 27 mil- victory for the USSR, but at what military units of the Armed Forces of with their moral strength and right- Agreements designed lion people, but was able to hold out cost?! At the cost of human su ering the Russian Federation. eousness, the self-sacri cing bravery to stop the landslide to- against the  re of the enemy. and huge losses that fell to the lot of In the post-Soviet states, on June of soldiers’ mothers and the faith- wards a world war were  e Great Patriotic War was part – the Soviet people. 22, national  ags are also lowered fulness of those who waited, every easily broken o . and the main content – of the entire On this day, national  ags are low- and various solemn and memorable day, for a message from the frontline History demands that Second World War involving more ered on public buildings in the ter- events are held with the lighting of from their loved ones.  e Soviet we learn from it. Unfor- than 60 states.  e hostilities were ritory of the Russian Federation, St. candles, laying of  owers at monu- people won thanks to the power of tunately, a empts are conducted over extensive areas of Andrew’s  ags are lowered on the ments and memorials.

12 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 13 HISTORY Square were prohibited to be heard – ing.  e opposite side of the platform and blizzard, the air part had to be no marches, no drumming or fanfare had already had a 10-carriage train, cancelled. allowed.  e country’s leadership which housed the orchestra, cloak People were ready for any turn of feared that those sounds could alert and refreshment rooms, and a re- events. In case of the Red Square THE MILITARY PA DE Muscovites and cause panic. So re- cording studio. bombing, 35 medical points were on hearsals were held in Khamovniki, in ‘Our cause is just, so we will win!’, duty, including ambulances, ve emer- the arena to hold horse race. Deputy the slogan was announced all over gency relief crews, 15 re ghters and OF 7 NOVEMBER 1941 People’s Commissar of Defence of the country from Mayakovskaya other special machinery to eliminate the USSR Marshal Semyon Budyon- metro station. the consequences of res, buildings, ny came there, too. He tamed his Only a er the formal meeting, gas and electric networks destruction. horse to the sounds of marches and around 11:00 pm, the parade com-  e parade was opened by cadets even gave instructions about the or- mander Pavel Artemyev told the of the 1st Moscow Krasin Red Ban- chestra’s repertoire. He was supposed unit commanders about their par- ner Artillery School to Chernetsky’s to review troops. ticipation in the military parade on march ‘Parade’.  e cavalry paraded Lieutenant General Pavel Arte- the Red Square.  ere were only 10 to the sounds of ‘Cavalry Trot’. myev, a commander of the Moscow hours le .  e whole world heard the radio military district and the Moscow  e parade was supposed to last 1 broadcast from the Red Square, with defense zone was entrusted to com- hour 1 minute and 20 seconds, ac- famous Soviet radio commentator and mand the parade. cording to preliminary calculation. journalist Vadim Sinyavsky reporting. Formal meeting of the Moscow By 08:00 am (for security reasons,  e fearlessness and courage of the City Council, dedicated to the 24th it was decided to shi the start an Russian people were highly appreci- anniversary of October Revolution, hour back), the entire territory from ated in the world.  e UK newspaper was scheduled for 6 November. It the Moskvoretsky Bridge to the His-  e News Chronicle wrote: ‘ e ar- took place not in the Bolshoi  eatre, torical Museum was occupied with rangement of a traditional parade in which by that time had already been troops. 28,467 people (infantry, Moscow at a time when there were hot mined, but at Mayakovskaya metro cavalry, ri emen, machine gunners, ba les on the outskirts of the city is a station. Its lobby held 2,000 people. tankers and militia) took part in the great example of courage and bravery.’ Increased security was arranged, event. It featured 296 machine guns, And the Daily Mail praised the mil- A column of tanks runs along the Red Square during the military parade dedicated to the celebration of the 24th with a loudspeaker radio system in- 18 mortars, 12 anti-aircra machine itary parade on 7 November 1941 as anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. Photo by V. Malyshev. 7 November 1941. Main Archive Department stalled. guns, 12 small-caliber and 128 me- ‘one of the most brilliant displays of of Moscow. On 6 November, a special 10-car- dium and high power guns, and 160 courage and con dence that has ever riage train was formed at Beloruss- tanks (70 BT-7, 48 T-60, 40 T-34, taken place during the war’. years ago, at the height of On 28 October, the decision to  e main condition of preparation kaya metro station, which arrived two KV). 80 ghting for Moscow, the hold the parade was made at a meet- for the parade was strict con dence: with the USSR’s leaders at Mayak- 300 aircra were supposed to par- The official portal of the Moscow Mayor legendary military parade of 1941 ing with the members of the Politbu- the brass band rehearsals on the Red ovskaya ve minutes before the meet- ticipate, but due to a heavy snowfall and Moscow Government was held on the Red Square. On 7 reau and military commanders. At November, some 3,000 soldiers, Su- rst, when it was proposed to hold a vorov Military College students and military parade, everyone fell silent, cadet detachments marched on the but a er a pause there was a unani- Red Square. mous ‘Yes, sure, it will raise the spirits  e military parade on the Red of the troops and the rear!’. Prepara- Square on 7 November was a tradi- tions for the solemn march began. tion and the chief event of the Revo- On 2 November, the author of the lution anniversary’s celebration. But famous march ‘Farewell of Slavianka’, in 1941, when the Nazi troops were bandmaster of Dzerzhinsky division rapidly advancing through the terri- Vasily Agapkin, was announced to tory of the Soviet Union, the country be appointed chief conductor of the was not up to it. parade and given the task to collect Late October and early November a combined orchestra. By the time, of 1941 were, perhaps, the hardest most of the musicians from the full- days for Moscow. An evacuation of time combined orchestra went to industrial enterprises was underway, the military units of the garrison, the with bridges and factories mined, others joined the front. An orchestra and the enemy located in 70–100 km from Gorky (now Nizhny Novgo- Party and Government leaders on the Lenin Mausoleum’s podium during the military parade Photo by V. Malyshev. from the Moscow centre. rod) came to the rescue. 7 November 1941. Main Archive Department of Moscow.

14 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 15 HISTORY THE BA LE FOR STALING D HARIS GAZDAR

he Ba le for Stalingrad became his generals, why would they choose but of the people of the occupied Ta symbol for heroism, sacri ce, to extend their supply lines even fur- land. What seems, with the bene t bloodle ing, tenacity, ruthless- ther to the east? of hindsight, like an ill-thought and ness and tragedy all in good meas- To the extent that Hitler’s politics, suicidal lunge to the east was no ure.  ere is much in the story that as laid out by him in Mein Kampf, “mission creep”. It was a primary aim continues to fascinate students of were in the driving seat, we have an of Nazi Germany’s war. warfare: one of the largest tank bat- answer. Race was the predominant In his book, Hitler set out his po- tles ever fought, strategic blunders theme. Two groups were singled out sition in favour of Lebensraum com- and masterstrokes, a personal duel as inexorable enemies of the noble pared with the policy of seeking col- between Hitler and Stalin, the bril- Aryan: the “cunning parasitic Jew” onies in Africa and Asia. He argued liance of General Zhukov, but above and the “subhuman Slav”. A central against an overseas colonial policy, all, “a psychological turning point” of tenet of foreign policy was to create not because he thought it was out- the Second World War. living space or Lebensraum for Ger- moded and collapsing, but because A er a series of spectacular suc- mans by annexing Poland, Ukraine he believed that it was  rmly en- cesses against ill-prepared Soviet and Russia for se ler colonisation. trenched. A racial empire was there to defenders, Nazi German forces at-  e inhabitants of these lands would stay, it would be di cult for anyone, tempted to take Moscow in Novem- either be deported or turned into let alone the natives themselves, to ber 1941.  eir progress ground slave labour for German se lers. dislodge England from its colonies: Center of Stalingrad after liberation down, however, and by December With expanded territory and resourc- “England will never lose India un- they were forced to abandon the at- es, Germany could truly become a less she admits racial disruption in land. And, apart from all this, I as a a ord the strongest con rmation of Hitler’s shrill and frantic articulation tack. In the meanwhile, things had “World Power” so that the Aryan the machinery of her administration German would far rather see India the nationalist theory of race.” of these ideas had closed o the pos- gone well for them in the south, and race could takes its “rightful place as (which at present is entirely out of under British domination than under While Hitler admired England’s ra- sibility of a more cold-headed assess- having captured the main grain pro- the builder of civilisation”. the question in India) or unless she that of any other nation. cially-ordered colonial system, it was ment of ground realities. ducing areas of the Ukraine and Rus- Some wartime commentators is overcome by the sword of some “ e hopes of an epic rising in the other contemporary landgrab Hitler’s forces were not just trapped sia, Hitler decided to make a lunge in the west argued that Hitler had powerful enemy. But Indian risings Egypt were just as chimerical.  e which was seen as the more appro- by the Soviet strategy of retreating for Caspian Sea oil. Stalingrad was abandoned his plans of Mein Kampf, will never bring this about. We Ger- ‘Holy War’ may bring the pleasing priate model for German expansion- before the Nazi German advance, the gateway to Baku.  is decision which was published in 1925, in fa- mans have had su cient experience illusion to our German nincom- ism. America’s Manifest Destiny had while keeping the bulk of their mili- more or less sealed the fate of the war vour of a more ‘conventional’ aim of to know how hard it is to coerce Eng- poops that others are now ready to come to  nal fruition in 1890 with tary strength in secret reserve.  ey in Russia. From the military point of replacing the Bolshe- shed their blood for them. Indeed, the end of armed resistance by the were also trapped on the wrong side view, there would be a turning point, vik government with this cowardly speculation is almost native peoples at Wounded Knee. of history. if not in Stalingrad, then somewhere a collaborationist re- always the father of such hopes. But  e moral and strategic arguments  e Ba le of Stalingrad was a turn- else along this route. Stalin appears gime, like the Vichy in in reality the illusion would soon for the landgrab to the east were ing point in the practice of empire. to have understood this, decided that France.  e conduct be brought to an end under the one and the same. A superior race Racially-ordered se ler colonialism, the stand will be made at the city of the war in the east fusillade from a few companies of deserved resources it could  ght to which was at its apogee when Hitler’s named a er him, and gave General formalised under new British machine-guns and a hail of take. Just as Indians and Egyptians ideas were formed, and which had Zhukov the task of laying a trap and rules of engagement British bombs.” could not overthrow the English, and seemed feasible enough at the start then closing it. such as the notorious  e Soviet Union, however, was a the native peoples could not resist of Nazi Germany’s war in the east, But how did Hitler’s forces allow Commissar and Juris- di erent proposition altogether: the United States, so the ‘Jewish-Bol- went into unstoppable retreat, with themselves to get ‘trapped’ so deep diction Orders, how- “ is colossal Empire in the East is shevik cabal’, by violently removing perhaps one or two notable excep- into Russia, at the far end of Europe? ever, made it clear that ripe for dissolution. And the end of the German blood line of the Tsars, tions remaining.  e British Empire If the fate of Napoleon’s armies in Hitler saw this as a the Jewish domination in Russia will had le the lands of the Slavs ready ended, India and Egypt became in- the winter of 1812 at the hands of “war of annihilation”, also be the end of Russia as a State. for the picking. While racial suprem- dependent, and Germany emerged the Russian expanse and winter had not just of the “Jew- The German Advance on Stalingrad September We are chosen by Destiny to be the acy and territorial hunger were not as a world power without any further preyed upon the minds of Hitler and ish-Bolshevik” regime, 1942 witnesses of a catastrophe which will the sole preserves of Nazi Germany, need for Lebensraum.

16 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 17 HISTORY SOCIETY FIELD KITCHENS VIRTUAL EXHIBITION MARIA AFONINA “WRITER’S COMPANY” rontline cooks demon- YULIA ZAKOVA Fstrated incredible creativ- ity to give soldiers a high-cal- orie and varied diet. Here is a look at the clever culinary tricks they employed, ac- cording to Russia Beyond. Meals for soldiers were prepared using eld kitchens. Just like the eld bakeries that were used for baking bread, these kitchens rst appeared at the end of the 19th cen- tury.  ey were placed on a wheeled trailer or on the back of a  atbed lorry, and consisted of several cauldrons (between one and four) and a compartment to store food and kitchen utensils. Field kitchens used rewood, and  e daily rations for Red Army onions.  ese foods were supposed in order to conceal the smoke from soldiers and unit commanders was to prevent scurvy and compensated the enemy the food had to be pre- adopted on Sept. 12, 1941, and for the shortage of oxygen on board. n May on the occasion of the 80th 22nd regiment of the Krasnopresn- ed, and the writers shi ed to the pared early in the morning before consisted of a speci c list of food- Sailors received rusks. Ianniversary of the beginning of the enskaya people’s militia. editorial commi ees of central and sunrise and in the evening a er dark. stu s: bread (800–900g), second Small vessels could bake bread on Great Patriotic War and the 76th anni- Members of the movement took front-line newspapers. It took 40 minutes to boil water in a grade wheat  our (20g), groats shore, and large ships had special versary of the Great Victory, the Rus- part in the ba les near Smolensk. “Writers’ Company” occupies a sep- cauldron, three hours to prepare a (140g), macaroni (30g), meat stoves. sian House in Brussels presents a virtu- A er leaving Yelnya’s entourage, the arate place at the military exhibition at two-course lunch, and an hour and (150g), sh (100g), combined fats Towards the end of the war the al exhibition “Writers’ Company”. “writers’ companies” were disband- the State Literary Museum. e expo- a half to prepare dinner. At night the and lard (30g), as well as vegetable food situation worsened, so rations e exposition is dedicated to the sition conveys the life path of writers kitchen was very busy: potatoes were oil, sugar, tea, salt and vegetables were cut. participation of Soviet writers in the and war correspondents who captured peeled and cauldrons were washed. (potatoes, cabbage, carrots, beet- Cooks did what they could to vary Second World War. It was based on ma- the history on the pages. Basically, for- At the start of World War II most root, onion and herbs). the rations, which became increasing- terials from the collection of the State mer journalists become writers, but cooks were women. Oddly enough, there were also to- ly meagre towards the end of the war. Museum of the History of Russian Lit- the path of the “writers’ company” was Delivering the food was another bacco rations (20g daily) and rations For instance, they made carrot tea by erature named a er V. I. Dal. Photos, di erent – the war forced writers to be- challenge, and soldiers had to carry for matches (three boxes a month). grating carrots, and then boiled it with autographs, documents convey the dai- come journalists. the heavy cauldrons with food from Non-smoking women received but- Laetiporus sulphureus tree fungus.  e ly routine of writers in wartime. e editor-in-chief of Krasnaya Zvez- the eld kitchen to the frontlines via ter, biscuits and chocolate. carrot gave the infusion a sweetish taste e Writers’ Company joined the da D. Ortenberg began the practice of trenches, risking their lives.  e main  e menu for pilots was more and the fungus a pleasant dark hue. main forces in the  rst weeks of the recruiting writers to work in the news- dish served was kulesh – soup made varied and higher in calories. In ad- Closer to the end of the war in war. In the Krasnopresnensky dis- paper. Among the war correspond- of millet to which other ingredients, dition to basic daily rations they re- the spring of 1944 the Soviet army trict of Moscow, a detachment of ents of those years were A. Platonov, for example lard or vegetables, could ceived fresh or condensed milk, cot- received cornmeal from the allies. the people’s militia gathered to join K. Simonov, V. Grossman, A. Beck, be added. Also, eld kitchens also tage cheese, sour cream, eggs, bu er Some cooks did not know what to do the hostilities. e Union of Soviet E. Petrov, M. Sholokhov, O. Berggolts, served popular Russian soups such and cheese, as well as fruit extract with it and added it to bread, causing Writers, the Literary Fund and the V. Vishnevsky, I. Ehrenburg, V. Ka- as borsch and shchi (cabbage soup), and dried fruit. it to become crumbly and quickly Literary Institute were located not verin, L. Slavin, A. Gaidar, Y. Krymov, as well as stewed potatoes and buck- Submariners also had special ad- stale.  is naturally angered the men. far from each other. Writers felt their S. Gudzenko, Y. Levitansky, P. Blyakhin, wheat with boiled or stewed beef or ditions to their diet: red wine, sau- Other cooks, however, realized that calling and could not stand aside. So, A. Stein, A. Kron, N. Tikhonov, A. Tark- canned food. erkraut, salted cucumbers and raw they could make  atbread out of it. two “writers’ companies” joined the ovsky, M. Svetlov and others.

18 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 19 ORTHODOX MESSENGER THE GREAT COMMEMO TION Eternal memory to all our relatives and acquaintances, to all those we remember and forget, to all our heroes, to all those who worked hard for the Great Victory, to all the innocent victims of the Great Patriotic War! AUGUSTINE SOKOLOVSKI, Priest, Doctor of eology

ne of the most important the nations; but when he distributed who have no one else to remember Ochurch holidays of the liturgical the tongues of  re, He called all to uni- and for whom there is no one else to year is Pentecost. e feast of Pen- ty. erefore, with one voice, we glori- pray. is is the meaning of universal, tecost is directly connected with the fy the All-holy Spirit!”. us, the Feast that is, worldwide, funeral remem- event of the Resurrection of Christ. of Pentecost is a celebration in honour brances, which usually take place on Having risen on the third day, ac- of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Saturday during Great Lent. But the cording to the Holy Scriptures, the whom He gave to His disciples. In the Pentecostal All Souls’ Commemora- Lord Jesus remained with the disci- Russian Tradition, this celebration is tion is a special day in the Orthodoxy. ples for forty days, appearing to them also called the Day of the Holy Trinity. is year it almost coincides with the and instructing them in the truths So, Pentecost is celebrated on the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, about the Kingdom of God. On the   ieth day a er Easter, and therefore which is why the Church remembers fortieth day, He ascended to heaven the date each year moves depending all the people who took part in this and sat at the right hand of the Fa- on the date of the celebration of the great and tragical exploit. ther, as stated in the Creed. When Resurrection of Christ. is year, So, this year, one of the most mean- the Lord ascended, He promised Pentecost falls on June 20, which ingful Christian Orthodox Feasts, the His disciples to send the Holy Spirit. is important and signi cant for the Day of Pentecost, in some way coin- is is the event of the descent of the Russian Church, which commem- cides, or, be er, the date of the Pente- Holy Spirit celebrated by the Church orates the 80th anniversary of the cost 2021 itself relates to the days of on the Day of Pentecost. “When Pen- beginning of the Great Patriotic War sad remembrance. at is the eight- tecost day came around, they had all on June 22. is coincidence is very ieth anniversary of the beginning of met together, when suddenly there important and  lled with meaning. the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945. came from heaven a sound as of a A er all, on the Saturday before e 22 of June is known to be a spe- violent wind which  lled the entire the feast day of Pentecost, according cial memory and remembered with house in which they were si ing; and to the liturgical rule of the Orthodox sorrow in our country. here appeared to them tongues as of Church, the universal commemora- Indeed, this date is one of the most  re; these separated and came to rest tion of all the Orthodox Christians mournful dates in the history of our on the head of each of them. ey who have died from ever must take country, our people and all mankind. were all  lled with the Holy Spirit place. is universal funeral com- In the second half of the XX century, and began to speak di erent languag- memoration is analogous to the All- in the Soviet era, they talked about es as the Spirit gave them power to Souls’ Day in protestant or catholic 20 million dead. Our days it is clear express themselves” (Acts 2;1–4). Christianity. It is celebrated on the that the number of direct victims of e main hymn of the feast, the eve of the Day of the Holy Trinity and fascist aggression against our people troparion, says: “Blessed are You O is called the Pentecostal. is year, on far exceeds this already high number. Christ Our God, You have revealed June 19, the Church on this day espe- In this very understatement and in- the  shermen as most wise by send- cially prays for all the countless vic- ability to count the total number of ing down upon them the Holy Spirit tims of the Great Patriotic War, and victims, the greater tragedy of what through the You drew the world into especially remembers the fallen sol- happened reveals. e inexhaustibil- Your net. O Lover of Man, Glory to diers, deceased veterans, home front ity of human grief, the beginning of You!”. e contakion of the Pente- workers and all those involved in the which in our people began with these cost says the same with other words: national feat. days. “When the most High came down Memorial days are designed by It is important to emphasize that and confused the tongues, He divided the Church to remember all those in Soviet times, the perspective of

20 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 21 the tragic event of the outbreak of on the Saturday before the Day of Easter, any special commemoration prayer of the Church, intercession for us”, writes the Apos- War was exclusively secular, polit- the Pentecost which is traditionally of the departed is withdrawn from and every intercession tle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans ical, historical, deeply sincere and called Parental Saturday. is mem- the liturgy, as if abolished and even of the Church as the (Rom.8:34). e prayer of the Lord human, but, unfortunately, devoid ory provides the opportunity, not made impossible. is suspension Body of Christ, is the Jesus cannot be unheard. of a religious component. is lack only for believers and church people, is not oblivion but the transfer of prayer and intercession is means that the memory of all of religious, biblical, spiritual under- but also for every person to share the the names of the departed into the of… the Lord Jesus. those – their names and faces, faces standing created a kind of vacuum. memory of all those who were killed, special sphere of the prayerful sover- e Lord Jesus and smiles, bodies and memories, Perhaps this was the reason that this starting from the  rst moments from eignty of the Church. A er all, during Christ, God the Word, joys and sorrows, losses and fortunes, date has become somewhat erased the beginning of the Great Patriotic the Easter Period, all of the departed the Incarnate Son of biographies and lives – all of whom in time. A er all, the indelible bas- War, and until its end, who died lat- in one way or another are necessari- God is simultaneous- no one else remembers, is remem- es on the religious, theological, and er from wounds and hardships, who ly remembered at the Liturgy in the ly and unalterably the bered by the Lord Jesus. rough His spiritual. simply was not born because of the Eucharistic Prayer during the Divine true, genuine human prayer Jesus grants them His redeem- e mournfulness of the eighti- huge number of those killed during Liturgy. Simply the words of such being. Who ful lled the ing intercessory power. We, in re- eth anniversary commemorated on the War. commemoration are not usually will of the Heavenly Fa- membering those who are forgo en these days in a very symbolic way According to the teaching of the heard in the church for they are read ther, who asked, prayed or have no one to remember, join in coincides with the All-Souls’ Com- Church, during this special period, and heard before the altar itself. us, hold I am alive forevermore, and I and interceded for everyone to his this life-giving grace. Knowing then memoration, which in 2021 falls during the  rst seven weeks a er in the absence of special commemo- have the keys of Death and Hades” last breath, and most importantly, as that the Lord will never let us out of ration on these days, the Lord Him- (Rev.1:17–18). the Scriptures testify, for his murder- His hand either. self takes upon Himself the care of all When the Wandering Church per- ers (Lk.23,34). Eternal memory to all our relatives those who have lived. forms a prayerful commemoration of e Lord Jesus ful lled the cov- and acquaintances, to all those we re- So, today, on the Pentecostal All the departed, the faithful are called enant and ful lled the divine will. member and forget, to all our heroes, Souls’, the  rst day on which such to remember that they, our departed Killed for the sins of the world, Je- to all those who worked hard for the separate commemoration of the de- and our dead – let us emphasise this sus was resurrected by His Heaven- Great Victory, to all the innocent vic- parted is not even possible but made word with the philosopher Giorgio ly Father. is Resurrection – the tims of the Great Patriotic War! obligatory for the  rst time since Agamben – do know that Christ has Resurrection of the Lord Jesus – was “ en I saw a great white throne Easter, the Church as a communi- risen. ey know that a universal the divine answer to meanness, cow- and him who was seated on it. e ty of faithful gathers in the Church resurrection awaits them. at that ardice, betrayal, crime and sin, to earth and the heavens  ed from his for the commemoration of all those  esh, that body and those bones that designed greatest victory of the presence, and there was no place for who have lived. Whom we knew they possessed, that skin “in which I forces of evil in history which the them. And I saw the dead, great and and whom we did not know, whom live” – to quote the title of a contem- darkness would have won if God had small, standing before the throne, we sympathize with, about whom porary  lm – will be resurrected by not raised Jesus. God and the Father and books were opened. Another we mourn, but also those whom we the Lord on the Last Day. “We shall raised the Lord. “Christ Jesus died, book was opened, which is the Book never knew, about whom, at times, see God with bodily eyes”, as the but He also rose again: He is at the of Life” (Rev.20;11–13). Christ is we never heard in their lifetime but Carthaginian Church teacher Augus- right hand of God, He also makes Risen! on whose intercession and boldness tine confesses in “ e before God we hope, for these people City of God” (22:30). were truly righteous. “My command In this shared knowl- is this: Love each other as I have edge – our knowledge loved you. Greater love has no one of their knowledge and than this, that he lay down his life for our knowledge with his friends” (John 15;12–13). them – our communion On this day before the Pentecost in memory with those everyone has the desire, the will and whom we know by the hope to share the joy of Easter name is revealed. What with those who lived before us; to tell can we say about those them that the Lord Jesus rose from who are unknown to the dead, and that from now on He us, who are complete- has dominion over hell and death. As ly forgo en and erased He Himself says in the Apocalypse – from human memory, that is, in the biblical New Testament and for whom there book of Revelation by John the Evan- is no one else to pray? gelist – while sharing His victorious Here it is absolutely victory over death with the faithful, necessary to have the “Fear not, I am the  rst and the last, biblical and dogmatic and the living one. I died, and be- knowledge that every

22 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 23 FILMS MUSTWATCH MOVIES OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

lms that properly address and In Moscow, on June 22, 1941, Ve- Zhanna Prokhorenko.  e lm was 7 preserve the memory of the ma- ronika and her boyfriend Boris watch produced at Mos lm and won several jor moment in history – soviet Great cranes  y over the city as the sun rises awards, including the BAFTA Award Patriotic War. and then sneak back into their fam- for Best Film From Any Source and ilies’ apartments. Hours later, Boris’s was nominated for the Oscar for Best cousin Mark wakes him with news Original Screenplay. e Cranes Are Flying (1957) that the Germans have invaded. During Great Patriotic War nine- Winner of the Palme d’Or at the teen-year-old Red Army soldier e Cranes Are Flying is a 1957 Sovi- 1958 Cannes Film Festival, e Alyosha Skvortsov (Vladimir et lm about the Second World War. Cranes Are Flying is a superbly cra - Ivashov) single-handedly destroys tries to return to his unit which is lo- It depicts the cruelty of war and the ed drama with impassioned perfor- two a acking German tanks. His cated in Western Byelarus. However, damage done to the Soviet psyche as mances and viscerally emotional, commanding general wants to give it is impossible since the unit is over- a result the Great Patriotic War. gravity-defying cinematography by him a medal, but Alyosha asks in- run by the advancing Wehrmacht.  is landmark lm by the virtuosic Kalatozov’s regular collaborator Ser- stead for a leave to see his mother Near the town of Borisov, he meets Mikhail Kalatozov was heralded as a gei Urusevsky. and to repair the leaking roof of their another o cer also trying to reach revelation in the post-Stalin Soviet home. He is given six days. his unit.  ey go on a road and try to Union and the international cinema On the train eastwards he meets get a car going in the direction they community alike. It tells the story of Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Shura who is on her way to her aunt. need. As the other o cer stopped Veronica (Tatiana Samoilova) and In those few days traveling together the car, a German air raid starts.  e Boris (Alexei Batalov), a couple who Ballad of a Soldier is a 1959 Soviet they fall in love. direct hit blows up the o cer and are blissfully in love until war tears lm directed by Grigory Chukhray Alyosha gets to see his mother only the car he stops. Sintsov continues them apart. and starring Vladimir Ivashov and for a few minutes before having to his journey alone. He is eventually assigned to one military newspaper, located in Mogilev and, later, another near Yelnia.  e movie describes his work as a war correspondent during these trying times.

e Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972) e Dawns Here Are Quiet is a 1972 Soviet war drama directed by make his way back to his unit. His Stolper based on the eponymous Stanislav Rostotsky based on Boris mother vows to wait for him.  e 1959 novel  e Living and the Dead Vasilyev’s novel of the same name. voiceover tells us that while he could by Konstantin Simonov.  e lm deals with antiwar themes have gone far in life if he had lived, he  e lm takes place in a time warp and focuses on a garrison of Russian will always be remembered simply as from the rst days of the Great Patri- female soldiers in World War II. It a Russian soldier. otic War and until the middle of the was nominated for an Oscar in the winter of 1941–1942, before the be- Best Foreign Language Film category. ginning of the Soviet countera ack It is late spring of 1942, and the e Alive and the Dead (1964) near Moscow. Ivan Sintsov (Kirill Great Patriotic War is in full swing. Lavrov) is a correspondent with an A long way o from the front-line,  e Alive and the Dead is a 1964 army newspaper.  e war starts while at some God-forgo en junction, the Soviet lm directed by Aleksandr he is on vacation with his wife. He Germans make an air landing op-

24 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 25 eration in an a empt to get through to the Kirov railway and the White Sea – the Baltic Sea Canal.  ese aren’t just ordinary para- troopers.  is is a team of seasoned and highly trained in ltrators, the elite of the Wa en-SS, superhumans.  e only thing in their way is an anti-aircra artillery of World War II and covers the 8th unit of corporal Vaskov Guards Ri e Division operations and ve young wom- during the 1941 Ba le of Moscow. en in training. It may  e lm is directed by Kim Dru- seem like a ght of lo- zhinin and Andrey Shalopa. cal signi cance, but the country’s main strategic transportation artery is Ba le for Sevastopol (2015) at stake. Can the corpo- ral and his ‘petite new- Ba le for Sevastopol is a 2015 bio- bies’ prevent Nazi sab- graphical war lm about Lyudmila otage and at what cost? Pavlichenko, a young Soviet woman who joined the Red Army to ght the German invasion of the USSR and Come and See (1985) became one of the deadliest snipers in World War II.  e lm, a joint Come and See is a Russian-Ukrainian production, was 1985 Soviet anti-war released in both countries on April 2, lm directed by Elem 2015; its international premiere took Klimov and starring Al- place two weeks later at the Beijing eksei Kravchenko and International Film Festival. Olga Mironova. Its screenplay, writ- wishes – joins the Belarusian resist-  e movie revolves principally ten by Klimov and Ales Adamovich, ance movement, and therea er de- Pan lov’s 28 Men (2016) around the events of the siege of is based on the 1978 book I Am  om picts the Nazi atrocities and human Odessa and the siege of Sevastopol of the Fiery Village, of which Adamovich su ering in icted upon the Eastern Pan lov’s 28 Men (it is also known 1941–1942. was a co-author. European villages’ populace.  e as Ba le for Moscow) is a 2016 war  e lm is directed by Sergey  e lm’s plot focuses on the Nazi lm mixes hyper-realism with an lm based on a legend about a group Mokritskiy and stars Yulia Peresild as German occupation of Belarus, and underlying surrealism, and phil- of soldiers – Pan lov’s Twenty-Eight Pavlichenko. In addition to Beijing, the events as witnessed by a young osophical existentialism with po- Guardsmen – heroically halting and where Peresild was awarded Best Belarusian partisan teenager named etical, psychological, political and destroying German tanks headed for Actress award, the lm has also ap- Flyora, who – against his mother’s apocalyptic themes. Moscow. It is set in the Eastern Front peared at Cannes Film Festival.

26 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 27 EXHIBITION CHURCHILL AND CABINET WAR ROOMS  A MUSTSEE IN LONDON ANITA CAMERON

hurchill War Rooms Cis one of London’s must-see a ractions, which has only recently opened its doors to public. Make sure you don’t miss this exhibi- tion – for a limited time only, you will be able to explore the Second World War’s impact 12-MONTH on London life with a unique art exhibition housed with- in the War Rooms. Wartime SUBSCRIPTION TO London: Art of the Blitz fea- tures works by Henry Moore; Eric Ravilious; Evelyn Dun- bar and more. RUSSIAN MIND e Churchill War Rooms is one of the  ve branches of the Imperial War Museum. MAGAZINE e museum comprises the Cabinet War Rooms, a United Kingdom – 38 GBP ANNUAL historic underground com- European Union – 65 EUR Digital Subscription – plex that housed a British government command cen- Image: IWM The rest of the world – 80 EUR £25 tre throughout the Second World War, and the Churchill Muse- Plans to evacuate the prime min- centre based around a ‘Map Room’. um, a biographical museum explor- ister, cabinet and essential sta from Here, vital information for King ing the life of British statesman Win- London were drawn up as early as the George VI, Prime Minister Churchill ston Churchill. 1920s, but concern that Londoners and the armed forces was collected. TO SUBSCRIBE YOU CAN DO THE FOLLOWING: During the Second World War, a would feel abandoned if the prime e Cabinet War Rooms became 1. Bank transfer for EUR and USD currency: 2. Subscribe via Pay Pal on our group of basement o ces in White- minister and government were in a fully operational on 27 August 1939, Coordonnees bancaires: «La Nouvelle Maison Russe» website: hall served as the centre of Britain’s safe place, and issues about the speed a week before Britain declared war Payee address: CTRE CIAL DOMAINE VERBOISE 71 RUE DE www.russianmind.com/ war e ort. e complex, known as of evacuation, led to a search for an on Germany. Churchill’s War Cab- SURESNES 92380 GARCHES payment/ the Cabinet War Rooms, was occu- emergency shelter in central London. inet met here 115 times, most o en Bank: Domiciliation agence Societe Generale 30003 pied by leading government minis- In June 1938 the New Public O ces during the Blitz and the later German Agence garches la verboise (04090) IMPORTANT ters, military strategists and Prime building was selected. It was near Par- V-weapon o ensive. Account number: 00037260011 Please make sure that you provide Minister Winston Churchill. liament, with a strong steel frame and e Cabinet War Rooms were in the confi rmation of your payment Following the devastation of the First a large basement. e basement was use 24 hours a day until 16 August Sort Code: 23-65-53 and contact details (home address, World War, military planners feared up adapted to provide meeting places for 1945, when the lights were turned o Bank Identifi er Code: 30003 phone number and email address). to 200,000 casualties from bombing in the War Cabinet during air raids and in the Map Room for the  rst time in BIC/SWIFT Code: SOGEFRPP You can contact us at the  rst week of a future war. also housed a military information six years. IBAN FR76 3000 3040 9000 0372 6001 151 rmoffi [email protected] RUSSIAN MIND – JUNE 2021 29